Dejan Savićević
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| Dejan Savićević | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | September 15, 1966 | |
| Place of birth | Titograd, SFR Yugoslavia | |
| Playing position | Attacking Midfielder / Winger | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| OFK Titograd | ||
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1982–1988 1989–1992 1992–1998 1999 1999–2001 |
Budućnost Titograd Red Star Belgrade A.C. Milan Red Star Belgrade Rapid Wien |
113 (36) 77 (55) 84 (29) 3 (0) 45 (23) |
| National team | ||
| 1986–1999 | SFR Yugo./FR Yugo. | 56 (19) |
| Teams managed | ||
| 2001–2003 | FR Yugo./Serb.-Mont. | |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Dejan Savićević (Serbian Cyrillic: Дејан Савићевић) (born September 15, 1966 in Titograd, Montenegro, SFR Yugoslavia), is a Montenegrin former football player and the current president of the Montenegro FA [1]. His close control and vision have won him many admirers.
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[edit] Playing career
Born to Vladimir Savićević and Vojislava Đurović, young Dejan had an immediate affinity for football and quickly developed his gift for the game. Savićević began his career when he was 15 years old in the youth teams of OFK Titograd. He played for Budućnost of the Yugoslav First League and earned his first cap for the national side in 1986 against Turkey.
[edit] Red Star Belgrade
Following a string of fine performances in Titograd, all of the top teams in Yugoslavia were after 21-year-old Savićević in the summer of 1988. He ended up choosing Red Star Belgrade, and promptly went to serve the mandatory army stint that kept him out of action for the entire 1988/89 season, although the state authorities did allow him to turn up for important matches like the now famous Champions' Cup clash versus AC Milan. He played a prominent part in the first leg at San Siro as Red Star played to a hard fought 1-1 draw with Dragan Stojković scoring the valuable away goal. The return leg in Belgrade was even more eventful as Savićević scored with an excellent strike, but German referee Dieter Pauli stopped and voided the match because of thick fog that engulfed the city. The second leg replay was played the very next day, resulting again in 1-1 scoreline, taking the match to penalties where the Italians came up on top 2-4 as Savićević and Mitar Mrkela failed to convert their spot-kicks.
Savićević helped Red Star win three consecutive national titles - in 1989/90, 1990/91 and 1991/92, two national Cups in 1990 and 1992 as well as an European Cup and an Intercontinental Cup, both in 1991.
In 1991, following Red Star's European success, Savićević came joint second in the voting for the European Footballer of the Year (Ballon d'Or).
[edit] AC Milan
Savićević's tremendous close control and vision convinced A.C. Milan to secure his services for the start of 1992/93 season in an attempt at filling the void left by Marco van Basten, handing him the opportunity to demonstrate his abilities to an even wider audience. His first season playing for the Rossoneri saw him play 10 matches and score four goals. The next season he became a regular, inspiring Milan to a league and European Cup double and was hailed as Il Genio (The Genius) by Silvio Berlusconi, the then president of Milan. His performance in the European Cup final, was his greatest moment in football and arguably one of the finest individual displays seen in the competition. He created the opening goal and scored a spectacular 35 yard half volley in the club's 4-0 victory. Despite the team’s indifferent form the following season, Savićević lead Milan to their third successive European Cup final but didn't play due to 'injury', even though Savićević insisted he was fit. Milan, lacking his creativity lost a bland final to Ajax 1-0. With Milan he won 7 trophies, including 3 scudetti (Serie A championships) - 1992-93, 1993-94, 1995-96, 1 European Cup - 1993-94 and 1 European Super Cup, but he was criticised in the Italian media for not always trying against smaller teams and his performances regularly blew hot and cold.
[edit] Coaching career
Savićević's two-year spell as coach of the national side was a polar opposite of his distinguished playing career.
Immediately after retiring in May 2001, he was named as coach of the FR Yugoslavia / Serbia-Montenegro national squad, in succession to the short, and tempestuous 3-month tenure of Milovan Đorić. Despite Savićević's complete lack of any relevant coaching experience, and the side's already faint chances of progressing from the World Cup 2002 qualifying tournament, the announcement of his appointment was generally well received by the public.
At first, Savićević was part of a 3-man coaching commission with the experienced Vujadin Boškov and Ivan Ćurković by his side, but took over the duties all by himself by December 2001. At the time, he claimed to have taken the solo job on temporary basis only, since Dušan Bajević rejected it.[1] Savićević also intimated the new permanent coach would take over by the summer of 2002. However, that did not happen and he remained in post until June 2003. Throughout his reign, he failed to achieve a settled team, and his personal disputes with Mateja Kežman precipitated the striker to temporarily retire from international football. Savićević finally resigned in June 2003 after a humiliating 1-2 defeat to Azerbaijan in a Euro 2004 qualifier, which was also the team's fifth defeat in a row. His overall managerial record was 4 wins, 11 losses, and 2 draws, in addition to 4 wins, 2 losses, and 2 ties as part of the commission.
[edit] Administrative / Political career
In the summer of 2004, 37-year-old Savićević became the president of the Football Association of Montenegro, which was at the time under the umbrella of Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro.
Savićević then publicly came out in favour of Montenegrin independence, becoming an important part of the pro-independence campaign organized by Movement for Independent Montenegro. He attended, and spoke at, rallies alongside Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Đukanović. Savićević's face also appeared on billboards urging the citizens of Montenegro to vote 'Yes' at the referendum.
Then in spring 2006 while interviewed for NTV Montena, Savićević admitted to playing "in a couple of fixed matches" while with Budućnost in the old Yugoslav First League. He also claimed on the same occasion that that season's (2005-06) Serbia-Montenegro league was mostly rigged, but declined to elaborate or provide evidence by saying "I don't want to be killed because of football like Branko Bulatović".[2]
[edit] Personal
Savićević was married to Valentina Brajović (divorced in 2000) with whom he has two children.
He was severely injured in a traffic accident that occurred October 1, 2005 on a Podgorica street. He fractured both arms after crashing his motorcycle into the rear end of a moving vehicle, becoming airborne and landing hard on the pavement. The recovery period was about six months long.
[edit] Trivia
Savićević is the protagonist of a widely circulated internet clip (viral video) from a 1999 Dutch documentary about the 1987 World Youth Championship winning SFR Yugoslavia under-20 team. Most of the footage was shot in October 1999 just as the Yugoslavia and Croatia national teams were to play a deciding Euro 2000 qualifier in Zagreb. Conceptualized as a "what might've been" homage of sorts, the documentary interviews different members of the 1987 youth side, now split between the senior national teams of two countries.
This particular clip shows Savićević being interviewed on the day before the match, in front of the hotel in Zagreb where Yugoslav team was staying. He is wearing Yugoslavia training gear and as such is easily spotted and recognized by people strolling by. As Dejan is answering a question, man on the street is heard shouting off-camera: "You're a piece of shit!".
Savićević looks up, realizes the comment was directed at him and answers the heckler by berating him with an obscenity laced tirade. After insulting him sufficiently, Savićević returns his attention to the interview and continues answering the question right where he left off without missing a beat.
[edit] References
- ^ UEFA Magazine - Montenegro's new dawn by Aleksandar Bošković
[edit] External links
- Savicevic scores for Red Star (Bayern - Red Star, Championship League semifinals, 1991)
- Savicevic scores for AC Milan (AC Milan - Barcelona, Championship League finals, 1994)
- Savicevic league stats
- Savicevic swears in Zagreb
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