The Cup final was something else – it opposed Velez (Mostar) to Zeljeznicar (Sarajevo). Neither had a great season, but they reached the final, a note of intentions anyway. Velez obviously wanted to maintain its good position in Yugoslav football, suggesting that the lukewarm championship season was just accidental. Zeljeznicar was trying to restore their former strong place after big decline – the season was not very good, but the team had both potential and ambition. On the other hand, a different comment could be made: presently, the Yugoslav clubs were not really great, even the strongest were not head and shoulders above the rest, a matter of concern. But the only thing the finalists were concerned with was winning the Cup. In a heavily contested and entertaining final Zeljeznicar opened the score, thanks to penalty in the 36th minute, which Bazdarevic did not fail. In the second half Halilhodzic equalized in the 55th minute and three minutes later scored again to give the lead to Velez. One more penalty and Bazadarevic equalized in the 62nd minute. Ten minutes before the final whistle Okuka scored a third goal for Velez and that was that – Veleaz won 3-2.
The boys from Mostar were all smiles, naturally.
This was historic moment, worth a thousand pictures: Velez won its very first trophy!
Zeljeznicar was worthy finalist, but no luck. Objectively, perhaps it was fair ending – the team was still in the process of building and shaping, not a finished product at its prime. The players were not bad, but the only real star was Bazdarevic and enthusiasm was unable to compensate the lack of big class. But playing at the final at least confirmed that Zeljeznicar was coming back and may be in the next few years would be trully dangerous again.
Squads, winning a trophy for the first time, usually become legendary – this was not exactly the case. Other teams come to mind instead of this one – Velez from the mid-1970s and from the mid-1980s. This one is somewhat in between, perhaps unjustly, because this is the only winning team in the history of the club. But what can you say? People remember Bajevic, Vladic, Hadziabdic. The strong generation of the mid-80s was not present yet. Ironically, the arguably best ever Velez squad did not a trophy, so it was great for the oldtimers here – Maric and Vukoje (who came on field only as a substitute) – to win at last. One can be happy for Enver Maric, who returned for his spell in West Germany as aging, nearing the end of his career goalkeeper, no longer number one. As for current stars – Blaz Sliskovic was the big name. However, he had better co-players than Bazdarevic in Zeljeznicar – Maric, Halilhodzic, Vukoje, Ledic, Okuka. Well, a trophy at last. Well done.