Superliga, round 19: Voždovac - FK Partizan 0:1

It’s hard for me now, believe me. I’ve used up all attributes. There has already been all forms of “shit”, “lame ducks” has been my mantra and let’s say it out loud, English language isn’t too rich in curse words. (Unlike Hungarian and Serbian. Hehe.)

It would be hard anyway to find any attribute to that which this wonderful (LOL) team made as performance.

They had ABSOLUTELY NO performance. The value of their play is zero. (photo: partizan.rs)

There was some running in the beginning, but they gave it up after 15 minutes, they didn’t even wait until the 20th.

As for me, I started my favourite rosary in the 22nd, namely “why am I watching this shit?”

The only goal of the game came in the 26th minute, even that was the result of a mistake in the defense. Ožegović got the ball, passed to Tošić, he sent a distant shot to the box and scored. (0:1)

Seriously. If that Voždovac-defender hadn’t had that momentary lapse of reason, the final result would have been 0:0.

The 34th minute brought a smaller upheaval, Tawamba had an attempt, flag up, free kick downfield. The slow motion replay showed that Tawamba wasn’t on offside, a defender got stuck within the offside field - on the other side of the pitch. Tawamba was clear, yet the referee whistled it off.

Two things to mention. First, Tawamba was standing at the goalmouth, all doors and windows open. We all know how very effective Tawamba is (not…) in these situations. Yes, these are the moments when he shots too wide/too high/into the goalkeeper. I suspect the assistant raised his flag from purely humanitarian reasons to free Tawamba from the possible shitstorm, taking it on himself. Second, offside is what the referee whistles off as offside. (Same goes for goals - goal us what the referee validates.)

That was it about the first half.

The second was even worse. Seriously, this second half may come up as a tool for torture. If the client is not willing to talk/testify, just make them watch this second half. They will confess even what they didn’t commit.

I’ll be honest, I fell asleep.

Saša Ilić joined the game as a substitute in the 70th minute. This was his 400th game for Partizan. This was the top moment of the half. Well, of the entire game, rather.

Soon after came the lowest point. I mean, if this shit can get any lower. 79th minute, we got a penalty. Voždovac’s goalkeeper and Tawamba clashed, the Cameroonian fell, the referee whistled. Jevtović stood behind the ball.

Did he miss it out? Sure he did. Goalkeeper Popović had a brilliant save.

This is always heroic from a goalkeeper, independent of everything.

Then I don’t know what happened, I slept back. I think the teams did the same.

Current championship standings:

1. Crvena Zvezda 52 points

2. FK Partizan 46 points

3. Spartak 36 points

4. Voždovac 32 points

5. Čukarički 32 points

6. Vojvodina 31 points

7. Radnički Niš 30 points

8. Napredak 27 points

9. Radnik 22 points

10. Mladost 21 points

11. Zemun 21 points

12. Mačva 17 points

13. OFK Bačka 17 points

14. Borac 14 points

15. Rad 14 points

16. Javor 14 points

Superliga, round 18: FK Partizan - FK Spartak 1:1

I don’t know what’s there left to be told about this game (or this team) that hasn’t been told a million times. We were shit, we were lame ducks, plus there was the obligatory Đukić-bullshit at the post-match press conference.

I’d love to smash him into the face with something big and heavy. Like e.g. a wrecking ball. I don’t give a single fuck on how much of a cool guy he is or what a great player he used to be (he has never been a good player…) back in the Stone Age. For fuck’s sake, we don’t need fucking buddy boys anymore, we need a professional coach who can make a real team out of this mass of mediocre monkeys.

In the first half I noticed that I didn’t notice Soumah. Not at all. As if he hadn’t been on the pitch. As if he would be scared of the ball that it might bite him. He barely ever touched it, and if he still did, he got rid of it as quickly as he could. And this dude is supposed to be a striker...

Is this Soumah the same player Iliev fought so hard for, to sign last year? Is this pathetic idiot that Soumah? Signed for zillion euros? Iliev, go and fuck yourself, together with this arsehole!

