Yugoslavia

Home, 2002; Lotto

 

 

Courtesy of football-uniform.seesaa.net

OK, where do you start with a shirt like this.  For me, this is more than just a shirt, it is a piece of history and that is why I've wanted it for a while. When it came up on Ebay for a good price, I had to pounce.  It was an extra bonus that is was long sleeved. This is the last shirt worn by a team under the banner of Yugoslavia, before that particular nation was dissolved in 2003, and became Serbia & Montenegro (which itself split into two distinct nations in 2006).  It was worn during the unsuccessful Euro 2004 qualification campaign.  By the time qualification began for the 2006 World Cup, Yugoslavia was no more, and the afore mentioned Serbia & Montenegro had picked up the baton.

The national football team was not isolated form the war and its effects, and the team was suspended from the European Championships in 1992, a mere 10 days before it kicked off.  Denmark took their place, and the rest, as they say, is history. They were also barred from entering qualification for USA '94.  Having topped their

Today, it is Serbia that is credited by FIFA and UEFA as being the one true successor of the Yugoslav teams of the past.

As a easy way to summarise the break-up, and subsequent formation of new states, here is an image to hopefully help: