Thursday, December 31, 2015

Happy New Year!

I wish all Readers, Fans, Friends, Grave Diggers and Visitors a prosperous New Year for 2016.
I wish all of us to celebrate Partizan in the new year as often as possible!



Sunday, December 27, 2015

KK Partizan - Igokea 66:73 (Adriatic League, Round 17)

We did the very same as here. We had a horror second half after an excellent first one. Though in the beginning the team was full of energy.



We warmed up...


(photos: Twitter)

...then we walked out to the court and immediately turned the standing from 2:3 to 5:3 with Wilson’s 3-pointer.

There were a very saddeningly little amount of audience in Pionir Hall. You can see on the upper photo how empty the stands are. During the game the sports hall got a bit more filled with people, but the official statistics still talk about not more than 2500 spectators.

Wilson was on full speed. He ran through the court, threw baskets, either from rebound or from free throw, the way it was just needed. The others followed his footsteps, Vrabac, Vitkovac, Cvetković, Jones, Murić all scored. For the end of the first half we were leading with more than 10 points (22:11).

(photo: aba-liga.com)

In the second quarter our advantage was still around 9 points, though around here it started to be a bit annoying that we just couldn’t throw one single 3-pointer.

The last one we managed to score was by Cvetković in the first quarter. I think I won’t spoil the end by telling you, we couldn’t score any 3-pointer for quite a long time ahead.

Not scoring any 3-pointers was just one side of the problem, but on the other, even our 2-pointer attempts failed. The ball either rebounded from the ring or we were blocked by Igokea-players. But never mind, we could still keep up our advantage. The closest Igokea could get to us was 4 points (28:24), but Wilson, Anđušić and Milutinović (with his last-minute score) ensured everyone that we are in control. We finished the second quarter with 34:28.

The only flaw of this confident leading was that it was more and more difficult for us to score, as the half-time approached. Even this last action by Milutinović was in fact a free throw. But let’s not be voracious, we are leading with 6 points, aren’t we?

(photo: aba-liga.com)

Then came the third quarter.
In the beginning it was 38:28, nobody suspected anything.
Then Igokea made it to 38:34, Petar Božić quickly asked for time-out. Then Wilson scored (40:34).
The problem was that after two and a half quarters Igokea found out that they can in fact throw 3-pointers. (40:37).
No problem, Milutinoivć threw a basket, with one bonus shot (43:37).
But Igokea equalized (43:43). Murić could score a 3-pointer (46:43), but even this didn’t help. Igokea took the lead (46:48). Anđušić equalized (48:48), but before the end buzz Igokea scored again. 48:50, buzz, we had a short time to find our breaths and then we had to enter the final part.

If I smoked, at this point I would have surely lighted a cigarette with a dry smile and a shrug. But I don’t smoke. I was just drumming nervously with the pen I was making notes with during the game, sometimes facepalming, sometimes just with a weary sigh.


(photos: aba-liga.com)

The last quarter was controlled by Igokea. We couldn’t even approach them. The closest standing was 50:52 in the beginning of the quarter, after Vrabac’s free throw. Nothing, just nothing worked for us. None of the players had any significant performance - maybe Wilson, at the beginning of the match, but later he faded and was unremarkable.

I have an always stronger impression about Anđušić that he can’t wait for his contract to expire with Partizan, so he can leave and find some other team. From an outsider’s point of view it seems, he invests more energy even into caring for his social media profiles than into his performance on matches. Maybe it’s not just a co-incidence that he appears less and less on court lately.

It was a physical pain to watch Partizan in the last quarter. After a while Igokea was leading with 10 points (52:62). We tried to reduce the difference, but it got back to 10 points after a while (56:66). Anđušić tried with a 3-pointer, but still, the difference was still 8 points (60:68). Igokea scored again (60:70). Wilson reduced it to 66:70, but all his scores were from free throws. Igokea mercilessly threw a 3-pointer 45 seconds before the end (66:73).
That was the end of all.


We screwed it up

Very much
(photos: hotsport.rs)

Nobody wants to be now in the place of Petar Božić.

(photo: aba-liga.com)

As Fellow Fan added a sharp but true comment at the end of the game: we should pray.

Highlights:


KK Partizan: Cvetković (5), Aranitović (2), Jones (8), Murić (5), Marinković (2), Vitkovac (4), Đumić, Magdevski, Milutinović (6), Vrabac (5), Wilson (20), Anđušić (9)

Igokea: Pašajlić, Krstić (10), Ćapin (8), Pešaković (2), Kesar (5), Mikulić, Booker (12), Milošević (3), Radenović (7), Radivojević (26), Talić

League table will be brought later.
Update: current standing of the League
1. Budućnost 32 points
2. Cedevita 31 points
3. CZ 30 points
4. Mega Leks 28 points
5. Krka 25 points
6. MZT Skopje 24 points
7. Cibona 24 points
8. Tajfun Šentjur 24 points
9. Zadar 24 points
10. Metalac 24 points
11. Union Olimpija 23 points
12. Igokea 23 points
13. Partizan 23 points
14. Sutjeska 22 points

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Christmas

Merry Christmas to all followers, blog readers, fellow fans, Grave Diggers and visitors, who celebrate it now!



MZT Skopje - KK Partizan 82:78 (Adriatic League, Round 16)

This season has already killed me in numerous ways. My by default worn-out nerves have been torn by the football team, their non-existing success and all the scandals around them. The continuous fiasco of the basketball team made this weight even heavier (and let’s not talk now about the volleyball team, please).
And then there are these matches, like this one.
It started right with a foul and a free throw for Skopje (1:0). No problem, we switched the standing easily (1:7, with the scores of Vitkovac, Wilson and Jones). Then the home team reduced the difference and even took back the lead (10:9).
From then on Skopje kept things under their control for the rest of the first quarter. We could switch the standing only once (12:13), but it didn’t last longer than a few seconds. Our defense seemed to be non-existent, Macedonians threw 3-pointers one after the other, while for us nothing worked. Really nothing. None of our 3-pointer attempts were successful (and it went on like this for long), while Skopje’s defense line was so brutal that we couldn’t throw even a hook. The first quarter ended with 27:19.

