It is often heard in sports that some teams simply “do not lie” to another team. In the case of BiH In recent years, this can definitely be said about NK Široki Brijeg in matches against Borec, Zrinjsko and Velež, and perhaps in that order.
It’s no secret that after the 2020/21 season, when the club from Pecare last qualified for Europe, it belongs to result average the highest level of football in Bosnia and Herzegovina. And it could be said that the drop to the average started much earlier.
She has been mentioned more in the last few seasons fight to stay in the leaguerather the fight for Europewhich used to be a common ambition of the Blues.
NK Široki Brijeg – KF Vllaznia Skadar, July 8, 2021
Reasons are already known: their own financial problems, the desire to stabilize the club, “others” are financially more powerful, “others” are more influential in the association and there are many different “other” reasons. However, for a small place like Široki Brijeg, to have a football club that, among other things, was: twice state championthree times Cup winnerfive times champion of Herceg-Bosniawhich is the fourth club with performs mostly in Europebut also the fourth club with most wins in the league and one of the four clubs that never dropped out from the league in 22 completed seasons since the first rank has been played on the entire territory of the country, is certainly a big thing to be proud of.
Maybe it is unrealistic to expect and to want more and constantly overcome bigger cities, but – again – Široki Brijeg today is i an economic giant at the state level.
And no one has the right to take away the biggest and “craziest” dreams from those who have been faithfully going to Pecara for years, and will continue to do so.
As part of the song of the most faithful Škripar says “…the rest of the group of lunatics dreaming of the championship title…”, at least probably no one in Široki Brijeg and other parts of Herzegovina and Bosnia, where there is a certain sympathy and love for this club, has any illusions that he is currently capable of becoming a champion.
Skripari in the last game against Borac in Pecara
There is hope that it will happen one day, so don’t get your hopes up and dreams taken away from their own supporters. Siroki is much more to its most loyal fans than an ordinary football club, it is a thing identity and love.
Those who do not understand this should not bid with the numbers of fans of other clubs, and those who sincerely love Široki Brijeg will continue to come to Pecar, regardless of who is on the ladder and whatever rank they play, but they must too get something in return.
Negative strings
From the already mentioned season 2020/21. Shiroki made several of large negative strings against other clubs, which, if not stopped soon, could start creation feelings of disgust and with the most loyal fans, regardless of the fact that it is about clubs like Borca and Zrinjski, which are simply untouchable in everything in the league since that season, which we take as a relevant point in this analysis.
After the last home defeat against Borc, the disappointment of the fans was great
Namely, until that season, Širobriježani had positive score against absolutely all relevant clubs in the country. And after that season, the score against Borec and Zrinjski he turned sharply to the other side. We can also add to them Veležwho at this rate could also take over the overall head-to-head ratio, even though he’s not that dominant in the league at all.
The “black cat” fighter for Široki
After the last home defeat against Borac, disappointing fans it was big. Equally because of the new shocking defeat against Banjolučan, but also because of the “discomfort” of the Sarajevo referee. Nihad Ljajićas well as in general because of Široki Brijeg’s bad play and dropping out hard earned leadership. But Borac celebrated and kept the connection behind Zrinjski, and he celebrated 12th time in a row in official matches against Široki, of which the 10th time in the championship.
Široki Brijeg dropped their hard-earned lead, and then a draw in the last moments of the match
In a context like this negative sequence it might not be bad to recall an anecdote from the world of tennis. Namely, the American tennis player Vitas Gerulaitis lost 16 times in a row to his much more famous compatriot Jimmy Connors. He finally won it at the Masters in 1980 and thus ended the negative streak and accumulated frustrations. After the match, he told reporters the legendary sentence:
“Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row.”
So maybe the next time they play against Borac, the people of Širokobrije will ignore his quality, show sporting spite and insolence towards the example of Gerulaitis and say:Now that’s really enough!”
When it’s time for that game again, surely nobody in the country will believe that they can beat Borc, but they have themselves to blame for that.
And let coach Klafurić not be offended like other people in the club, it is not a story about David and Goliath that he often emphasizes before the duel against favored opponents, but it is about the competitive spirit.
No one is happy to lose even once, even recreationally in cards, chess, “Dude, don’t get mad”, monopoly, let alone professional athletes who train every day. And Borac is certainly neither Arsenal nor Bayern, no matter how high-quality he is by our standards.
The coach of Širokobriježan often emphasizes the story of David and Goliath before matches against favored opponents
These two clubs are after the 2020/21 season. played in total 16 games (14 in the championship, 2 in the cup). Široki lost 14 times, won only once and drew once. Siroki generally celebrated for the last time September 4, 2022 at Pecaraand the last away victory in the championship took place yet October 24, 2015., in the season when Banjolučani were relegated from the league (not counting the later victory in the Cup from 2019). These data look truly incredible and we will see when and if Široki will manage to break this negative tradition.
Even longer without a win against Zrinjsko
In the 2020/21 season Široki and Zrinjski led the battle for fourth place which leads to Europe. In the end, they had the same number of points, but Široki emerged as the winner due to the better ratio between them. After that, the people of Mostar made complete sports reset and overhaul and started to dominate the league. And precisely since that season, Široki has not known a victory against Plemić.
Široki Brijeg’s last win against a neighboring rival was on May 1, 2021 at Pecara, and the last away game took place on September 29, 2019.
He played 14 league games (they did not play in the cup) against them and scored even 10 losses and only four draws. So, the same as against Borc – he won only four points after that season. It’s just that his streak without a win against Zrinjski is even longer. The last victory against a neighboring rival was on May 1, 2021 at Pecara, and the last away game took place on September 29, 2019.
However, Zrinjski with a recent victory at Pecara broke the negative tradition he had against Širokobriježan, because until then they had not celebrated at Pecara since March 2016 (not counting the away victory at Mokro Doc in December 2023), but that too had to happen once considering the value of the players of both clubs. The people of Mostar are all about that an unusual sequence created a great mythin order to give the first victory at Pecara even more importance. However, Široki will still look for an end to his negative streak in the future.
The impression is that Siroki was closer to breaking the negative tradition against Zrinjski than against Borec in the last few games, but in the end only the result is remembered, and it is equally unfavorable for Siroki.
Velež from a “customer” to an unwanted opponent
If we go back to the Premier League period 10 or 15 years ago, we can easily see how it is Široki often beat Velež with ease. Often there are three or more differences in both Pecara and Vrapčići. However, in the meantime, Velež has grown significantly as a club in organizational, financial and sporting terms.
Despite management changes and some minor wanderings, it is certainly not the same Velež. A Široki regularly has problems with him lately, especially in the championship. The significant rise of Velež happened precisely in that last “European season” of Široki.
After that season, these two clubs played even 20 official matchesof which six in the Cup. And the total ratio is 7-5-8 in favor of Velež. However, in the last eight championship games, Široki has not won against Rođeni, he has even scored six defeats and two draws. And if we look only at the championship games, the ratio is 3-5-6 in favor of Velež in recent seasons. The last championship victory of Široki was recorded on April 26, 2023, and the last victory (not counting the last two victories in the Cup) in Vrapčći happened on April 12, long ago in 2016, in the season when Mostar was last relegated from the league.
What is good for Široki is that, as against Zrinjski and Borac, he won’t even play against Velež until the end of the half-seasonand then in the spring he can make a big effort to finally break this streak. Because Velež, along with Sarajevo and Željezničar, could be Široko’s biggest competitor in the fight for Europe. If, of course, Široki shows true ambitions for such a goal in the rest of the season.
The game and energy that the team from Pecare has shown in some matches so far is not at all promising, but who knows, in football everything can turn around quickly. Especially if you win the first next one.
And the first next game for Široki is very difficult exam. This is followed by a visit to Koševo against the unfavorite rival Sarajevo on Saturday. Although it is Sarajevo is an absolute favoritethose who love and follow Široki, will say that there is no better opportunity for redemption.
However, for a positive result in Koševo, Široki will have to show much more courage and quality than he has shown so far.
(www.jabuka.tv | GK)
