Goodbye, Europe

Dinamo Zagreb has been kicked out of the UEFA-cup. The team lost 2-1 to Udinese and did not qualify for the next round. "Goodbye, Europe" say the headlines here.
Europe might respond: "Goodbye, Croatia. Hope not to see you for a while". Over the last years the hard core Dinamo fans, better known as the Bad Blue Boys, wreaked havoc in Graz, Udine, Prague, Bergamo and other cities. During the match against Udinese, some Bad Blue Boys threw flares on the field. Dinamo player Tomislav Šokota to calm the Bad Blue Boys, but got objects thrown at him. The match was suspended for ten minutes and then resumed.
Throwing flares is quite normal when Dinamo plays at home in the Maksimir Stadium. I took the picture below when Dinamo lost to Ajax Amsterdam, last year.
Dinamo might be suspended for a little longer than ten minutes. On 11 December UEFA will decide how Dinamo will be punished and exclusion from European football is one of the possibilities. In that case 2009 will offer the Croatian public little more than the deadly dull national competition.

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