Vitkovac is trying to stop Skopje’s player, the two Americans assist him from both sides
(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)

In the second quarter the difference was already 10 points for Skopje (33:23). They threw two 3-pointers, while we were just blinking like a frog in the Hungarian meat-jelly. With blood and sweat we made it to 33:29 (Anđušić + Wilson), Skopje sped up (37:29). We equalized with big effort (38:38, again Anđušić and Wilson), but Skopje’s defense line locked up (they practically blocked even our brains off), they even threw a 3-pointer (41:38). At the very end Vitkovac scored, we finished the first half with a one-point difference (41:40).
In the beginning of the second half the home team quickly made it to 47:40. Petar Božić asked for time-out, but it seemed to be in vain - Skopje again crossed the 10-point difference line (53:42). We struggled hard, we had to pick our points almost one by one. We reduced the difference to 53:47, but Skopje again increased it from free throw (55:47). After Vrabac’s 3-pointer (55:50) we seemed to wake up. We made it to 57:56 (Cvetković, Đumić and Jones scored), but here again the same happened as earlier in the game: we approached the opponent to 1-2 points, but we can’t equalize, nor can we switch the standings, while they speed up and increase the difference. That’s what happened at this point, too, though we missed out two free throws in a row. We faced the last quarter with 62:56.

Murić trying to block
(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)

In the last quarter we continued where we stopped. We made it to 62:61, Skopje quickly rushed away, 66:61.
Here came the drama, but at this point Average Fan was so weary that there was energy only for a dry smile instead of scratching the floor insanely.
First we equalized. 66:66, scorers: Jones and Milutinović.
Wilson came, saw, we took back the lead (66:69).
Skopje equalized (69:69). They took back the lead (71:69).
Jones equalized (71:71).

Average Fan just writhed one or two, in a half-laying, half-sitting position. Mouth half open, sometimes with a bit of froth. Nothing mattered anymore.

There were barely 2 minutes left, when in the most critical moment Skopje accidentally dropped the ball.
The only problem was that when we wanted to run up for a counter-attack, the ball was stolen from Anđušić. We got the consequences, too. 74:71.
Skopje’s defense again grew into a concrete wall, while something seemed to break at Partizan. First, again nothing ever worked. We couldn’t score, neither from distance, nor from under the backboard. Foul came after foul, all from us, Skopje got a row of free throws.

What is more, all these fouls were real and just. Referees worked quite well at this game.

At 78:71 Wilson scored from free throw (78:73). He tried to keep the spirit somehow in the team (79:75). Milutinović reduced the difference to 80:78 with a 3-pointer, but 7 seconds before the end Jones was fouled out. Skopje got a free throw and they won the game with it. (82:78)
You can watch the last one and a half minutes here.


Highlights:


MZT Skopje: Protić (8), Ljubičić (8), Mekić, Markovski, Vasiljević, Mladenovski, Drenovac (17), Bunić, Stojanovski (12), Mijatović (10), M. Luković (7), U. Luković (20)

KK Partizan: Cvetković (6), Aranitović, Jones (14), Murić, Marinković (2), Vitkovac (10), Đumić (3), Magdevski, Milutinović (6), Vrabac (5), Wilson (21), Anđušić (11)

League table will be brought later.
Update: current standing of the League
1. Budućnost 30 points
2. Cedevita 29 points
3. CZ 28 points
4. Mega Leks 26 points
5. Krka 24 points
6. MZT Skopje 23 points
7. Tajfun Šentjur 23 points
8. Zadar 23 points
9. Union Olimpija 22 points
10. Partizan 22 points
11. Cibona 22 points
12. Metalac 22 points
13. Igokea 21 points
14. Sutjeska 21 points

Monday, December 21, 2015

HK Partizan - NS Stars 5:1 (Serbian ice hockey league)

I don’t know which round this one is supposed to be - there have been so many postponed and cancelled matches in the past weeks that I lost the thread. At the end of the championship I will put up here the final league table, that will be 100 % sure.
Yesterday our sons clashed with NS Stars from Novi Sad. In the first period the guests were leading, some reports say their defense line was like concrete.
In the first period.
Only in the first period.
Because in the second one Marko Milovanović equalized (assisted enthusiastically by Nemanja Janković and youth national team member Lazar Leštarić, who just returned from a one-year field trip in the US). Five and a half minutes later we took the lead. Srđan Ristić scored, Marko Brkušanin assisted. Three minutes before the end of the period Dragan Komazec came, saw and scored, we entered the final with 3:1.
In the last period the Novi Sad team got a row of 2-minute penalties, and it paid off. Their defense broke to pieces, Nemanja Janković took advantage of it (4:1, assist: Marko Milovanović). Finally Marko Brkušanin got the puck, ran up and scored, just as it’s written in the Great Book of Ice Hockey. 5:1
Photos from the game:


A player of NS Stars is trying to deactivate Pavle Ogrizović - in vain

Nenad Raković

Marko Brkušanin escaping with the puck

Mass scene with Srđan Ristić in the middle - Kravljanac arriving on the right to support him, while Milovanović is watching from the distance

Marko "The Unstoppable" Milovanović

Ogrizović fighting for the puck
(photos: Facebook/Hokejaški klub Partizan (Fan page))


Saturday, December 19, 2015

KK Partizan - Mega Leks 78:85 (Adriatic League, Round 15)

Summary of the game: in the first half we demonstrated how to play basketball. In the second we demonstrated how never to play basketball.

It’s very hard to blog about these games, when we play as if it was such an educational documentary.

At the beginning there was a small celebration for Kosta Perović, who said goodbye to the team.

Perović announced earlier this week that he would retire from basketball. He said, a knee injury prevents him from playing, while he lacks motivation as well.

