Fan blog of Partizan Sports Society (JSD Partizan) in Belgrade, Serbia. Football, basketball, volleyball, handball, ice hockey, water polo, news, players, all that are a matter of curiousity.
A subjective blog. English is not my mother tongue.
English version of http://jsdpartizanfan.blogspot.com/
Another game that again looked like a constipation/haemorrhoid/long line standing at the team doctor for laxative.
Yes, yes. We won. We got the two points, let’s not talk about the details, right?
Maybe we shouldn’t indeed.
The first quarter was ruled by Mega Leks. Sometimes they almost reached the 10-point difference. We struggled. We were fouled too often. Referees didn’t have a top performance either, but this should not be an excuse, for God’s sake... Birčević got a technical foul after getting into fight with a Mega-player. The standing was 2:11, then 7:13. Once we could equalize (17:17), but Mega had an instant reply with a 3-pointer (17:20). We finished the first part with 20:26.
In the second quarter we surely set a record... Within 40 seconds we were fouled three times. At this point Mega Leks did whatever they just wanted. (22:29) Then somehow, very slowly, with a lot of struggles we started to reduce the difference, approximately with the speed of a glacier. 4 minutes passed from the quarter, we reduced to 29:31, then - miracles happen - Ratkovica took the lead (32:31). It didn’t last long (32:33). We made a horror amount of double dribbles, I don’t remember when we made this much on a game. The two teams had a nip-and-tuck game, 36:37, 38:37, 40:37, 40:40, then Hatcher scored (42:40), but Mega got a free throw 3 seconds before the end, they equalized (42:42).
In the third quarter Mega took back the lead (42:45) and they kept it for quite a while. It was around the middle of the quarter, the standing was 46:49, when Veličković shook up the team a bit.
The standing here was more or less equal (48:51, 51:51), then about two minutes before the end we actually started to play.
It was high time for that. Until this point our actions contained basketball only in tracks. If ever.
We modified the standing to 62:54 (Hatcher scored 11 seconds before the end buzz), then we finished the quarter with 62:57, Mega Leks got a triple free throw just 1 second before the end and they scored.
In the last quarter we really started to remind of a basketball team. We were leading, we didn’t have a too big advantage though, but were constantly ahead with 4-5 points. Even despite the fact that we had the tendency to overcomplicate. But oh well. Victory.
No, I’m not impressed. We had a terrible performance through three quarters, with awful, soulless game, making mistakes after mistakes. Wonderful that we could step over the otherwise bit indisposed Mega Leks. Wonderful that we can make it through ABA Liga with even this performance. But I very much hope that everyone knows it’s not enough.
It has been long since a football game freaked me out and racked my nerves this much. Well, Partizan has been trying hard in the past months to try my endurance, but last time I was this done was probably the game Austria vs. Hungary at Euro2016.
That was completely different though. That was magic, miracle, when you can’t sleep for the whole night afterwards. As for this game, I could listen to only some vibraphone jazz on a very low volume, but still had some twitching fits every now and then.
The first attempt was in the 4th minute. Vukanović shot, Kljajić saved. Two minutes later Leonardo had a try with a 25-metre free kick, but it was too high, way too high.
Jump to the 18th minute. Leonardo shot from 16 metres, the goalkeeper pushed it to corner kick with a great save.
Then a minute later N’Diaye and Markovski passed the ball around at our penalty area. It resulted a huge scramble and and almost-fight scene. Finally one of the Napredak-players pushed the ball ahead, right to Gobeljić. Gobeljić very aggressively attacked, literally exploded out from the mass scene and shot the ball into the box. 0:1
It was a very bad, nervous game. Referee Nenad Đokić was in the worst possible shape ever. He handed out a good handful of yellow cards in the first 30 minutes, waved "go ahead" numerous times when he should have whistled it off and he was simply unable to keep the game under control. Players fought with each other, there were many fouls and the level of the match was simply awful.
Bojinov tried the already racked nerves in the 29th minute, when he hit the crossbar from the goalmouth - again. Then Leonardo was dribbling on the left side then crossed to the middle - where everyone was just WATCHING it, with mouth open, as the ball rolled through the penalty area. Nobody made a move. Just nobody. This should have been the moment to stop the game and put the whole team into a line, make them bend over and kick everyone right in the ass. They would have deserved it, all of them.
A minute later Đurđević ran up inside Napredak’s penalty area. N’Diaye was behind him, forcing Đurđević out of the pitch through the baseline, then Đurđević fell to the ground. The slow motion replay showed N’Diaye slightly pushing Đurđević, but that was enough for Partizan’s striker to fall. But referee Đokić had a totally different point of view. For him Đurđević was just acting, probably with the hope to get a penalty kick. He showed Đurđević the yellow card, but Đurđević already had a yellow card - so he was sent off with a red one.
