Croatia won 4-1 with Juventus striker Alen Boksic scoring twice but soccer was the clear winner as both teams played sportingly and rival fans joined in the fair play.
A small knot of drenched Bosnians, some of whom had traveled overland by bus from their formerly besieged capital Sarejevo for the match, joined a couple of hundred Croat supporters for the European group one clash Tuesday.
It didn't matter that soccer no-hopers San Marino, who sometimes also play in Bologna's Renato Dall'Ara stadium, could undoubtedly muster larger crowds.
It didn't matter that the locals, whose city offered to stage the match after Sarajevo's Kosevo stadium was ruled out by world soccer body FIFA, decided to stay dry at home.
All that really mattered to those watching the muddy goings-on was that the match was happening at all.
Bosnian Moslems and ethnic Croats backed by Croatia fought in a 10-month war for territory during the Bosnian war and are now joined in a tenuous federation.
"This is such a great emotion," said Bosnian sports journalist Jasmin Mrzljak as he stood and surveyed the rows of empty seats glistening under a steady sheet of rain.
He was painfully aware of the irony that the seats would have been filled at home after years of the Sarajevo stadium being deserted due to Serb shelling of the city.
"In some parts of Bosnia, in cities such as Mostar, the Croats and Bosnians fought each other in the war and for these people it is a very emotional match," he said.
Bozana Bakrac, who organized the party of Bosnian supporters from Sarajevo, said the bus had taken 22 hours and would return immediately to Bosnia after the match had ended.
"Finally we are here," she said, tears in her eyes.
"After four years it's incredible to escape a nightmare. It's difficult to describe my feelings.
Other Bosnians made shorter and less arduous overland journeys from nearby Austria and Switzerland, quietly savoring the moment as Croat fans paraded with flags and scarves.
Hakya Kahirlal, an 18-year-old soccer fanatic who left Sarajevo three and a half years ago with his family, did not appear to care too much about the outcome.
"Maybe we will lose but it doesn't matter. We have a national team now, we are a nation," said Kahirlal, who used to spend time at Sarajevo's soccer stadium before the war retrieving balls from the sidelines during matches.
Police kept a close eye on those fans, mostly Croatian, who milled around drinking before the match.
Despite outward signs of friendship in the bars near the stadium, the political tensions were never far away.
"Of course we'll win," said Juri, a Croatian electrician from Split. "Bosnia is not even a nation."
However, the players steered well clear of politics.
Asked who he thought the citizens of Mostar would have been supporting, Milan's Croatian striker Zvonimir Boban replied:
"What importance does it have?... Everyone wants common sense. We all want peace. People who want to see sport will be happy to see a match like this."
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