1991 Toyota Cup - Red Star Belgrade v Colo Colo

Tokyo, Japan - Red Star Belgrade 3v0 Colo Colo

The 1991 Toyota Cup pitted together 2 Champions, not from traditional Footballing powerhouses, but from Yugoslavia and Chile, never before, or since, had either country provided a Continental Champion.
Red Star Belgrade had showed their attacking flair on the way to winning the European Cup, unfortunately their triumph will be always be overshadowed by the negative way they won the final, playing for penalties in what should have been a Final to remember against a talented Marseille side.
But this should not detract from a very talented Red Star side who not allowed to flourish, as their many of their star players were plundered by other European sides after the Final with the War in Yugoslavia also a factor which led to the break up of the side.
Of the side that started the European Cup, roughly half remained at the Club for the Toyota Cup clash 7 months later, not to mention their Coach Ljupko Petrovic leaving to manage in Uruguay.
Of those who remained, most would leave soon after the Toyota Cup match as the War continued in Yugoslavia.
Despite the departures the side that arrived in Tokyo was still packed with ability, with the soon to be Italian bound quartet of Savicevic, Mihajlovic, Jugovic and prolific striker Darko Pancev among the sides top names.
Strangely Red Star travelled to Tokyo with just 15 players, meaning they could not even boast a full compliment of substitutes.
They would leave behind them a much troubled homeland, with the Red Star camp declaring it was a relief to get on the pitch and forget about what was going on back in Yugoslavia.
Their Chilean opponents were not renowned as a side that travelled well, failing to win any of their 7 away games on the way to winning the Copa Libertadores, but under Yugoslav Coach Mirko Jozic were dominant domestically, going on to win 3 consecutive League Titles.
But when the whistle blew it was Colo Colo who started the more positive of the 2 sides in the opening exchanges, but it would not be too long before Red Star would show their quality, with Savicevic picking out Jugovic with an inch perfect ball before the Jugovic slotted the ball past the Keeper to give Red Star the lead with their first serious attack on 19mins.
After a sluggish start, the European Side were now starting to find their rhythm, but just before half time with Red Star threatening take control of the game, Red Star Captain Savicevic was sent off after an off the ball incident with Colo Colo defender Miguel Ramirez.
Despite the numerical advantage Colo Colo failed to create any significant opportunities, Red Star were far from knocked off their stride as they continued to throw men forward on rapid counter attacks.

One such counter attack led to the 2nd goal as Jugovic doubled his tally following a goalmouth scramble, Red Star's commitment to attack exemplified by the fact they had no less than 4 men in the box, with others close by supporting the attack.
Unbelievably Red Star went on to make it 3, with Colo Colo ripped apart by another Red Star raid into the South American half. This time it was Mihajlovic's burst down the Colo Colo right that caused the damage, before delivering a fine pass leaving the otherwise disappointing Pancev a simple finish.
To their credit Colo Colo came close to scoring, but their finishing let them down when opportunities did present themselves, none better than when the ball fell to Yanez, whose shot was well saved by 20 year old Red Star Keeper, Milojevic.
Colo Colo could not even muster a consolation goal as Red Star celebrated a historic victory thanks to a demonstration of talent in a side that was sadly ripped apart before they could cement their status of one of the truly great sides of the era.