Needless to say it resulted a huge chaos. Partizan-players complained, while Đurđević had to be kept back by a Napredak-player not to do something stupid.
42nd minute. Balažic made a huge mistake, my teeth almost fell out seeing it. The punishment by Napredak was fast and ruthless. Vukanović grabbed the ball, ran away with it towards our penalty area. Kljajić ran out of the goalmouth, Vukanović passed the ball above him, right into the box. 0:2
Bojinov again screwed up an attempt in the 43rd minute. All doors and windows were open, and it was so very painful, that Leonardo (from whom Bojinov got the pass before the attempt) ran to the Bulgarian and started to yell at him with big gestures. Honestly? I could totally understand the Brazilian’s rage. Bojinov has been sinking lower and lower in the past games. An average coach would kick him out of the stadium... I very much hope Marko Nikolić will not allow this talentless sloth into the starting eleven anymore after this horrible performance, not just into the starting eleven, but even to the substitute squad. (By the way, young Vlahović could get more chance. He is a million times more talented and skilled than this stupid brat Bulgarian.)
It was already the extra time, when Leonardo forced our first goal into the box. He got the ball from Saša Ilić at the half-line, ran up wrestling with a defender (the defender fell, and for Leonardo’s great luck the referee just waved "go ahead", didn’t whistle it off), reached the penalty area, passed to Saša Ilić, the Captain passed him back, Leonardo shot and scored. 1:2
There was time one last Napredak-attack, Šarac shot, barely missing it.
Lazar Ćirković was there to watch the game (in yellow hooded sweatshirt)
When the two teams walked out for the second half, there was some boo and hiss from the stands, and not really for the guests... Partizan started the second part with big pace, but the truth is that Napredak played with a much more collected style (so did they in the first half), and they could turn Partizan’s weak points for their own advantage. Other than that they had great and very fast counter-attacks. No wonder they are 4th on the league table.
In the 54th minute Partizan got a penalty kick. Bojinov fell to the ground inside the penalty area, the referee whistled, stood at the white dot, while gave a second yellow card to Leković, so Napredak also continued the game with 10 players.
But before continuing Leonardo stood to the white dot to shoot the penalty kick. He did so, and scored. 2:2
I’m still not really impressed by Leonardo, because Partizan had much better players in the past, and even the not-so-talented, not-so-skilled ones were better than this Brazilian. Still he is the only one right now in Partizan’s current squad who is willing to shoot on target. You can take a look at our statistics, our numbers at "shoot on target" are scandalous. And well, goal comes only by shooting on target. The ball will not roll into the box by itself.
Partizan’s equalizing goal turned everyone into a nervous idiot as much that at a free kick Bojinov started to yell with Janković. (Before that Balažic missed out a chance when heading Leonardo’s cross to the box, just the goalkeeper saved. Napredak made an instant counter-attack, Urošević shot, too high.) In the 75th minute we had another try. Vulićević, who has been as invisible as a ghost lately, crossed to the middle. Leonardo headed it to the box, it was too wide. Then Bojinov again missed out an attempt. Task done for him.
Everyone was waiting for the final whistle, when Stevanović shot out of the blue. It was all of a sudden, nobody expected it, probably that’s why he could score. 3:2, miracles exist.
Highlights:
Facts:
Venue: Partizan Stadion, Belgrade
Number of spectators: 3000
Official: Nenad Đokić (assistants: Vladimir Jovanović, Nemanja Petrović - 4th official: Igor Stojilković)
FK Partizan: Kljajić, Vulićević, Balažic (Janković, 65.), Milenković, Miletić, Jevtović, S. Ilić, Leonardo (Vlahović, 90.), A. Stevanović, Đurđević, Bojinov (Ostojić, 87.)
Head coach: Marko Nikolić
We made an ass of ourselves.
There's nothing to extenuate. AEK had an excellent training match with us. The only problem is that it was in fact a Champions League-game.
Oh well. I hope we could bring at least a few enjoyable moments to AEK.
The only funny moment was when it was still the beginning of the game and the commentator's mother tongue was English. He had troubles with all these Serbian names. But other than this there was no reason at all to be happy. AEK was leading in the first quarter. Once we could take it (8:9, Koprivica), then Hatcher tried to keep the pace (10:11), but it was gone soon. The difference was obvious already at this point. AEK played in a much more determined style, while we...
Eh. Let’s rather not talk about it. The first quarter ended with 22:14, Ratkovica missed out a chance in the very last moment.
AEK reached the 10-point difference immediately in the second quarter (24:14). There was a point when absolutely no goal was scored for two entire minutes. There were only missed-out and/or screwed-up chances. Certain players (Vrabac, Luković) were gone missing. Others, like Robinson or Koprivica broke the rest of my nerves.
It’s a historical moment. Until now I tried to avoid criticising our basketball players by name. But there are certain limits, and if they are crossed, the meltdown is inevitable. While in the meantime I can’t not think of those times when the team was still not corrupted and debauched, when Duško Vujošević was still at his place, when there were always five roaring lions on the court wearing Partizan-jerseys and tore the opponent to pieces as much that they all had to stop and think about the meaning of life. Now we have a bunch of dull, soulless "players" who would be run off even by a team of laboratory rats. Seriously... It seems this level is enough for ABA Liga, but when we are about to step to international levels, we get knocked out.
AEK was leading, sometimes with 10 points, sometimes with even more. Our performance was lvl catastrophe. The half-time result was 42:33. We could gain a few points after 40:29, but AEK scored one just 30 seconds before the end buzz. Better to be safe than sorry.
As for the third quarter, this was one mentionable moment:
It was still 60:50 for the home team two and a half minutes before the end. We could gain a bit of speed though for the last 1-2 minutes so much that we jumped to 64:62. No, we couldn’t take the lead, but it was still a big deal that Hatcher scored a 3-pointer only 4 seconds before the buzz and this way our drawback was only 2 points.
Only.
You get what I mean.
These games are good for learing to be happy with small things.
Then for the last quarter it was clear that this speedy performance by us in the last minutes of the previous part was just a momentary flash. AEK gained back its 10-point advantage (74:64) and from then on they were always 9 points ahead. We couldn’t work it out. We were at a loss even at putting ourselves together. What is more, Aleksandar Džikić got a technical foul when he yelled off the referee at 82:73. But even this didn’t do any good, nor harm. AEK did whatever they just wanted. Their players had a party, we were just watching them playing.
Again a game that slipped out of our hands.
We had a great start though. It was even excellent. We were leading, the team was bursting from energy.
Then it was 14:7. We had a strong start, we played well and spectacular. Cedevita tried to find their breath. They could still equalize (14:14), they even took the lead (17:20), but Veličković took it back twice and we finished the first quarter with a one-point advantage with his scores (23:22).
The second quarter was even better.
Our advantage was growing. 27:23, then 32:23... at a point Cedevita’s head coach had a meltdown, he got a technical foul. It made him freaked out, he yelled with the referees, finally he had to leave the court. The assistant coach took his duty, and I was sure he was waiting for this very moment. Gianmarco Pozzecco made an unbelievable show at the bench. If I didn’t have such a terrible mood after this defeat, I’d say things like Pozzecco for president or this guy and all his gestures must be spread all over the internet as gifs. Here is a compilation with him, you can click and take a look. (If you don’t have a too bad mood, it may even be entertaining.)
At the end of the video you can see and hear it well: Partizan-fans gave a loud applause to him and his team.
Meanwhile we were leading with more than 10 points.
Everything worked well, we did whatever we wanted. Then two and a half minutes before the end Ratkovica was fouled, that was the point when we somehow halted. Cedevita started to reduce their difference, they equalized from 49:42. We could still keep our advantage with a free throw (51:49), that was the half-time result.
Koprivica and Hatcher
Then came the third quarter.
At first we kept ourselves. Nothing seemed to be suspicious. (61:56) Then Cedevita equalized (61:61) and took the lead (61:63). We equalized, but Cedevita again took the lead (63:68). From this point on there was no return... They jumped to 65:73, meanwhile Veličković got a technical foul for yelling off the referee’s head. At the end of the quarter we got a free throw, Hatcher scored one, missed out the other. We were heading to the final quarter with 66:73.
Adin Vrabac
Let’s not talk about the last quarter...
We failed. We were nervous. We fell apart. The opponent took advantage of it all. Their point guard, Jackson was like as if he was sent directly from hell to Pionir Hall. He was very quick, tricked himself through Partizan’s defense and threw a million baskets. The other players of Cedevita could have walked off the court to the snack bar for a beer, Jackson did whatever he wanted. They were leading to 73:83, then we started to reduce the difference slowly and struggling. Two and a half minutes before the end it was 84:87, but we couldn’t make it any closer. Jackson was fouled out at the end, but only 50 seconds were left, it did neither good nor harm.
And a message for those fans morons who yelled at Aleksandar Džikić after the game: suck a horse.
It was a tough, nerve-racking game, and we had to miss two key players. Nikola Jakšić was knocked out by some sickness
get well soon!
and Đorđe Tanasković also had to stay at home.
Well, we could thankfully solve the problem. Stojanović took the whole team on his back and scored his first goal in the middle of the first quarter (0:1). Croatians equalized (1:1) then took the lead with a distant cannon shot two minutes before the end of the quarter (2:1).
In the second part Croatians barely splashed into the pool when Drašović equalized (2:2). The answer was immediate with Gluhaić’s score (3:2). After some wrestling Toholj equalized (3:3).
There are some new names in the team we must learn. One of them is 19-year-old Nebojša Toholj, who scored two goals on this game, the other is our goalkeeper, 20-year-old Lazar Dobožanov, who made a few great saves, especially in the last few minutes of the match.
Two and a half minutes the home team was leading again (4:3), but just one minute later Stojanović, who played in his best form, equalized (4:4). That was the half-time result.
We just came back from the pause, the Croatian team was leading once again. (5:4). We immediately equalized with Radojević’s left hander cannon shot (5:5). Then we even took the lead! Drašović possessed the ball. He was about to make a distant shot. He was swaying the ball, swaying, swaying, the entire Croatian defense line was sinking like Titanic, then Drašović shot with a wide grin and scored. 5:6
What is more, Dobožanov could demonstrate his skills by saving a shot that was almost in the box... Someone from Jadran shot, Dobožanov saved, but the ball slowly started to float towards the goal line. It was almost in, just one little wave was needed to push it inside, but Dobožanov could catch it, right before a cardial arrest and screaming, and saved (probably quite a few lives as well).
Then Jadran took advantage of a double power play and equalized (6:6).
No worries. Two minutes before the end Toholj took back the lead (6:7) and even though Jadran equalized from penalty (7:7), Drašović took back the lead again just 12 seconds before the buzz. I swear I could see a small twitch on Croatian faces after this goal.
Then came the final quarter.
Average Fan died in the final quarter at least five times.
First Croatians equalized, right after the start (8:8). They even took the lead with Visković’s goal (9:8). Stojanović equalized (9:9). It’s unbelievable what this 20-year-old kid was doing. Lukić took us the lead (9:10). What is more, what is more, Stojanović scores and we are leading to 9:11! Jadran’s head coach asks for time-out. Afterwards Croatians didn’t just reduce the difference, didn’t just equalize, but they took back the lead (12:11). Less than one and a half minutes were left. Stojanović. Again Stojanović. He equalizes. 12:12. Less than a minute is left. Average Fan is praying, this draw is enough, hang in there, boys...
For them this draw was not enough.
Dobožanov makes a great save. Partizan attacks. 20 seconds are left. Stojanović possesses the ball... and Stojanović throws a cannon shot, tearing the net into pieces, scoring Partizan’s 13th goal, earning another victory for the team. Well done, boys!
The hero of the day is - of course - Ognjen Stojanović with 5 (!!!) goals. He is followed by Radomir Drašović with 4 scores. Nebojša Toholj scored 2, Filip Radojević and Nikola Lukić both earned 1-1 goal.
Current standing of the Liga:
1. Jug Dubrovnik 12 points 2. VK Partizan 9 points
3. Primorje 7 points
4. Jadran Carine 7 points
5. HAVK Mladost 6 points
6. Budva 3 points
7. Mornar BS 1 point
8. Vojvodina 1 point
9. Jadran Split 0 point
It was a smooth game despite we played still/again very badly and we won’t put this game on display either.
We were leading in the first quarter, the standing was 5:14 in the 5th minute. On appearance it was a self-confident leading, but in fact we weren’t in top form. Though Szolnok was struggling more. We missed out too many 3-pointers, while Szolnok players made double dribbles in critical moments. Around the end we were leading to 8:16, then it was 13:20 when there were only 44 seconds left. Finally Dávid Vojvoda scored a 3-pointer at the very end, the first quarter finished with 16:20.
Birčević was one of the best players of the game
The second quarter was the sequel (again) of the first. Rebounding 3-pointers, missed-out free throws
Koprivica, bro, sometimes I really wonder what is the purpose of your presence on the court...
fouls caused by fumbling or carelessness (I look at you now, Hatcher...), missed-out attempts. Szolnok equalized after two and a half minutes (20:20)
no wonder, after that amount of fumbling we made
Robinson scored a 3-pointer after more than a minute, we took back the lead (20:23). I have to admit though, we did a great job in rebounding. Really. Especially with defensive rebounding.
Then we couldn’t force the ball into the ring standing just two steps away from the backboard. (Szolnok did the same, too, a bit later.)
Three minutes were left, Szolnok took the lead with a 3-pointer (28:27). Aleksandar Džikić asked for time-out, then he got a technical foul for something I couldn’t see. Free throw for Szolnok (29:27). No problem, Ratkovica equalized (29:29). Birčević took back the lead from free throw (29:30) and we kept it in our hands for the rest of the game. The first half ended with 32:33, both teams played beyond criticism in the second quarter of a struggling, painful, very bad game.