Kosta, thank you for everything!...
(photo: aba-liga.com)

The match started with struggling. Mega quickly made it to 2:5, right in the beginning. Jones brought us up to 4:5, but Mega had a very rough start. Their defense line was from concrete and they attacked very aggressively (which didn’t change during the match). We either got blocked by their defense or when we tried with 3-pointers, they all rebounded from the ring.
All these led us to be in the fallback of a 4:10 standing. Marinković scored a 3-pointer (7:10), then Jones activated himself and equalized (10:10). Mega modified it to 10:14, we still tied up with the scores of Jones and Vitkovac to 13:15. Then at 15:17 Milutinović switched the standing with a 3-pointer. 18:17, we are leading!
Mega equalized from free throw (18:18) and it was almost the end buzz, when Jones came and...


In the second quarter the Parni valjak started to roll. Đumić was on fire (25:19), the others followed his example: Milutinović (27:21), Marinković (29:21) - at this point Mega scored, after long struggling (29:23), but Murić answered with a 3-pointer (32:23). Then, when Marinković scored, we crossed the two-digit line (34:23). We kept it, playing very powerful and aggressive. Mega mostly just assisted for us, though they got a gift free throw here and there from the referees. We finished the first half with 47:29 and anyone could think we’d have a spectacular game with great battles and a shining victory with 10+ points of difference.
Oh, wait...

Banner for the memory of Haris Brkić
(photo: Twitter)

All looked smooth in the beginning of the third quarter. We kept the more-than-10-point difference (48:35), everyone was on full speed.

(photo: aba-liga.com)

Even at 55:37 nothing seemed to be suspicious. The game was going on absoultey well, with great fight, fans screaming and chanting, players demonstrating their top skills. What else do we want?
At 56:41 Aranitović scored a 3-pointer (59:41). Come on, boys, just two more points and the difference will be 20!
Or not.
Don’t ask what happened, I have no ideA harmadik negyed elején még senki sem gyanakodott. Tartottuk a 10 pont feletti különbséget (48:35), mindenki csúcsra járatta magát.a. At first Mega reduced the difference to 59:46. Đumić scored once from free throw (60:46), and that was Partizan’s last score in that quarter.
Mega made a 11-point (!) series. They made it to 60:57, while nothing worked out for our favour. Also, for unknown reasons Petar Božić didn’t asked for time-out. It was just time for the end of the third part.

Vrabac surrounded by 3 defenders
(photo: aba-liga.com)

The last quarter started with Aranitović’s 3-pointer (63:57), but it didn’t keep hopes alive for too long. Mega didn’t just equalize, but even took back the lead (63:64). We couldn’t throw one single basket. The opponent took heart and made it to 63:68. Jones pushed us back to 67:68, then Wilson equalized (70:70). We couldn’t be happy for too long again, a few seconds later Mega took back the lead with a 3-pointer (70:73).
From then on it seemed as if everything would have conspired against us. We started to panic, we had a lot of fouls, referees were whistling continuously while giving free throws to Mega. We couldn’t score at all, neither in, nor out of the paint. Wilson tried to keep the spirit in the team, he scored two baskets, but he couldn’t change the miserable situation overall. At 78:83 Vrabac was fouled out. There were only 7 seconds left. Mega threw one more basket and it ended.


Mihajlo Andrić recently underwent operation in Istanbul, since then he returned to Belgrade. Andrić is a hero, because the first thing he did was going to his team’s match
(photo: aba-liga.com)

Highlights:


KK Partizan: Cvetković (2), P. Aranitović (11), Jones (21), Murić (3), Marinković (11), Vitkovac (1), Đumić (5), Magdevski, Milutinović (9), Vrabac (2), Wilson (13), Anđušić

Mega Leks: Simić, A. Aranitović (15), Đoković, Jaramaz (13), Veljković (7), Ivanović (12), Pavlović, Luwawu (8), Kaba (2), Simeunović (3), Nikolić (19), Janković (6)

League table will be brought tomorrow.
Update: current standing of the League
1. Budućnost 28 points
2. Cedevita 27 points
3. CZ 26 points
4. Mega Leks 25 points
5. Zadar 22 points
6. Tajfun Šentjur 22 points
7. Krka 22 points
8. MZT Skopje 21 points
9. Union Olimpija 21 points
10. Partizan 21 points
11. Cibona 21 points
12. Igokea 20 points
13. Metalac 20 points
14. Sutjeska 19 points

Friday, December 18, 2015

OK Partizan - Spartak Ljig 3:0 (superliga, round 9)

It was an easy, smooth game without much excitement against the Ljig-based team. Well, all right, at the end there was some excitement, because the guests were leading to 5:8 at the beginning of the first set, but later it was gone. They still kept themselves during the first part, the standing was still narrow in the middle of the set (16:15), even at the end the difference was only 3 points (21:18), but we still won to 25:20.
The second set was smoother. The difference was growing, first it was 8:5, then 16:13, finally, at the end we were leading to 21:16. The always bigger Partizan-pressure got to be a too heavy weight for Spartak, the second part ended with 25:19.
At the end it was like a festival. The Buša-Veličković-Pantić axis sped up, they scored one point after the other. We made it to 16:10, then to 21:12. Spartak collapsed. The end was all fireworks, we won the set to 25:13 as well as the match to 3:0.
The heroes of the day are Boris Buša and Luka Veličković, they both scored 16-16 points. They are followed by Dimitrije Pantić (12), Dušan Lopar (9), Ivan Kostić (6) and Aleksa Polomac (5).
This time there are photos, too.

Standing with his back to the viewer, wearing #1 shirt it's Boris Buša, behind him (#5) Lopar. At the net with #15 it’s Polomac, while at the back of the photo, wearing white shirt it’s Bojan Rajkovć, everyone’s favourite libero

Group hug at the end
(photos: Facebook/Odbojkaški Klub Partizan)

League table will be brought later.
Update: current championship standings
1. CZ 24 points
2. Vojvodina 24 points
3. Novi Pazar 19 points
4. Niš 14 points
5. Partizan 13 points
6. Spartak Ljig 12 points
7. Radnički 11 points
8. Klek 9 points
9. Ribnica 8 points
10. Inđija 1 point

Thursday, December 17, 2015

FK Partizan - Borac 2:1 (Jelen SuperLiga, Round 22 - last round of the autumn season)

First, a big thank you to this Youtube-channel for uploading the entire game. Yesterday the devil of technology killed me. For unknown reason the speed of my net connection was below zero, for this reason all streams were unwatchable. Even Partizan’s official live score text page was unavailable sometimes.

