Croatia v Serbia: the sporting rivalry - in pictures

Dinamo Zagreb v Red Star Belgrade, 1990
Probably the most famous and far-reaching sporting clash between Croats and Serbs. The Serb nationalist Red Star fans were tearing up the Croatian national stadium and the Serb police took out their anger against the Dinamo supporters who fought back. The Dinamo player Zvonimir Boban became a Croatian national hero after karate-kicking a policeman... Photograph: AP

... The war started soon after. Many Croatians believe Boban's act of defiance kick-started Croatia's fight for independence Photograph: Renato Brandjolica/AP

World Basketball Championships, 1990
In the years before the war, when Croatian nationalism was beginning to assert itself, any Yugoslav sporting appearance would lead to some kind of protest. But when the Serb Vlade Divac wrestled a Croatian flag off a fan in Argentina and threw it to the floor he caused riots in Croatia and, some say, sent the Balkans down the path to war Photograph: Douglas C. Pizac/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Water Polo European Championship final, 2003
Serbia narrowly pipped Croatia 9-8 in a dramatic and tense encounter. Croatian fans chanted death threats throughout and threw seats at police and officials, causing riots outside their embassy in Belgrade, and the Serbian foreign affairs minister made no attempt at calming the situation by jumping in the pool fully clothed in celebration Photograph: AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Australian Open, 2007
Serbs and Croats, there to support their respective players in the men's and women's first rounds, clashed under the hot Melbourne sun in January 2007... Photograph: Lucas Dawson/Getty Images

... Using bottles, chairs and flagpoles as weapons, fans from both tribes clashed outside the Rod Laver Arena after Serbs allegedly began chanting "Die, Croat, die" Photograph: Lucas Dawson/Getty Images

Water Polo World Championships semi-final, 2007
Two months later Serbia and Croatia met again in Melbourne, this time in the water polo arena. Trouble flared outside the pool once more as Croatia won 10-7 in the pool Photograph: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Handball European Championships, 2012
The atmosphere was tense outside the Beogradska Arena in Belgrade as 5,000 Serbian police, including special units and mounted police, prepared for their country's semi-final with Croatia - deployed from the border, along the highway to Belgrade and throughout the Serbian capital in order to prevent violence after local hooligans attacked Croatian fans... Photograph: Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images

... Inside the arena Serbia triumphantly marched to victory, winning 26-22 Photograph: Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images

Olympic handball, 2012
There was great excitement surrounding this meeting in London. As Barney Ronay wrote in the Guardian: "The Copper Box in Stratford's Olympic Park was the stage on Tuesday afternoon for the latest chapter in one of sport's most bruising and historically complex national rivalries, a meeting on the handball court between Croatia and Serbia... Photograph: David Levene

... 'In the battle, in the battle for your nation,' the Croatia supporters chanted periodically throughout a tense, gruelling, and in the end bellowingly triumphant 31-23 victory for the pre-match favourites, albeit this was always going to be about a little more than the score." Photograph: David Levene/David Levene