The third quarted didn’t differ from the previous two. Szolnok was struggling and we didn’t demonstrate our good side either. We were leading, two minutes before the end Szolnok jumped to 43:45. They were close, right behind us (46:47), but they again made a lot of double dribbles, meanwhile we could stabilize ourselves a bit (46:51). Only 4 seconds were left, when Kinney fell on the court. The referee passed the ball to us, and Andrić scored a buzzer beater. (46:53)
A small group of Grave Diggers were there to support the team
For the last quarter the home team ran out of breath. We increased our advantage to 10 points (48:58), but we copied the "tactics" (LOL) of previous games, when we scored only one basket in every minute. (It was still enough for the victory now though.) Szolnok collapsed, our advantage was more than 10 points three and a half minutes before the end. (52:64) Nothing exciting happened for the rest of the game, we played a bit more on the loose and won. We could celebrate.
Be happy and celebrate, dear everyone, because Charles Jenkins has returned to Belgrade. Not as if anyone would have missed him. What a joy it was when he left for Milan. It seems even in Milan nobody misses him. By the way, is there anyone who could tell why this moron has Serbian citizenship?... And if he has, then why do I not have any?...
Birčević is seemingly in shock to meet Jenkins again
The first quarter was relatively good. The battle was equal, nip-and-tuck game with no major differences. Though Hatcher got a technical foul after 5 minutes (he fought with Jenkins, his technical foul is forgiven). Then Koprivica was fouled twice within 10 seconds, this one was a bit more tough. (What is more, around the end of the quarter he got his third foul...) Gudurić also got a technical foul, then - less than 30 seconds were left - another Zvezda-player got a technical as well. We were leading to 20:23, only five seconds were left, Zvezda scored a basket, but it was double dribble, the referees invalidated it. Fans were raging, they were booing and hissing (the tribunes were all in red-and-white, only a handful of Partizan-fans were allowed, and they were surrounded by gendarmerie), but who cared for the whining of Zvezda-fans. We were leading.
Vanja Marinković
It started in the second quarter, namely that process which is usual at such derbies. Referees whistle off everything, giving fouls to Partizan-players. Zvezda gets a million free throws, of course they take the lead. We kept the pace at the beginning (22:26), but two minutes later Zvezda took the lead after those gift free throws. (27:26).
I have to admit though, we had too many missed-out chances. Really. It was a pain to watch. Especially the missed-out 3-pointers. We paid the price for these.
Finally we could score (31:28), then we reduced to 34:31. Only two minutes were left, when Zvezda made it to 10 points (44:34), while we were just struggling. We got a long row of fouls, but when Veličković was pushed to the floor, that was not whistled off... The referee just waved to Partizan’s team captain to stand up, come on, come on... Hatcher made a buzzer-beater 3-pointer, with his score we finished the first half with 48:39.
At first it seems like a romantic ’I wanna hold your hand’-scene between Vrabac and Jović, but in real they want to strangle each other
The third quarter was the sequel of the first two. We were fouled at almost every Zvezda-attack, Zvezda got a gift free throw every time, while we were struggling to score. The enemy was leading to 54:39. Foul came after foul, as if the world was against us. 56:43... Aleksandar Džikić asked for time-out in the middle of the quarter. Seriously, once he will get an apoplectic seizure during a time-out for yelling so much and so hard with the players.
I’m not familiar with such things, also it’s easy to play the smartass from here, at the sideline, but can anyone tell why must half the time-out be wasted with Džikić yelling at the players, sometimes in a too rough way? Isn’t a time-out rather for tactical discussion, while keeping the yelling part for the locker room?
It didn’t get any better for us. 61:46... We made every possible mistake. Or scenes like two Zvezda-players were hanging on Luković, the referee didn’t bat an eyelid. But when Luković hung on a Zvezda-player at the other side of the court, he was fouled immediately. At the end of the quarter the difference was 20 points (67:46), Average Fan was watching the endless row of fouls with just a dry smile. The quarter finished with 70:53.
Andrić and Majstorović wrestling with Mitrović for the ball. Can anyone tell why Andrić entered the game only in the middle of the third half?
And then, at the beginning of the fourth quarter, when the standing was 72:53, the head coach of Zvezda got the crust to make a tantrum when Zvezda got an offensive foul. (What a tantrum that was, my good God.)
The standing was 73:59, it was around the middle of the quarter, when Majstorović stayed laying on the ground with a painful face. The slow motion replay showed him clashing with someone and getting injured on the ingunial.
He could stand on his feet only with the help of the team doctor
He limped to the bench with Andrić’s support
What has to be noticed though: as Majstorović was limping off the court, he got an applause from Zvezda-fans. This was nice of you, guys. Thanks. Really.