I would have terminated the contract with the current provider long ago, if I hadn’t hated so much to fight with customer service idiots, whose IQ-level is equal to square root two, not mentioning the disgusting tricks of local service providers, that are quite common over here. But if all goes well, this current state won’t last too long anymore.

A big high five (into the face, possibly with a pool table) to all those who decided to put the last round of the autumn season to weekday, well, generally for organizing the time-table of this season to end it on Wednesday instead of week-end.
Partizan played this game behind closed doors. We got this punishment after the game against Vojvodina, when the referee was overly sensitive towards fan chants and almost surely cried a river about it at FSS.

The team warmed up in front of empty stands
(photo: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)

Borac attacked right in the first minute from the left, Fabricio blocked it. In the 3rd minute we got a free kick, 25 metres from the goal line. Fabricio shot it, it wasn't too high, the ball dropped right into the goalkeeper's hands.

Darko Brašanac was Partizan’s team captain
(photo: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)

The 6th minute brought another Borac-attack. The attacker crossed from the left to the other side of the field. The ball rolled out of the sideline. Throw-in, the ball dropped to Mićić, he shot, it was rather imprecise. Kljajić caught it.
A minute later Jovanović passed the ball forward on the left. Someone from Borac’s attackers shot, it was a weak one. It caused no headache for Kljajić.
It was visible even at this point that Partizan again has barely any ideas about how and what to play. There was again nothing but fumbling and clueless passing of the ball here and there. Borac used the tactics of full-field press, which rather confused Partizan’s players. Finally, in the 10th minute Aboubakar got the ball. He forwarded it to Lukić, Lukić, well, nobody knows whom he wanted to cross or shoot to, nevertheless the ball rolled fast to the left side. Leković sped up, he could still catch it and crossed it to the middle. Bojinov headed it, it was too wide.

It was so wide it caused actual physical pain.

In the 11th minute Lukić got the ball. He ran up, shot, it was too wide. Way too wide.
After the first 15 minutes it was also visible that it will be a very crappy match that stinks from sweat. Both teams pressed hard, but with no shoot, not even any attempt.

As an extra, for some odd reason Aboubakar has the tendency to slip over the ball at least once at every game, mostly in the middle of an attack. i don’t know how it’s possible... I’ll be honest, I’m not too fond of the Cameroonian, I find him a one-dimensional player (he does what he is asked for, but nothing more, also nothing less, bit like a robot), and after such moments his reputation gets even lower in my eyes.

In the 17th minute Jovančić sent an excellent pass to Knežević. Knežević ran up, Kljajić bursted out of the goalmouth. He clashed with Knežević, Knežević tripped and fell, but the referee didn’t whistle. On the other side Milan Jevtović arrived and shot the ball right into the net. 0:1
Bojinov broke the remainings of my nerve cells. I have never seen such a slow, sluggish striker ever in my whole life. All defenders tackle him any time, he is too slow for passes and crosses, he misses out countless chances and attempts and he is not a team player either. As for talent... well, it was probably not available at that area where he is from. Off the field he is a terribly stupid monkey who has darkness in his head and spends his time showing off at social network sites. Had he invested just half of that energy into goal-shooting as he invests into his haircut and posting brainless photos on Instagram, we would be much more ahead.

To all those who got shocked on my words now, also to all Bojinov-fangirls and fanboys: on one hand, I couldn’t care less for you being butthurt. On the other, knowing that this poser came to Partizan, because nobody else wanted to sign him, and even Partizan signed him only because they didn’t have to pay for him a cent, well, knowing this you can shut the fuck up. (You can look at his career, he spent most of his time in the reverse team at every club, while he was literally kicked out of Sporting like a leper.)
All those who dare to whine now something like "oh, but he scores goals, why are you so rude to him": that’s his job, idiots. He is a striker. That’s why he gets his money, that’s why he was brought here. The problem is that he’s doing everything but scoring goals the way he should.

Partizan was struggling ahead. The team had XXL-sized piles for now, but we still lacked ideas about how and what to do. As for attempts, there was none, not even just to demonstrate we’re still trying.
In the 21st minute Leković got the ball. He crossed it to Aboubakar in the middle, he shot, it was brutally high.
In the 29th minute Bandalovski could make it to the penalty area at long last. Well, in fact it wasn’t even an attempt, it was just some trying, but at least something happened. The goalkeeper nevertheless caught the ball, though he absolutely didn’t have to exert himself.
A minute later Andrija Živković dribbled himself into the penalty area, he shoot, the defenders blocked, corner kick.

This was the first corner kick of the game. It says everything about the level that there were only 3 corner kicks during the entire game (2 for Partizan, 1 for Borac).

In the 38th minute Lukić got the ball on the left and forwarded it to Petrović. Petrović crossed to Brašanac, Brašanac sent it forward to Andrija Živković at the other side. Žile most probably got fed up with the general fumbling, he shot and the ball dropped into the net. 1:1

(photo: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)

In the 40th minute Aboubakar got the ball on the left. He ran up, crossed to the middle. Guess, who was there? Bojinov. Guess, what he did? He successfully kicked the ball right into the goalkeeper from 2 centimetres.
Finally, in the 43rd minute Knežević had a sudden, distant shot from the left. Kljajić had a great save, the ball rolled out, corner kick. The kick was headed too high by Vujaklija.
In the second half the level of the game was just the same as in the first one. The only change was that Brašanac was substituted, Andrija Živković was wearing the captain’s armband in the second half.

(photo: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)

Do you know that feeling when a match is such a crap that it causes physical pain and you countdown the minutes on how much you have left?
Well, this match was just this kind.
The first event to mention happened in the 58th minute. We lost the ball, Mićić grabbed it, he forwarded it with a long pass, no flag up, Knežević ran up, he shot, it was too high.
In the 63rd minute Aboubakar ran up with the ball in the middle. He crossed it out to the Young Captain, who dribbled into the penalty area. Defenders immediately surrounded him, so he passed the ball back to Aboubakar. Aboubakar shot, the goalkeeper had a great save.
A minute later Leković ran up on the left. At the penalty area he crossed to the middle, Bojinov arrived, all doors and windows were open, the Bulgarian shot, too wide.
In the 66th minute Lukić crossed to Andrija Živković. Živković shot from 17 metres, too high.

It was more and more like a torture.

In the 77th minute Grbić passed to Andrija Živković. Živković dribbled himself up, then shot from a sharp angle. The defenders cleared, but they all surely had a cardial arrest.
In the 81st minute Kosović forwarded the ball to Lukić with a soft, excellent pass. Lukić ran up, shot, the goalkeeper had a great save. The ball dropped to Andrija Živković, he shot, too wide.
In the 83rd minute Kosović got the ball. He ran up on the right, crossed to the middle, where Bojinov shot the ball into a defender.
A minute later Stevanović forwarded the ball to Bojinov. Bojinov had great luck this time, because defenders were all behind, he couldn’t kick the ball into anyone. This way he could ran up to the penalty area and shot the ball into the net by the falling goalkeeper. 2:1

If I saw it well, Baldhead ran out to the sideline right after his goal and hugged Vazura.
Please, tell me, that I didn’t see it well, I don’t want to throw up.

For the rest of the game, Stevanović broke the record of "shortest time of getting two yellow cards and clear off the field". Stevanović made it within 3 minutes. (First yellow card: 89th minute, second yellow card: 90+2nd minute.)
I swear, it’s high time for the end of the season.

Highlights:



Facts:

Venue: Partizan Stadion, Belgrade
Number of spectators: -
Referee: Vlado Glođović (assistants: Dejan Petrović, Matija Olajos-Nagy - 4th assistant: Srđan Kaurin - goal line assistants: Novak Simović, Róbert Kis-Csepegi)

FK Partizan: Kljajić - Bandalovski, Ćirković (Grbić, 46.), Fabricio, Leković - Petrović, Lukić - A. Živković, Brašanac (Kosović, 46.), Aboubakar (Stevanović, 69.) - Bojinov
Head coach: Ljubinko Drulović

Borac: Bajić - Đorđević, Drašković, Tanasin, S. Živković - Mićić (Obradović, 67.), Jovančić - Milan Jevtović, Vukmirović (Milojević, 86.), Knežević - Vujaklija (Đerić, 71.)
Head coach: Milorad Kosanović

Goal scorers: Milan Jevtović (17.), A. Živković (38.), Bojinov (84.)
Yellow card: Milan Jevtović (34.), Vukmirović (40.), Grbić (50.), Mićić (59.), Lukić (73.), Petrović (86.), Stevanović (89.)
Red card: Stevanović (90+2., second yellow card)

End result of the autumn season:
1. CZ 62 points
2. Čukarički 37 points
3. Borac 37 points
4. Partizan 36 points
5. Vojvodina 35 points
6. Radnički Niš 32 points
7. Mladost 31 points
8. Javor 30 points
9. FK Voždovac 29 points
10. Surdulica 27 points
11. Metalac 24 points
12. Novi Pazar 24 points
13. OFK Beograd 19 points
14. Jagodina 19 points
15. Rad 16 points
16. Spartak Zlatibor Voda 15 points

VK Partizan - OSC Budapest 5:4 (Champions League, Round 4)

What a game it was.
Hungarian opponent, Hungarian broadcast, Hungarian TV-presenter broke the remains of my nerves to pieces (the football game in the afternoon killed most of my nerve cells, I had only one nerve fibre left - I don't know who was the presenter tonight, Dániel Mezei or Gábor P. Fülöp, it doesn't really matter, but whomever it was, he was dancing on that one remaining line of my nerve cells - and he was paid for this, with tax payers' money, you get what I mean).

By the way, there was surely something in the air. My net connection was on the verge of death all day long, it still is even now, as I'm typing this blogpost. Then the TV broadcast died, too, not just once. Either the screen blacked out or the broadcast was lagging. This goddamned state-owned sports channel was made from 80 billion HUF (253 million euros), 80 billion crispy, state-owned HUF. And that's all you can bring out of it. Congratulations.
Other than this, I'd kindly like to ask all those in charge: what the hell do you think who'll be interested in the pathetic failure of the Hungarian female handball team on the world cup right before a water polo match? Who on earth would be interested in the 623rd whining and complaining about how it should have been done? Who?...
Go to hell, all of you, together with your 80 bn TV channel.

All right. Cut. Banjica swimming pool, at long last. The boys splash into the water, Rističević immediately had a great save.

The Hungarian presenter should very quickly find himself a good speech/language therapist, because he continuously misspelled the Serbian players’ names. That’s one thing he called Rističević first as "Čičević" (where the heck did that come from?...), but even for the rest of the game he called Partizan’s goalkeeper "rishtishevich" (I wrote it with English spelling, so it might be easy for all of you to see). Subotić was his other victim, he called the top goal scorer either "shubotich" or "subotits". Facepalm. Facepalm. Facepalm.

We had a counter-attack, Asanović shot, Bisztritsányi saved.

Had Bisztritsányi not been the goalkeeper of OSC, we would have won over them with more than 10 goals for sure. I very much hope the entire team bowed down for him after the match.

