Canadian Goalkeeper Croatia Row: His Grandmother Speaks
November the 30th, 2022 - Canada's goalkeeper Milan Borjan caused an intense reaction during the Canada-Croatia match (during which Croatia really f*cked Canada, by the way, Mr. Herdman) with his comments about Croatia and ''Krajina''. Croatian fans launched a wave of anger (and literal physical items) at Borjan, who otherwise plays for Crvena Zvezda (Red Star) Belgrade.
Croatian football fans aren't the only people Borjan has managed to upset with his statement about being ''born in Krajina, not in Croatia'', and his own grandmother, Stefica Borjan (83) has come out and said in no uncertain terms ''Jebala ga Krajina'' which you'll no doubt be able to quite easily translate and save me the job.
As Mirovina writes, Canadian goalkeeper Milan Borjan isn't the most popular person in Croatia at this moment in time, he's apparently even less popular with his own grandmother, 83-year-old Stefica Borjan, who came out and commented on the extremely controversial statement he made about his birthplace and his performance at the World Cup as the Canadian goalkeeper in the recent match against Croatia.
After the convincing victory of the incredible Croatian national team over Canada (4-1), apart from Croatia's talented goal scorers themselves, the hottest topic was Canadian goalkeeper Milan Borjan. During the match, Croatian fans threw all kinds of things at him from the stands, and he responded by raising three of his fingers at them. Look up the historical meaning of that and just why it's so insulting to do to a Croat.
Although he pointed out after the match that the Croatian players behaved like ''gentlemen'', the public will definitely not forget his statement from a few years ago. Journalists once asked him how he would describe himself, as a Serb born in Croatia who plays for Canada.
''Big mistake. I wasn't born in Croatia. I was born in Krajina, Dalmatia, it was a Serbian place. When I describe myself, I say I'm from Serbia, should I say Dalmatia, but I feel like a Canadian,'' was his answer. We're not sure Borjan's strong point is geography, but that's another matter for another time.
Stefica Borjan is far from thrilled with his performance and she's made zero effort to hide it
After the match, fans somehow got hold of Borjan's mobile phone number and sent him around 2,500 rather, erm... inappropriate messages. During that time, the Dnevnik Nova TV team visited the village close to Drnis in inland Dalmatia where his grandmother, Stefica Borjan, lives.
''Listen, I'm a little angry about all this. He should have done a little better,'' she said.
She didn't seem to be very enthusiastic about the fact that her grandson conceded four goals against the Croatian team. Let's remember that Kramaric scored twice, as did Livaja and Majer.
''Well, it is what it is, what am I going to do with him? Is it my fault?'' Stefica threw up her hands and asked.
"Nobody hates anyone"
She also commented on his controversial statements about being born in Krajina. Borjan could also quite easily take his grandmother's message as an insult.
''He didn't say anything in particular. He only said that he was born in Knin and that he loves, as he says, Krajina. F*ck his Krajina. I was immediately angry about that, that he'd mention Krajina, and his grandmother is Croatian, his father is half Serbian and half Croatian,'' said 83-year-old Stefica Borjan for Nova TV.
Despite the wave of fury that her grandson caused with his odd statements, she claims that there is no hatred in the Borjan family to speak of, for anyone.
''Oh no, no. Nobody hates anyone, nobody despises anyone,'' concluded the grandmother of the Canadian goalkeeper of Serbian origin who was born in Croatia. Not in Krajina.