Faith in humanity restored
The game continued and it was the same... (fault >> gift free throw to them, missed-out chances here). 77:61... 82:66... Finally, at 83:70 Vrabac scored, 24 seconds before the end. This way we could avoid the 10-point difference. But let’s just rather forget this game. Update: it seems Majstorović needs at least a month of rest to recover from his injury
Did you know that His Majesty Lord Fat Pig I. (alias Miloš Vazura) and The Former Politician Who Used To Be The Bestie Of Milošević (aka Milorad Vučelić) and co. are served by a waiter in the VIP-section?
You didn’t know?
Now you know.
A waiter. For fuck’s sake. A WAITER
While in a silent corner of the eastern tribune there was someone sitting there all alone...
Yes, it’s him. Nikola Drinčić, humbly, by himself
(photo: Facebook/Bianconeri di Belgrado)
Some rumour about Škuletić being there as well, if I find any photo about that, I’ll upload, of course.
Talking about the game, we attacked right in the first minute, Stevanović crossed, but nobody was fast enough to catch it. The reply came in the 3rd minute through Čečarić and his attempt, Kljajić caught it. Two minutes later he (Kljajić) had great luck, when he made a goal-kick, and the ball dropped to a Novi Pazar-player (Dimitrijević). Dimitrijević ran up, shot, Kljajić ran back to the goalmouth and could catch the ball just before the goal line.
Novi Pazar had a strong start, then Đurđević shot the ball into the goalkeeper in the 9th minute. Marjanović did the same in the 17th. In the 24th Stevanović crossed from the left, Đurđević was too slow, the goalkeeper caught it.
We took the lead in the 26th minute. Marjanović passed to Stevanović. Stevanović ran up, dribbled inside the penalty area, then passed to Bojinov, who was (again) slow like a sloth. But not Janković. He appeared out of the blue behind the Bulgarian and shot the ball right into the box. 1:0
27th minute, corner-kick for Partizan. Guess whose head flew the ball above with just two millimetres?
a) Bojinov
b) the Sloth
c) the Bulgarian, who is proven to be too small
In the 30th minute Alivodić had a try, too wide. Afterwards a very thick smoke covered the pitch, too thick to be able to see anything. Even the commentator was just guessing whether the fouling Novi Pazar player got a yellow card or not, because nothing could be seen, maybe only silhouettes.
The next goal was a fail by Novi Pazar. Goalkeeper Zogović surely regretted in that moment to end up at the goal line instead of being e.g. a rope-dancer. Stevanović ran up, passed to Miletić, Miletić passed it back to Stevanović. Stevanović shot, it was a powerful one, the goalkeeper saved, but the ball dropped out of his hands and slowly rolled into the box. 2:0
Discreet happiness
In the 41st minute Janković shot with a fantastic bicycle-kick. Pity it was too wide, had he scored, he could have stood in line for the Puskás-award.
By the way, this was the southern tribune. What a crowd, isn’t it? Oh, wait...
Well, what did we expect, only 2500 spectators were present officially.
At the beginning of the second half Marjanović crossed the ball from the right, Bojinov was too slow again, missing it with just half a centimetre.
Bojinov was his own shadow at this game. I don’t even remember when was the last time he had so many screwed-up situations. He was always too slow to reach passes and crosses, he shot the ball into the opponent players, kicked into the ball just to make it roll out through the line and so on. Sometimes I had the feeling he was doing it on purpose. This kind of fooling around may do on a gala match, but it’s just fucking no funny on a championship game.
In the 54th minute Janković got a pass. He ran up, dribbled a defender and shot, it ended with a corner-kick.
It was still the 54th minute, we scored our 3rd goal. I have never seen such a comedy so far (It wasn’t the funny type, rather the pathetic one.)
Marjanović arrived on the right and crossed the ball to the other side, where Bojinov and Đurđević were both waiting.
Both of them attempted, making this weid, ballet-alike scene...
...nevertheless the ball dropped to the box, Bojinov ran out to the tribune to celebrate himself...
...the only problem was that the slow motion replay showed Uroš Đurđević scoring the goal, from every possible angle.
It wasn’t you, dude
The stadium speaker nevertheless mentioned Bojinov as the goal scorer, while the official match report named Đurđević. Meanwhile ArenaSport’s commentator couldn’t find his breath from laugh over this situation.
Oh well. A goal is always a goal and it must be celebrated
It made me laugh though when the commentator mentioned the goal scorers. He said, "first goal, Janković, second goal, Stevanović... then, well for me it’s Đurđević here, for Bojinov... it’s Bojinov".
In the 57th minute Đurđević got a pass (probably from Miletić), he shot, right into the goalkeeper.
Novi Pazar’s first and only attempt in the second half was in the 82th minute. Đoković shot from the right, Kljajić saved, corner-kick.
It made me raise my eyebrows to see Everton kicking everyone to the ground who just approaches him - he does not do it this often with the ball though... - but when he gets a kick, he collapses, rolls up and down on the field and plays the dying swan. Someone should tell him that he should focus on actual playing instead of being a pussy, because sometimes I can count on one hand how often he touches the ball during a match.