But Rističević was again the MVP of the game. He quickly saved a shot, then our defense line blocked another and we could swim up for a counter-attack. Gogov got the ball, he shot and scored Partizan’s first goal. 1:0, at almost the half of the quarter.
At the very end Decker scored from power play - between these two goals we hit the goalposts and the crossbar countless times, while Partizan’s defense (including of course Rističević) did a top quality job.
In the second quarter OSC got into power play, but Rističević shut down the shutters, hanged out the "Closed" sign and saved the attempts of the opponent. Not just this one, but all of them in this quarter as well as in the next one, no matter if OSC happened to be in power play or not. We made a counter-attack, Stojanović got the ball, shot and scored. 2:1
What is more, Jakšić immediately scored another! 3:1!!!
The only happening left for the first half was that Jakšić wanted to just drop the ball with a delicate movement into OSC’s net, but someone from the opponent literally stole the ball off from his hand. At the very end, only 2 seconds were left, when Rističević threw the ball and almost scored a goal.
In the third quarter Rističević presented the trick of "saving a shot from 1 cm".

I almost got a cardial arrest. First from the attack itself, then as Partizan's goalkeeper saved, a big load rolled off my mind (and heart). All glories to Dimitrije Rističević.

Partizan counter-attack, and Stojanović scored from an amazing, impossible cannon shot. He was just swinging and swinging the ball, then BANG, and 4:1!!!
OSC tried with full-pool press, with no success, while we kept on hitting the goalpost/crossbar.
Then came the last quarter. OSC picked themselves together. They scored a goal (after 2 quarters...), then almost immediately another one. 4:3 Meanwhile they desperately attacked, just they forgot about Gilen, who scored a huge goal from power play. 5:3
Rističević... Rističević came from another planet.

(photo: mozzartsport.com)

At the end OSC pushed one more goal into our net (5:4). They visibly wanted to earn at least a draw - well, guys, I have bad news for you. It should have come to your mind earlier than the last quarter.

(photo: waterpolopartizan.rs)

Oh, and the final punch line.
End of the match, Hungarian TV-presenter says with a bit of shocked voice: "Partizan-players looked at Vujasinović as if he was God."
BECAUSE THIS IS PARTIZAN!!!

Current standing of Group B:
1. Pro Recco 12 points
2. Szolnok 9 points
3. Dubrovnik 9 points
4. Partizan 6 points
5. OSC 0 point
6. Galatasaray 0 point


Monday, December 14, 2015

KK Partizan - Metalac 81:70 (Adriatic League, Round 14)

This was a game to remember - not just because we tore Metalac to pieces, but because Edo Murić returned after almost half a year, recovering from his serious injury.
Here is how he was warming up.


Aleksandar Cvetković also returned, though thankfully he didn’t need such a brutally long rest.
Players were wearing these T-shirts when entering the court.

(photo: Twitter)

(photo: mozzartsport.com)

(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)

With these T-shirts they sent a big high five and a support/love bomb to their teammate Mihajlo Andrić. (Andrić’s injury has renewed, and it was so serious now that Andrić had to undergo surgery. He was sent to the Acibadem Clinics in Istambul. The surgery was successful, Andrić is fine, but it will take months until he recovers.)
Mihajlo Andrić was moved a lot.

A photo posted by Mihajlo Andric (@miha21andric) on


Meanwhile Murić kept on warming up...


...and Average Fan’s nerves got more and more wrecked, because on ArenaSport 1 it was still the extra time of the previous Igokea-Cedevita game going even in the starting time of Partizan’s match. When finally the broadcast started from Pionir Hall, Metalac was leading to 2:7 already. Wonderful, isn’t it?
No problem. Marinković and Murić (who was in the starting 5) quickly modified it to 7:11.

Murić was still wearing bandage on his arm
(photo: hotsport.rs)

My net connection was lagging in the first half. I could still follow the standing, but I might have still missed out a few things. Mea culpa.

We slowly reduced the difference, step by step, then we equalized (15:15), thanks to Wilson and his baskets. What is more, we even took the lead with Marinković’s 3-pointer (18:17). Metalac didn’t let it go at that (18:19), but the Empire Wilson struck back.


Then Vrabac sped up as well. He scored a 3-pointer (23:19), then after 25:22 we finished the first half with  his basket (27:22).
From the second quarter on we had an assertive lead. We didn’t let control out of our hands for a moment. Aranitović threw one basket after the other, the half time result was 47:43, but even this result turned out after we were leading to 47:40, but then Metalac got a free throw (47:41) and at the very end the ball was stolen from Cvetković and Rakićević scored right at the buzz.

Partizan’s former football player Petar Škuletić was present in Pionir Hall. Fans found him and overwhelmed him, and he eagerly posed with children
(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)

At the beginning of the third quarter the guest team equalized (47:47). We urgently had to do something. Marinković immediately scored a 3-pointer (50:47), because the Captain doesn’t want to act as chance directs. Vitkovac took the Captain’s attitude into consideration (52:47), then Vrabac scored after a fantastic solo (54:47). Metalac reduced the difference, they made a 5-point series, it started to be a bit narrow (54:52), but no problem, Wilson came, saw and scored (56:52).
Then nothing happened for long minutes. None of the teams could score at all. Both Partizan and Metalac hardened their defense wall into concrete at least for 3 minutes, but maybe for more. Finally, there was less than half a minute left from the quarter, when Murić scored (58:52). One basket was scored at the other side as well, we could enter the last part with 58:54.
In the fourth quarter the Valjevo team kept it narrow (60:57), what is more, Kutlešić scored the weirdest basket of the season.


But no problem. Aranitović immediately answered (63:57), Jones and Murić increased our difference to two-digit (67:57), Wilson even crossed the 10-point line (69:57), then he even assisted to Aranitović’s basket (71:57). Metalac collapsed slowly but surely. 74:60, then 77:63, Wilson was in royal spirits. Metalac pressured in two points from free throw (77:65), Jones increased our difference again (79:65). After a 3-pointer by Metalac Vrabac scored again (87:68). One Metalac-basket left (81:70) and end buzz.
It was time to celebrate.

(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)

Highlights:


KK Partizan: Cvetković, Aranitović (17), Jones (8), Murić (9), Marinković (13), Vitkovac (4), Đumić (4), Magdevski, Milutinović (2), Vrabac (9), Wilson (15), Anđušić

Metalac: Kočović (3), Malešević (7), Badovinac, Čampara, Kutlešić (9), Janković (4), Jevtović (14), Jošilo, Rakićević (13), Bakić (5), Todorović (7), Gabrić (8)

League table will be brought tomorrow.