Otherwise it was the same like always. We pushed hard the first 20 minutes, possessing the ball

if football was played for ball possession, we’d be champions forever

unfortunately - or not - it’s still played for goals

but Spartak seemingly prepared for this and gathered around their penalty area, bit like a bunker, and it did work for them. We lost our breath. After the 25th minute Spartak attacked frequently, it’s solely Stojković’s merit that they didn't score. Savković missed two huge chances, first in the 39th minute, the next in the 44th, both saved by Stojke.

We took the lead in the beginning of the second half with Tošić’s goal. (1:0) Don’t ask me how. I have no idea. Well, miracles do happen sometimes.

Afterwards nothing happened, and that happened massively. On both sides. We were the usual lame ducks, Spartak woke up around the 65th minute. The biggest chance of the game happened in the 69th minute, we were kind enough to miss it out. Solomon ran up all alone, shot from a very sharp angle, the ball rolled away along the goal line and left the pitch. Spartak equalized in the 72nd minute, a free kick crossed in, Nikolić headed it into the box. (1:1)

Did we speed up after the equalizing goal? Not at all.

Have we been lame ducks? As always.

How did the team play? Let’s make it clear, the team’s performance can’t be called “play”. They were as if we would be leading with 5 goals, plus as if we would be on the top of the league table with at least 6 points ahead of the neighbourhood.

What is the truth? The truth is that they played exactly like a bunch of idiots who give absolutely no shit.

And after all these Đukić appeared on the post-game press conference with a 24-carat smile and said, the reason we played like shit was that the boys were still tired after Thursday’s game.

No, mofo. These boys are not tired. These boys hate it all.

(photo: partizan.rs)

Venue: Stadium Partizan, Belgrade

Number of spectators: 2000

Official: Vlado Glođović

FK Partizan: Stojković, Radin, B. Ostojić, Mirtović, Antonov, Everton, Pantić (Ilić, 55.), Tošić, Janković (Đuričković, 45.), Soumah (Solomon, 46.), Tawamba

Spartak: M. Ostojić, Shimura, Jočić (Torbica, 83.), Kerkez, Nikolić, Ivanović, Hajdin, Savkivić, Čečarić (Abaz, 73.), A. Stojković, Ćalasan

Goal scorers: Tošić (48.), Nikolić (72.)

Yellow card: A. Stojković (75.), Ivanović (90+1.), M. Ostojić (90+3.)

Current championship standings:

1. Crvena Zvezda 49 points

2. FK Partizan 43 points

3. Spartak 33 points

4. Voždovac 32 points

5. Vojvodina 31 points

6. Čukarički 31 points

7. Radnički Niš 27 points

8. Napredak 26 points

9. Radnik 22 points

10. Mladost 20 points

11. Zemun 18 points

12. Mačva 17 points

13. OFK Bačka 16 points

14. Rad 14 points

15. Javor 12 points

16. Borac 11 points

Europa League, group stage, round 5: FK Partizan - Young Boys 2:1

I’m sick now and i’m writing this blogpost laying in bed.

I told this to you to fucking appreciate how very much I’m willing to do for you.

Yep, we won. It was a shitty, terribly tensed game, with awful performance from both teams. In fact we had luck, great luck against a confused, soulless Young Boys. There wasn’t much going on the pitch apart from the goals themselves, only wrestling. We scored the first goal in the 12th minute, Janković literally placed a free kick on Tawamba’s head, the Cameroonian had luck not missing out this unmissable “zicer”. (1:0) (photo: partizan.rs)

The Swiss team was probably shocked by the goal, because they didn’t really work hard to equalize. Both teams were running up and down in chaos on the pitch, the equalizing goal came in the 25th minute, after a corner-kick. Tawamba wanted to kick the ball downfield, but instead he made a perfect pass to Moumi Ngamaleu, who thanked the generous assist, shot and scored. (1:1) Other than this nothing happened. Maybe once around the 28th minute Janković had an attempt, it was too wide. Other than that chaos only, with no chances or attempts.