Đuričković’s score in the 84th minute settled the final result. It was a smooth thing, the ball dropped to the midfielder, he sent a cannon shot from 18 metres and scored. 4:0
A minute later Micevski tried the same trick on the other side, just he shot from 30 metres and it was too high. Alivodić had an attempt, too, trying to score one just for the honour, but Kljajić saved. Then in the 89th minute Ostojić headed the ball to the box, but it was too wide. The last attempt was in the extra time, Janković had a distant shot, but this too was too wide.
Saša Ilić. He didn’t play a minute, still he got a loud applause
Highlights:
Facts:
Venue: Partizan Stadion, Belgrade
Number of spectators: 2500
Official: Nenad Đokić (assistants: Vladimir Jovanović, Slobodan Pavlović - 4th assistant: Marko Popović)
FK Partizan: Kljajić, Vulićević, Milenković, Ostojić, Miletić, Everton, Marjanović, A. Stevanović (Đuričković, 79.), Janković, Đurđević (Đurđić, 72.), Bojinov (Mihajlović, 70.)
Head coach: Marko Nikolić
This game was like a capital constipation. Even against Budućnost it was less strain and struggle, though even that game was like a nodus haemorrhoidalis. But this one against the Poles... I bet right now the entire team stands in line at the team doctor’s waiting room and every player gets the most brutal laxative on prescription.
Let’s see what happened.
We needed almost 3 minutes for a 3:0 standing, and even this was brought in two parts. First a field goal by Birčević, then a one-from-two free throw by Karahodžić. The Polish team equalized in the 3rd minute (3:3). At 5 and a half minutes Zielona Gora was leading to 5:9. We lost the ball in such ways that was hair-raising. It means no comfort either that Poles were not better than us at all. They struggled and fumbled the same way as we did, it’s a shame we couldn’t turn it for our advantage.
We jumped to 10:11, then we equalized (11:11) around the 7th minute. Then came a Polish 3-pointer, Veličković equalized (14:14). 50 seconds were left until the end buzz, another 3-pointer by Zielona. Robinson equalized, the first quarter finished with 17:17.
Hatcher in a Polish sandwich
The second quarter was a bit more exciting. Zielona Gora was leading again (19:22), but then we quickly took the lead and even kept it unti the half-time. We played with self-confidence, Average Fan naively thought it could still turn out as a great match after that struggle in the beginning. In the 7th minute we were leading to 33:25, and then the Polish team started to come up, step by step. It was all unnoticed, they scored one basket in each minute. No joke. One minute, one basket. And we scored NONE, unbelievable. The half-time was 35:32, it was high time for a break.
Not sure if Birčević is about to cock a snook at the referee or is trying to convince him that he didn’t drink 10 beers before the game
The third quarter was a nighmare.
We scored 6 points. SIX POINTS. Not more, not less.
Six points.
Our first score came after two and a half minutes (37:32, Veličković). A minute later Ratkovica scored the next (39:32). The head coach of Zielona Gora got fed up and asked for time-out. All right. We walked back to the court. The Poles scored their first basket after four and a half minutes in the second half, just the problem is that they could still score more than we did. They equalized in the 6th minute (39:39). Marinković scored our 6th point (41:39) and then we called it a day. At least for this quarter. During the remaining 4 minutes Poles came up to 41:45, because we missed out a terrible amount of chances, and lost the ball just too often (offering free steal or turnover to the guests).
Vanja Marinković’s facial expression mirrors the entire game
The fourth quarter brought no good either. Both teams struggled, with a LOT OF missed-out attempts on both sides, especially 3-pointers.
Duško Vujošević would have torn the whole team’s head off at this point and kicked out everyone from Pionir Hall, one after the other. (I don’t care that it’s officially not Pionir Hall anymore, for me it will always and forever stay as Pionir Hall.)
We jumped to 44:45, then Birčević was especially alert, stole a wandering ball, ran up, scored and took the lead (46:45).
By the way, we were excellent in blocking. If basketball had been played for blocks, we would be champions, for sure.
In the 6th minute we equalized (48:48), but Poles again took the lead and it all looked especially sad. Barely 2 minutes were left, they were leading to 50:54, but then entered Novica Veličković and equalized (54:54).
He was the only one tonight whose performance is worth to mention
What is more, Ratkovica took back the lead from free throw (56:54).
Less than 30 seconds were left, Zielona Gora equalized (56:56). Partizan attacks. 11 seconds are left. Novica Veličković scores (58:56). One very last attack by Zielona Gora. Only one second is left... and Florence slips out through the sideline in the critical moment, when he was just about to throw the ball. The referee whistles it off. We get the ball, and the game is over.