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Rad - FK Partizan 2:2 (Jelen SuperLiga, Round 21)

We had to shit this draw out of ourselves, but it was so hard that it surely caused piles.
After the match on Thursday the press had been full of all kinds of rumours and guessings about Partizan. It is almost a fact that after the end of the autumn season Ljubinko Drulović will have to leave Partizan’s bench. The new head coach is supposed to be Partizan’s former player and sports director Ivan Tomić.

Tomić could be seen at the VIP-tribune at this match
(photo: hotsport.rs)

Unfortunately the resigning of the entire management still hasn’t been confirmed...
Fog and an almost-freezing point-temperature welcomed the players at the Banjica field. In the first minutes fans kept on throwing firecrackers on the grass.
In the 2nd minute Ninković carried the ball upfield, then he crossed to the middle. Someone inside the penalty area pushed it, right to Brašanac. Brašanac shot, it was too wide.
In the 5th minute again Ninković possessed the ball. He dribbled himself into the penalty area, then someone knocked him down (others say Vico touched the ball with his hand), nevertheless the referee whistled it off and pointed at the penalty dot and gave a yellow card to Vico.
Saša Ilić stood behind the ball.

(photo: hotsport.rs)

He ran up...

(photo: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)

...and the goalkeeper saved it.
That’s it. We’re done, we can even close the business. Even the Boss cannot score from penalty :(
In the 9th minute Ninković shot a free kick inside the penalty area. Someone from Rad’s players headed it out, corner-kick. The ball dropped to Saša Ilić, he crossed it to Šaponjić waiting in the middle, but the goalkeeper punched it downfield.
In the 12th minute Brašanac passed to Saša Ilić. The Captain sent a long kick forward to Šaponjić, but the goalkeeper was faster again and saved. In the 15th minute Andrija Živković got a long cross, but a defender blocked him.
As you can see, the game was going on mostly on Rad’s half. The paperclip team

sorry, I can’t help, Rad’s logo always reminds me of a straightened paperclip

didn’t really attack, their tactics were most probably just not letting Partizan score. In exchange they kept on kicking our players to the ground.
In the 24th minute Ninković had a sudden, distant shot, the goalkeeper had a great save. A minute later we played pinball inside Rad’s penalty area, finally the ball dropped to Ninković. He shot, it was too high.
In the 27th minute Leković ran up on the left side and crossed it to the middle. Saša Ilić shot, but a defender blocked. The ball dropped back to the Captain, he shot again, now it was too wide.
In the 29th minute Rad had a weak attempt. Denić had a distant shot, but it was so high that the ball flew out of the stadium and dropped in front of Vojnomedicinska Akademija. Two minutes later Šaponjić had a try, but he was blocked.
In the 32nd minute Ninković shot a free kick inside the penalty area. Šaponjić headed it, it was too high.
In the 34th minute Rad had another attempt. The cross came from the right, but it was too long for the player arriving in the middle.
In the 36th minute Bandalovski had a great trick, passing himself inside Rad’s penalty area. The ball dropped to Andrija Živković. Žile shot, but it was way too wide.
Then in the 37th minute Rad got a free kick, approx. 25 metres from our goal line. Trninić stood behind the ball and sent a flat, cheeky shot to our goal. The ball slid through the wall and flew right into the net. 1:0
In the 40th minute Bandalovski was wrestling with Rad-defenders at the righ tside, then passed the ball to Andrija Živković. Živković shot, the goalkeeper saved.
There was one Rad free kick left for the 44th minute, from 25-28 metres. The shot arrived, Kljajić saved.

(photo: partizan.rs)

In the second half Andrija Živković crossed after a corner-kick. Šaponjić headed it, it was too wide. A minute later again Andrija Živković passed to Šaponjić. Šaponjić shot, the defenders blocked it, corner-kick. In the 56th minute Andrija Živković ran up in the middle and crossed to Stevanović on the left, but Stevanović was tackled.
We were pressing hard, we wanted so much to score a goal, but we failed. Yet in the 59th minute Trninić had a distant shot, barely missing our goal. (We had a great luck, it looked as Kljajić had fallen asleep in the meantime.)
In the 60th minute, well, the truth is that Saša Ilić lost the ball, as if it was an U6-game... Veselinović grabbed it and ran upfield. He crossed, Denić arrived and headed it into our goal. That was it. 2:0
From this point on Rad started to play time. Their players fell on the ground after every clash, rolling on the field for long minutes. In the 66th minute Trninić played the dying swan. Time passed, well, the home team didn’t have anything to be hasty for.
In the 67th minute Stevanović ran up on the left and crossed, the goalkeeper caught it.
In the 71st minute Saša Ilić passed the ball to Brašanac. Brašanac lost the ball, corner-kick. The ball was kicked downfield by Rad-defenders, but we still possessed it. First Andrija Živković shot, he was blocked. Then Stevanović had a try, his shot was too  high. We got the ball back, Andrija Živković dribbled himself through the defenders on the left, then crossed to the middle. Bojinov arrived, his only job was to walk into the net with the ball. 2:1

(photo: hotsport.rs)

In the 78th minute Andrija Živković shot from the distance, it was too wide.
In the 80th minute we got a free kick. Andrija Živković stood behind the ball, but he shot it into the wall. The ball dropped back to him, he shot again, this time the goalkeeper caught it. (Meanwhile the player that was hit by the ball performed a dying scene on the grass. And well, Grave Diggers were totally silent.)
In the 82nd minute we crossed into the penalty area from a 40-metre free kick. Bojinov headed it, but the ball probably slipped on his bald head, because the shot was brutally high.
Then in the 84th minute we could equalize after a corner-kick. Andrija Živković kicked the ball in, Ćirković jumped up and headed it right in front of Bojinov. The Bulgarian shot and scored. 2:2

We happy, Vincent?
(photo: hotsport.rs)

In the 88th minute Brašanac had a distant shot, the goalkeeper again had a great save.
The game was torn to pieces for the last minutes. There were too many fouls, the referee gave out a lot of yellow cards. Rad-players were rolling on the field, fans again chanted "Uprava napolje".