The second half wasn’t better at all. Wrestling, growing tension slowly reaching the level of explosion both on the pitch and the tribunes. Young Boys had an attempt in the 48th minute, Stojković caught it. Our second goal came in the 53rd minute as a huge mistake by the Swiss defence, practically it was again an unmissable “zicer”. Tawamba sent a long forward from the half-line

yeah, sometimes he can do such things

the Swiss defender got stuck behind, Pantić got the ball, selflessly passed it to Ožegović, who shot and scored. (2:1)

After this there was mostly wrestling left. The Swiss team realized around the 70th minute that it might end up for them as an awful defeat, so they attacked, putting Partizan’s box under pressure, but our defense kept itself.

Tawamba had his own little private show once again. He missed out a huge chance in the 78th minute. Just the usual. All alone, nobody around him, all doors and windows wide open - and he kicks the ball into the goalkeeper from 5 steps. Could you, please just do your job, for fuck’s sake?...

After the chance mentioned above we had great luck. Young Boys immediately ran up for counter-attack, Assalé shot, the ball landed in the box, but it was flag up long ago, offside, the referee invalidated the goal. For the rest of the match there was one more Swiss attempt (Sow shot, too high), other than that 22 psychopaths were running all over the pitch trying to kill each other. Nobody showed actual interest in playing with the ball, only in the final whistle.

That came, too.

Apart from the only game left, we qualified among the best 16. Last time Partizan managed to do it was around 2004/2005. The thing is that we were very lucky with the draw, to find ourselves in a relatively easy group and didn’t have to face AC Milan or Lyon, nor Arsenal or 1. FC Köln.

The other thing - and I know I won’t be popular with my point of view, but I don’t give a fuck - this is still the result if Marjo Nikolić’s work. He - and only he - deserves hats off and respect.

I find this current hype around Miroslav Đukić and especially Ivica Iliev funny, bizarre and very sad (all at the same time). Đukić is still not a good coach, because nobody can turn from lame duck into a master trainer overnight. He harvested the fruits of Nikolić’s work, being at the right time and the right place. I still feel neither respect, nor appreciation for him. As for Iliev, I waste no words on him. I wrote my point of view on him many times on this blog and it hasn’t changed since then.

Superliga, round 17: Javor - FK Partizan 0:2

I love Ivanjica. This town enchants me every time, and when Partizan play there, sometimes I’m busier staring at the misty mountains surrounding the football pitch than actually watching the game.

I must get to Ivanjica. I must see the mountains and the houses in the valley. Here is a photo about the town and its main street (source: skyscrapercity.com), enjoy.

As for the game itself, we had great luck, because we could score from our very first attack in the 10th minute. Janković ran up from a counter-attack, shot and scored, the goalkeeper was just blinking, like a fish in the shopping bag. (0:1) Then all that happened was that there was some pace (it was slowly gone after the 20th minute…), but no attempts. Though in the 23rd minute the ball fell into the net on the Ivanjica side of the pitch, but the referee whistled it off, fouling Tawamba (there was some wrestling in the goalmouth). Goal-kick. Javor had a chance in the 27th minute, but the shot was too wide. Then Ožegović was dancing on my nerves (most probably not just on mine…) in the 31st minute. He was in the goalmouth, Tawamba crossed from left, and Ožegović, well, he simply fell on his arse, while the ball rolled away. Ouch… The pace slowed down, all those ideas we still had (BWAHHAHAHA, we, having ideas?... Joke of the year…), were gone, too. Finally it was Janković again who got fed up with it all saying “go fuck yourselves, check this”, ran up and scored our second goal. (0:2) (photo: partizan.rs)

Sometimes I don’t know what to think about Janković. Sometimes he is like depression itself on two legs, just hanging around the pitch, not even touching the ball. Then, like now, he runs, scores (one or more goals), organizes attacks, USES HIS HEAD, not just to forward the ball, but to think, too. He definitely needs a Marko Nikolić-alike coach who’s not only a coach, but also psychologist, educator and second father as well.

As for the second half, let’s just forget it.

It says all that I turned on the TV in the 63rd minute to watch the rerun of Atletico Madrid - Real Madrid on Sport 2 Channel, because I needed something that is real football, not just “contains football in tracks”.