Over and out.
PS: Does anyone know why Andrić didn’t play even a minute?
I ran through the records of the game and I was saddened to see that Partizan’s former player Dušan Lopar plays in Novi Pazar now :(
Obviously there are reasons behind it. The problem is that I know nothing about the transfers of the volleyball league. It was by chance that I got to know about the start of this season at all. I can guess only about who does not play in Partizan anymore. Have I told how much I love the free flow of information?... (I surely haven’t, because such thing as "free flow of information" doesn’t exist here, God damn it.)
Okay.
Novi Pazar gave the game (and the first set) a tough start (7:4, 8:5), we could still equalize (10:10) with the points of Ristić and Turanjanin. We even took the lead, mostly by Novi Pazar’s mistakes, but volleyball is played for points, and at the end nobody cares how the team gained those points (especially if the team wins). We couldn’t be happy with the lead for too long, the home team equalized, they even took back the lead. We equalized again (17:17) thanks to the Veličković-Ristić duo. Novi Pazar again took the lead, it was surely a big struggle and a big fight. Turanjanin, Ristić and Buša will appear in the nightmares of Novi Pazar players... 24:24. Then 26:26. What is more, 26:27, Turanjanin blocks like the best firewall. Novi Pazar equalizes again. 27:27. Then 28:28. 28:29, again Turanjanin. What a game it could be... Novi Pazar again equalizes. 29:29. Buša scores, 29:30. Finally Polomac blocks, 29:31, monstre set with Partizan-victory.
The second set again started with Novi Pazar’s advantage (5:2, 6:5), we equalized again (7:7). Novi Pazar was ahead of us with only one step (11:10, 12:11), then Sretenović blocked and equalized (12:12). Ristić took the lead (12:13). And we kept our advantage! 13:16, 14:18, then Novi Pazar equalized, with clenched teeth, for sure. No problem, we took back the lead (18:20, 19:21). Novi Pazar equalized again and again, but they were always behind us. Then they took the lead (27:26) and it seems their nerves were a bit stronger at the end. They won this set to 28:26 and equalized.
For the third set we ran out of breath. After these two killer games it’s no wonder... 7:1, 8:2, 10:4, then we jumped to 12:9. Novi Pazar’s players probably also got tired for this point, they made more and more mistakes (that was also the reason why we reduced the difference to 3 points). The home team marched ahead, it was a smooth win for them. 25:18
We tried to keep ourselves at the beginning of the fourth set. 5:5, 5:6, 7:7, but somehow Novi Pazar could always make the best out of these draws. Around 14:10 we probably got completely exhausted. 20:11, 23:13, we gained a few points at the end, but in fact they were from the opponent’s mistakes.
Never mind.
Heroes.
Novi Pazar: Bekrić, S. Ristić (5), Hasan Zatrić, Lopar (14), Oković, Daca (6), Šormaz (3), Žuković (libero), Hamza Zatrić (2), Radosavljević (12), Simić, Hamzagić (29)
Head coach: Saša Stefanović
OK Partizan: Buša (12), Sretenović (2), Nedeljković (libero), Skakić, Batak, A. Ristić (16), Kovač, Dragović (2), Negić (libero), Veličković (7), Polomac (7), Turanjanin (10)
Head coach: Vladimir Vasović
What a game it could be, with an amazingly lucky home team goal in the very last minute, which brought them the draw. Just because, FYI we were leading for the whole game. (Well, okay, not for the entire game, because in the beginning it was 1:0, then 2:1, but it was gone quickly.) 4:8, 6:11, 10:14, 12:16, we had a smooth first half.
By the way, our team had quite a number of young players, compared to them our captain, 22-year-old Igor Mršulja was almost like a veteran.
Referees gave us too many exclusions even in the first half. (Looking at the records Rudar had half as many exclusions as us. Oh no, come on, who said that referees are biased? No way... in the superliga? Against Partizan? Neveeeeer...)
Things got a bit more tough in the second half. We got more exclusions, while Rudar got penalties. (We got none in the second half. Just sayin’.) We still kept ourselves rolling. 13:18, 15:20, 16:22. Then around the 46th minute Rudar started to reduce the difference. In the 50th minute it was already 24:25, we quickly jumped to 24:27, but from this point on Rudar was close behind us. They were so close that in the 59th minute they equalized (29:29), but Komnenić quickly took us back the lead (29:30).
Then Komnenić was sent off. Only two seconds were left from the game.
Don’t ever ask me why.
To cut it short, Rudar equalized at the very end.
The hero of the day was Lazar Kukić with 9 goals. He is followed by Nemanja Živković (7), Nikola Perović (6), Igor Mršulja (3) as well as Vuk Milenković and Petar Komnenić (2-2). Stefan Jokić scored one goal.
Photos.