(photo: hotsport.rs)

Highlights:



Facts:

Venue: Kralj Petar I Stadion, Belgrade
Number of spectators: 1000
Referee: Srđan Jovanović (assistants: Uroš Stojković, Dragan Bogićević - 4th assistant: Vukan Gordić - goal line assistants: Marko Popović, Lazar Lukić)

Rad: Budaković - Vico, Đurić, Trninić, Bašanović - Vidić, Ljubinković - Mladenović (Lutovac, 65.), Veselinović, Denić (Kolarević, 82.) - Arsenijević (Nenadović, 72.)
Head coach: Milan Milanović

FK Partizan: Kljajić - Bandalovski, Ćirković, Fabricio, Leković - Jevtović (Golubović, 74.), Brašanac - A. Živković, S. Ilić, Ninković (Stevanović, 46.) - Šaponjić (Bojinov, 58.)
Head coach: Ljubinko Drulović

Goal scorers: Trninić (37.), Denić (60.), Bojinov (72., 84.)
Yellow card: Vico (3.), Ninković (39.), Jevtović (52.), Bandalovski (62.), Trninić (64.), Đurić (80.), Budaković (82.), Vidić (90+1.), Brašanac (90+1.)

Current championship standings:
1. CZ 59 points
2. Borac 37 points
3. Čukarički 36 points
4. Vojvodina 34 points
5. Partizan 33 points
6. Radnički Niš 32 points
7. Javor 30 points
8. Mladost 30 points
9. FK Voždovac 28 points
10. Surdulica 24 points
11. Novi Pazar 23 points
12. Metalac 21 points
13. OFK Beograd 18 points
14. Rad 16 points
15. Jagodina 16 points
16. Spartak Zlatibor Voda 13 points

Jugović - RK Partizan 21:21 (superliga, round 12)

The handball team had an excursion to Kać today to clash with Jugović. The home team used to have better days - in the previous season they even had the chance to get the championship title, while in the current one they have 5 victories, 5 defeats and (from now on) 2 draws, having their place at the lower side of the league table.
The game started very well. (Kać can be a beautiful town in Vojvodina, with atmospheric little streets. How nice it could be to have a walk before the match, maybe even drinking a coffee or something like that.) Our boys walked out to the court and the standing immediately became 0:4 (Kukić started, Živković scored two, then Popović also threw one). It all looked great, just Jugović equalized in the 17th minute (5:5). No problem, we took back the lead with Pižurica’s goal (5:6). We kept leading, sometimes the home team equalized (8:8 in the 27th minute, then 9:9 in the last one), then right before the buzz Živković and Mršulja quickly scored 1-1 goal, so we finished the first half with 9:11.
In the second half we kept the lead with much more confidence, then in the 41st minute, when the standing was 14:17, Jugović got into power play (Đuričić had to sit out to the bench for 2 minutes) and started to reduce the difference. Their player Beloš scored two goals, the standing was 16:17. Radojković quickly shot and scored (16:18), but from this point on the difference was much smaller and Jugović was right behind us with 1-2 goals only. Finally in the 54th minute they equalized (20:20) and even though Kukić scored one more goal (20:21), the home team equalized again in the 57th minute. For the rest of the game none of the teams could score.
The hero of the day was Lazar Kukić, who just turned 20 this Saturday - he celebrated his birthday with 8 goals. He is followed by Nemanja Živković (5), Ivan Popović (4), Igor Mršulja (2) as well as Matija Pižurica and Mihajlo Radojković (1-1).

Photos will be available probably later, as soon as I find any, I update the post.

Update: photos

Popović is about to tear the net of the home team to pieces

Hero of the day, Lazar Kukić

Đuričić is blocking

Pižurica vs. a home team player
(photos: srls.rs)


Current championship standings:
1. CZ 21 points
2. Sloga 18 points
3. Partizan 16 points
4. Metaloplastika 16 points
5. Požarevac 14 points
6. Jugović 12 points
7. Rudar Kostolac 9 points
8. Morava 9 points
9. Radnički 4 points
10. Železničar 1949 1 point


Saturday, December 12, 2015

Klek - OK Partizan 0:3 (superliga, round 8)

We needed this victory as badly as the starving needs a piece of bred. Our position on the league table was more than terrible. Partizan's volleyball team headed to this game standing on the 8th place of the table, with only 2 points ahead of Ribnica.

League table before Partizan's match against Klek
(source: flashscore.com)

Reports talk about very lucky spectators who gathered at the sports hall of Miloš Grbić Elementary School in Klek, because they could see a very exciting, great game. In the first set Klek was leading to 19:18, then Partizan switched the standing to 19:23 (!!!). Klek picked themselves together and reduced the difference to 22:24, but finally we won it to 23:25.
The second set was more or less the same, it brought again a great fight for the last minutes. The two teams had a nip-and-tuck battle, they didn’t stop until 26:28.
For the last part Klek ran out of power. The Veličković-Pantić-Buša trio took the team on their back and we won the third set to 13:25 as well as the match to 0:3.
The hero of the day is Luka Veličković with 14 points. He is followed by Dimitrije Pantić and Boris Buša (12-12) - Boris Buša scored 4 aces! -, Dušan Lopar (11), Aleksa Polomac (9) and Ivan Kostić (5).

I stole this photo about Boris Buša, because you just have to steal one, it’s amazing that absolutely no news sites are willing to publish any image about the volleyball team or just care about volleyball at all.

(photo: uokpl.rs)


Current championship standings:
1. CZ 21 points
2. Vojvodina 21 points
3. Novi Pazar 16 points
4. Niš 14 points
5. Spartak Ljig 12 points
6. Radnički 11 points
7. Partizan 10 points
8. Klek 9 points
9. Ribnica 5 points
10. Inđija 1 point