On this game in Ivanjica we had two huge chances, both missed out (first in the 65th minute, the non-bald Miletić shot too wide from 5 metres, then in the 75th Tošić kicked the ball into the goalkeeper from 3 steps), then Stojković had to perform a great save in the 80th minute, when Mikanivić had a distant shot.

That’s all.

Current championship standings.

1. Crvena Zvezda 46 points

2. Partizan 42 points

3. Spartak 32 points

4. Voždovac 31 points

5. Vojvodina 31 points

6. Čukarički 31 points

7. Radnički Niš 24 points

8. Napredak 23 points

9. Radnik 22 points

10. Mladost 20 points

11. Zemun 18 points

12. Mačva 16 points

13. OFK Bačka 13 points

14. Javor 11 points

15. Rad 11 points

16. Borac 10 points

ABA Liga, round 9: KK Partizan - Petrol Olimpija 77:78

We reached the “joke” level. It was just a question of time though.

In the first quarter we were ahead with 20:9. Both teams were just standing on the court doing nothing, don’t ask me how we still scored. We were beyond the lame duck label. When half the team is under the backboard as some kind of dysfunctional traffic jam, pushing and pulling the ball around to press it into the ring, and it still rebounds after the 6th time, then that team should quit basketball and find another hobby. Olimpija seemed to be apathetic, giving absolutely no shit at all.

The most memorable moment of the second quarter was a timeout by Olimpija after about 4 minutes. The head coach threw a storm of curses on the players, not minding for a moment that he was live on air. Perhaps that was what Slovenes needed, because slowly, with clenched teeth they started to reduce the difference. 24:22, then 26:25, meanwhile I had a new mantra for myself: Veličković, off to pension with you, for fuck’s sake!

Veličković was beyond critics. It’s awful what this guy has been doing as basketball. One of the weakest links of the team. It’s obvious he has lost all interest, doesn’t even try to keep up some sort of illusion.

At the half-time Marinković had a buzzer-beater from at least the half-line. That made the half-time result 45:35.

Had circumstances been different, I’d have jumped out of my skin and danced around the house seeing such a cannon shot. Now it just made me raise my eyebrows, not more, not less. Wow, look at the kid.

Yeah, it’s already gone.

The third quarter was a torture for Average Fan. It just can’t thrill me to see the team falling short of expectations to say the least. We fucked up everything. Less than two minutes were left from the quarter when Olimpija took the lead. (56:57) Honestly? I wasn’t surprised at all. We were shit, we played soullessly and apathetically, while Slovenes resurrected and had a marvellous performance for the rest of the quarter. They kept the lead. (58:61)

We took it back for a short while in the fourth quarter (65:63), but we couldn't keep it. (65:66) It was a ping-pong game, in one moment the home team leading, in the other the guests, always with just 1 point. In the last 1-2 minutes both teams scored only from free throws and it was obvious that the winners will be the those with stronger nerves.

I guess it won’t make any spoiler for you if I tell you it wasn’t Partizan.

52 seconds were left. Olimpija led to 75:76. Williams-Goss scored. 77:76, the Slovenian coach asks for timeout. We return to the court. 45 seconds are left. Clenched teeth. Referees whistle a foul on us. Free throw for Olimpija. They score from both. 77:78. 19 seconds are left. Timeout for us. We return again to the court. Novica Velučković throws in the very last moment - and screws it up. Air ball.

Olimpija win. (photo: twitter.com/Starsportphoto)

Did they deserve it? Absolutely.

What should we learn from this? If a team can lose from 20:9, there are very serious problems, not just with the coach, but with the players as well.

If this team can be team only in their name but not in reality, then what is their function? Depressant, a serious one.

Shall we go and fuck ourselves? Right now, please.

Serbian Cup, 1/8 final: FK Partizan - Rad 3:0

This game was back on Wednesday. Today is Friday. I’ve been thinking whether I should write about this game or not, because writing (and remembering back this game) would just make me pissed over again. As usual.

