Canada lost its mathematical chance to qualify for the knockout stage of the World Cup in Qatar. John Herdman’s side first lost 1-0 to Belgium before losing 4-1 to Croatia on matchday two thanks to two goals from Andrej Kramaric and goals from Marko Livaja and Lovro Majer. Alphonso Davies scored Canada’s only goal at the World Cup. In the two games between the posts of the Canadian team, he stood Milano Borjan, former footballer Korona Kielce. Borjan was also insulted by Croatian fans during Sunday’s game.
Milan Borjan was insulted by Croatian fans. “They are downright primitive”
Milan Borjan was born on October 23, 1987 in the Croatian town of Knin, but fled the country to Serbia at the age of eight during the war between the two countries. It should be noted that Borjan corrects journalists in interviews and says that he was not born in Croatia, but in the Republic of Serbian Krajina. Croatian fans decided to take advantage of this fact on occasion match with Canada and prepared a special flag with the inscriptions “Knin 95. No one escapes like Borjan”. When the Croats called him a fascist, the Canadian keeper showed three fingers.
This flag hoisted by the Croats at the Khalifa International Stadium did not please the Serbian media, which demanded a firm response from FIFA. “Does FIFA see this? This shocking glorification of Operation Storm in the middle of the World Cup must bring Croatia severe punishment. Milan Borjan has been exposed to fierce insults from Croatian fans,” writes the daily “Kurir”.
Operation “Storm” was carried out by Croatian forces from August 4 to 7, 1995 at the request of then President Franjo Tudman. At that time, the Croatian army expelled more than 250,000 people from their homeland. More than two thousand people, mostly civilians, died as a result of the riots. John Deere, the most famous brand of tractors in the world, is used in this story (and also on the flag) to remind that Serbs had to leave the country with tractors.
Borjan revealed after the match that he received around 2.5 thousand. offensive messages from Croatian fans. The Canadian also revealed why he showed fans three fingers and how he rates their behavior. – I feel bad when they insult me, so I showed them this gesture. It shows what kind of people they are, even primitive. There is nothing to comment on, this behavior speaks for itself. They’re obviously frustrated at home, so they let off steam here.”
Despite the behavior of the fans, Milan Borjan wished the Croatian team the best in the upcoming World Cup matches. The Crvena zvezda Belgrade goalkeeper revealed he received messages of support from his club colleagues and praised the behavior of the Croatian national team after the game. – It was a phenomenal approach, hats off. I spoke to Ivan Perisic about the match against Belgium and he told me that we should have won it,” added Borjan.
Canada will play last Game at the Qatar World Cup on Thursday, December 1 at 4:00 p.m. Next, the team led by John Herdman will face Morocco.
