Video: Argentina’s victory against Croatia was celebrated in the middle of a basketball game in Serbia

In the midst of all the criticism that the Argentine National Team received, even with some sectors exaggerating that the whole world was against the national team, there was a country that encouraged Lionel Scaloni’s team. Which? Serbian.

In full party Red Star from Belgrade, who was local to Zalgiris Kaunas of Lithuania for the EuroLeague basketball began to sing “Argentine, Argentine, Argentine”after the victory of Lionel Scaloni’s team 3-0 over Croatia in the semifinal of the World Cup in Qatar.

To some it may be striking or unexpected but in truth it is not. And it does not have to do with there being a preference of the Serbs for Messi and company, but rather rivalry with Croatia. And that confrontation is not only football. It has its origins in geopolitical issues. Serbs and Croats are in a historic rivalry as a result of the breakup of Yugoslavia, a conflict that led to war between 1991 and 2001.

Although it was a conflict of diffuse borders where everyone seemed to be against everyone, the rivalry between Serbs and Croats was the most marked. After Croatia declared its independence on June 25, 1991, the Serb population residing in these places tried to create their own state so as not to separate from Yugoslavia.

However, Croatia considered this as an attempt to include its territories in Serbia. The Serbs led by Slobodan Milosevic and the Croats led by Franjo Tudman became involved in a conflict that lasted for years and in which the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was later involved.

That rivalry, over time, also transferred to sports. For this reason, there is extreme vigilance when teams from Serbia and Croatia cross paths. And in the middle of that conflict, Argentina got involved. And the victory over the Croats in the World Cup was highly celebrated by the Serbs.

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