(VIDEO) On this Day 31 Years Ago, Jugoplastika Became European Champions

April 6, 2020 – While we may not have any new sport to watch on TV, for the time being, we do have the memories of our beloved teams. On this day, 31 years ago, we remember the reign of Jugoplastika in Europe. 

Time flies, but the memories remain – and some last a lifetime. For many Croatian basketball fans, the time Jugoplastika won the European title for three consecutive years (1989, 1990 and 1991) would be categorized into flashbacks worth remembering. 

Thus, on this day, April 6, 31 years ago, Jugoplastika started their championship series, reports Dalmatinski Portal.

Several anecdotes from that 1989 and making it to the Final Four in Munich have been told many times. In the company of Barcelona, Maccabi and Aris, no one mentioned Jugoplastika, let alone give the team a chance for success. Split was fourth in all books of protocol, and coach Bozidar Maljkovic said that the team had invented the word ‘outsider’.

However, Jugoplastika defeated Barcelona 87:77 in the semi-final that year, and then Maccabi 75:69 in the final. Nobody slept in Split that night. More than 150,000 people took to the streets to welcome the sensational champions. Under the leadership of Bozidar Maljkovic, the first European Championship title in 1989 was won by Luka Pavicevic, Dusko Ivanovic, Toni Kukoc, Dino Rada, Goran Sobin, Zoran Sretenovic, Velimir Perasovic, Zan Tabak, Teo Cizmic and Ivica Buric.

Dino Rada published a status on his official Facebook page in 2018 about his days at Jugoplastika and this exact moment.

“I cannot give this team just one post. A little on 1989 and the European Champions Cup. As total outsiders, we were not even aware of how we got into it,” Rada began.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v=1B1j_9lNZ4k

“The reception in Split was something unimaginable. When the plane was landing, we could see a column of cars to the city. They would not let us leave the building because there were even more people. The airport was blocked. There were no departures or arrivals. We managed to climb the roof of the building to the airport and show the trophy to the people. 

As it was not possible to get out, they sent a bus to the ramp and to the exit where only the military planes go, and we went to the hangar on the upper road. A whole bunch of people and cars followed us. 

The entrance to the city was a spectacle. At every window of the Jugoplastika factory, there were people with flags and transparencies. All the streets were crowded. We started at 5. 

We came to the tunnel and were stopped by the police. They said you couldn’t go to the Riva. We insisted and they said that they would let us, but there is no chance that any army would allow the bus to pass.

They transferred us directly to Gripe. Today we are sorry that we could not come to the Riva. Somehow, some people managed to go to Gripe and then there was a moment I will never forget. And now, tears well my eyes. When we exited the bus, an old woman in her 70s came to us and kissed each of our hands and said, ‘Thank you kids, thank you, kids’. I have no idea who that woman was. She is probably not even alive anymore to read this, but that thought will never leave my head as long as I am alive.

In the Gripe hall again, there was madness. They thought Gripe had never been fuller and would never be that full again. If it usually fits 3,000 people, and that night was probably 5,000. They were packed in liked sardines. They all came to see the Cup. They called us one by one and when Dusko came with the trophy, there was a stampede. How we survived, I have no idea. 

Those couple of days were unbelievable. We had to wake up very quickly. We had a match against Vojvodina. For us, the game didn’t matter, but if they lost, they’d fall from the league. The trophy of the Champions Cup was in the center and they started messing around: ‘Come on, don’t play one hundred percent’. Yeah, right. Who would lose with such shame,” Rada recalled.

Tor read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.

 

 

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