To make matters worse, the local public and part of the media state that this boy played a key role in the Dragons’ victory against Italy. One could conclude that the problem is not only in the boy, but in the majority’s attitude towards this move, according to the need to make headlines out of petty cheating, to present a bad trait as “resourcefulness”, and unsportsmanlike behavior as heroism.
Because this is not a source of pride for the boy, nor for those who raise him, nor for the society that celebrates it. And Gianluigi Donnarumma is certainly not defending ten years at the top level because of a piece of paper. After all, he read the sides of two of the four penalties, but the shots were better, and he missed the side of the first penalty when the piece of paper was still there…
It is true, therefore, that the BiH national team won the place completely deservedly and in no way thanks to this unsportsmanlike act. Heroes are Edin Džeko, Haris Tabaković, Esmir Bajraktarević, Kerim Alajbegović, Nikola Katic, Nikola Vasilj, Tarik Muharemović, selector Sergej Barbarez and all the others… Heroes are everyone who participated in this brilliant success, which was absolutely deservedly achieved on the field. Because nothing, but absolutely nothing, is disputed in the victory over Italy.
And that’s exactly why it’s incredible how much we try to make it dirty ourselves. While petty fraud is glorified, the fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina had 31 shots on Italy’s goal, that they had possession of the ball over 60%, that our footballers ran like fans for 240 minutes twice in five days, while under enormous pressure, mental and physical, at the limit of endurance. We should not forget that BiH had Romania, Austria, Wales and Italy on the way to the World Cup.
But the proof that there is no end to absurdities is the attempt to try to cover everything with the veil of a humanitarian story. Allegedly, the stolen piece of paper goes to auction, and the money goes to charity, to those in need. It is especially devastating that the media decided to pump up that story with an appeal to the Federation to send the boy an invitation to the World Cup.
That’s the last thing this national team needs, which includes some new kids, but also older ones, who fought for their place on the world stage with work, discipline and quality, not fraud. And when we put things like this in the foreground, then we present ourselves as frauds and that’s the only thing the world can read from it.
That’s why this victory deserved to remain what it is: Clean, great, theirs and ours.
(Vijesti.ba)
