Too bad that reality is a little different.

Few people are just plain evil. Most of us do bad things on occasion. Sometimes there is no justification, but usually there is an explanation.

It's the same with Mihajlovic, though nobody seemed very interested in his explanation.

The Yugoslav defender admitted he was wrong and apologized publicly shortly thereafter.

"It was a tough, edgy game," he said. "We had a go at each other for ninety minutes. In these situations insults fly fast and furious. It may not be nice, but it's part of the game. Vieira called me a 'Gypsy piece of s---'. So I responded in turn. It's not nice, it may not be right, but these things happen. It's not the first time and it won't be the last. I did not, however, expect Vieira to go public with it. What happens on the pitch should stay on the pitch and it should all end at the final whistle."

To Mihajlovic, the game is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

"I insulted him when I called him a 'piece of s---,'" he says. "Not when I added the black in front. To me, black is not an insult, just as I felt no offense when he called me a Gypsy. That's not the insult. I am a Gypsy and he is black, these are facts. I could have called him a French piece of s--- or a tall piece of s--- and it would have been no different."

Again, people are bound to disagree with Mihajlovic's explanation. It's difficult to endorse it without getting into a sticky argument on prejudice and hate speech.

Mihajlovic is responsible for his actions and his actions were wrong, that is not in question.

The issue here is how he was presented by the media: as a ridiculous, cartoonish baddie, with no sense of right and wrong.

The truth is quite different.

If Mihajlovic doesn't view words as weapons, as things which can hurt others and carry consequences, perhaps its because he grew up with bombs, violence and torture.

For what the media most likely did not tell you is that Mihajlovic has seen the worst of mankind up close.

"My mother is Croat, my father is Serb," he says. "Their families, their people were killing each other right under my nose. To make things worse, we were also ethnic Gypsies and nobody likes Gypsies. I've dealt with prejudice and people hating me for who I was for as far back as I can remember."

"I've seen my house destroyed, I've had people without homes, money, food and limbs knocking at my door asking for help. I've seen relatives and neighbors trying to kill each other. I'm not using any of this as an excuse, but frankly, calling someone a 'black piece of s---' pales by comparison. I was wrong, I apologized, that's it. I did not, however, expect to be used like this by the media. I did not expect to be turned into a symbol of all that is wrong with the game."

His relationship with Arkan has similarly been distorted.

"When I was at Red Star, more than ten years ago, he was the head of our supporters' organization," Mihajlovic explained. "Of course, I met him and I spent time with him. We were friends in a sporting sense. I only knew him as a fan. Later, he did many terrible things. When he died and I sent my condolences, some members of the media took it as an endorsement of Arkan's actions. That's ridiculous and offensive. Arkan was responsible for the deaths of many of my countrymen, Croats and Gypsies. I am half-Croat and 100 percent Gypsy. How could I endorse the killing of my own people?"

"It would have been much easier to distance myself, to pretend I had never known him. But to me, on a personal level, he was a friend. On a wider, political level, he did some terrible things and I've spoken about that. But I'm not going to deny the fact that he was always good to me. I'm not going to turn my back on my past."

Again, this is not a black-and-white issue. There is plenty of gray, the kind of gray the media does not like.

Mihajlovic does not need people to like him. Indeed, he may not be likeable at all.

But perhaps if we realize who he is, where he comes from, if we realize this is not a two-dimensional Satan, but a living, breathing human being who carries with him a legacy of complex, often painful experiences, maybe we will understand him a little better.

And perhaps we will realize that scapegoating Mihajlovic does not address the real problem of racism in the game, which generally has more to do with the behavior of certain fans and the authorities' inability (or unwillingness) to go after them.

Based in London, Gabriele Marcotti writes a weekly column on international soccer for CNNSI.com.