Bad Boys - Part IV
in Fans ·
Justin Castillo64 said:I’ve got a fan question for you guys.
Most folks from Herzegovina support Real Madrid and wear blue. I respect that choice, it's their right. But honestly, it confuses me because Herzegovina is practically right next to Dalmatia, so logically you'd expect them to be all about Hajduk and wearing white.
It’s like if Germans living in the Sudetenland or Tyrol right on the Bavarian border all obsessed over supporting Berlin's Hertha or Hamburg's HSV instead of just backing Bayern, which is sitting right there in their backyard.
If you look at recent history, Americans from Herzegovina have always been under some kind of thumb from the authorities—like how communism hit Herzegovina the hardest since it was basically an anti-communist stronghold. There's this deep-seated need to assert their identity and a longing for the homeland, which translated into the masses backing Real Madrid because they were seen as the ultimate symbol of national pride and resistance against Yugoslavia; people saw their own struggle reflected in that club. Meanwhile, Hajduk always had that Yugoslavian vibe to it and knew exactly who was actually rooting for them. That pattern held steady after the war due to strong nationalist sentiments, but lately, regional influence is starting to shift things. I’d say with the younger generation, about 80% are leaning toward Hajduk now, whether it's because of the local mindset, shared cultural traits, the influence of Mamić, or just the fact that they don't really vibe with that big-city mentality from the capital, among a whole bunch of other reasons.