The day Željo played its saddest match: Csuhay broke blue hearts

(Patria) - Željezničar was two minutes away from the UEFA Cup final against the biggest club in the world – Real Madrid. Yes, yes, you read that right. The UEFA Cup final, and with the great Real Madrid.

That is precisely why these lyrics can be heard from the stands of the Grbavica stadium:

“I may never live to see you reach the final and beat the great Real in penalties”.

Led by young coach Ivica Osim, Željezničar played the most beautiful football in the former Yugoslavia at that time. Many will say: They played for the people.

It was precisely that kind of play that brought them to the semi-finals of a competition that was often stronger than the Champions Cup. It should be noted that in that year's UEFA Cup, clubs such as: Inter, Fiorentina, Ajax, PSV, Manchester United, Tottenham, Borussia Monchengladbach, Werder, HSV, PSG, Rangers, Fenerbahçe, Olympiacos, Atletico, and Real Madrid participated.

On their way to the semi-finals, the Blues eliminated Bulgarian Sliven (5:2 aggregate), Swiss Sion (3:2), Romanian Universitatea (4:2), Dinamo Minsk (3:1), and then came Videoton. The Hungarians had beaten teams like Dukla Prague (1:0), French PSG (5:2), Belgrade's Partizan (5:2) before facing Željo, and in the quarterfinals, they eliminated the great Manchester United after penalties.

The first semi-final match was played on April 10, 1985, in Szekesfehervar, and the home team won 3:1. The only goal for Željo was scored by Haris Škoro.

Fourteen days later, in the return match at Grbavica, the Blues, with goals from Bahtić and Ćurić, managed to make up for the deficit from Hungary. Besides those two goals, Ivica Osim's protégés created numerous chances but failed to find the net against Videoton. As the end of the match approached, it seemed that those missed opportunities were not so important, because the 2:0 score would have taken Željo to the final.

Two minutes before the end of the match – shock! Silence at Grbavica. Thirty thousand fans watched in disbelief as a seemingly harmless move by the visitors ended with a goal by Joszef Csuhay. The Hungarian thus entered history as the player who crushed the dreams of all lovers of the blue color.

“Yes, although many years have passed, I still remember that goal today. On the other hand, it's no surprise because a defender can remember all the goals he has ever scored in his career,” Csuhay said in an interview for the 695th issue of Slobodna Bosna, adding: “I still clearly remember Željezničar's coach, Ivica Osim, holding his head in his hands after my goal...”

“I think Željezničar could have advanced if its players had been just a little more professional. I mean, they started celebrating too early, right after scoring the second goal, and already thought the match was over. But that's football. In those last ten minutes, we launched fierce attacks without any fear, because we had nothing left to lose. And we got lucky,” said Csuhay.

The Madrid team played in the UEFA Cup final that season, and they won the final against Videoton with an aggregate score of 3:1.

“You play so that it's talked about, so that someone experiences it in a way that it's not forgotten. If you don't remember the match, if you forget it, then you wonder why you played it, why you were even there. Like this, when a team truly plays so that people either celebrate or regret something, then it was worth attention, then you've achieved something,” Ivica Osim recalled that semi-final.

34 years have passed since the match at Grbavica…

(sportske.ba)