Interestingly, CNN ranked the match that never was among the five games that changed the world. On the list, the events that took place at Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb took fourth place.
"Yugoslavia was already on the brink of imploding (...). Pro- independence parties had already won recent Croatian elections. But the events that unfolded on March 13, 1990 are regarded by many as the opening salvo of the most vicious European war since the Nazis were defeated in 1945. (...) Future AC Milan and Croatia captain Zvonimir Boban launched a kung-fu kick at a policeman who was attacking a Zagreb fan," CNN said.
The match between Dinamo and Red Star was supposed to take place on May 13, 1990, but instead of there being a football spectacle, Red Star's Delije supporters started rioting, after which Dinamo's Bad Blue Boys supporters broke through the fence on the north stand of the stadium and clashed with the police because of them protecting the rioting Delije.
The riot had broken out when Serbian hooligans led by war criminal Zeljko Raznjatovic Arkan started destroying the south stand and then attacked spectators. The police did not react so Bad Blue Boys tore down the fence in the north and ran to the stadium field where chaos ensued. The police retaliated using batons, tear gas and a water cannons.
In the commotion, while players from both teams were retreating to the locker rooms, the then Dinamo captain Zvonimir Boban started defending fans.
When one policeman hit him with a truncheon, Boban aka Zvone retaliated by jumping onto his stomach.
Interestingly, on the south stand of the Maksimir Stadium, among Delije members there was 20-years-old Aleksandar Vucic, who is today Serbia's president.
"That day the atmosphere was different. Look, we were always ready for a fight in Zagreb, but this was something different. Over 2,000 of us were coming by train, and the first incident happened in Vinkovci. It was worse than they had usually been. We knew immediately that riots were brewing in Zagreb. But not those between Dinamo and Red Star supporters, but between Croats and Serbs," Aleksandar Vucic told the Vreme daily.