Finally the chronicler overcame the instinct for life. Shit happens…

No one should be mislead by the final result. This old Europe has surely hardly ever seen such a shit. It was cold and rainy and the game level was the exact mirror of the crappy weather. The first half brought 1 (one) serious chance, and even that was by Rad, hitting the goalpost in the 24th minute. From us Đuričković shot the ball twice towards the direction of the box, but it was something like ‘hey, fucktards, don’t tell me I didn’t even try’. Two unmotivated teams were flipping the ball around on the soaky pitch in front of (allegedly, as the official match report says) 1000 fans. (I’m not even sure there were more than 500 people there.) The number of spectators matched the game level perfectly...

Watching Tošić caused physical pain. Rad’s defenders easily tackled him. He is slow, sluggish and predictable. Who brought him here (back)? Why? For his free kicks? (Really nothing else comes to my mind. And well, let’s be honest, he is far from being Nikola Drinčić.)

Saša Ilić joined the game for the second half as a substitute. From then on Partizan contained some football, in tracks. (photo: partizan.rs)

Yes. You all see it well. The 40-year-old veteran has to join to make the team play and act like a fucking actual team. And this 40-year-old veteran still sweeps off youngsters with his game.

Rad came to the pitch for the second half being totally apathetic, with hands up, as if they had been sure to get defeated, they just want to get over it all as quickly and painlessly as possible. It didn’t raise the level of the game to say the least… 22 lame ducks were hanging around on the pitch with no idea at all. I almost fell asleep.

I thought to make some coffee, then I gave up on that. It was past 19:30 and it’s not really healthy to drink coffee at that time. No need to be the late-late-late-late night owl.

Nothing ever happened. It was raining and even the goal didn’t speed up the sluggish pace. Neither the first goal, nor the others… The first one came in the 61st minute, The ball dropped to Tošić in the middle of a goalmouth scramble. Defenders forgot about him, Tošić shot, the ball rolled into the box among the legs. (1:0) The second one was brought by the 68th minute, Partizan-counterattack, after a depressive Rad-defender lost the ball. Again Tošić was the lucky winner. (2:0) The game level was still rubbish, we possessed the ball, playing on Rad’s half mostly, but we did nothing, Rad-players were just standing, while I whispered the mantra the 1000th time: why am I watching this shit?

Finally Janković scored our 3rd goal in the 80th minute. He got a pass at the half-line, ran up all alone, tackled the goalkeeper by passing the ball above him and bye. (3:0) He even got a pat on the head from the Boss, it was already worth to get up from the bed that morning. (photo: partizan.rs)

Head coach Miroslav Đukić’s post-match press conferences would deserve a separate blogpost. He makes it look as if we won a CL-semifinal against Atletico Madrid in Wanda Metropolitano in front of 65 000 people, not a shitty, forgettable domestic match against a team sitting on the 15th place of the league table (out of 16), playing soullessly, with no useful ideas.

I have seen the same too often in Hungarian football. It never ended well.

Eurocup, round 6: KK Partizan - Alba Berlin 80:96

There’s not much left to be written about the basketball team. All that I’ve written (cursed…) earlier are still true. Nothing ever changed. We played awfully, dull, with no motivation, while Alba won over us with half speed. They lead from the beginning to the end, sometimes with just a few points, sometimes with almost 20. 19:21 (1st quarter), 40:54 (half-time), 58:73 (3rd quarter).

Small things to note: Veličković is getting more and more bald, while even the Hungary vs Costa Rica football friendly is more exciting than this.

Two things still made this game interesting, though not necessarily in the positive way. First was the newest bullshit - heard from reliable source - that Eurocup is not a priority for us, for us ABA Liga is the priority, therefore we won’t play as hard in the international tournament than in the regional.

This totally freaked me out. First, everyone should go and fuck themselves with this shit, second, this is too obviously a very crappy excuse.

No, we don’t play better in ABA Liga. But there even this shit called performance is enough. (And that speaks volumes about ABA Liga as well.)

The other was Samardo Samuels’s half-time interview. Some TV presenter caught him for a quick resume about the game, and Samuels had a very honest, very angry outburst, live, on air. He spoke about the lack of communication within the team. The after the game he continued on his Instagram. (source: screenshot/b92.net)

I’m not a fan of Samuels, I find him slow and sluggish on the court, he seemingly won’t be MVP too often. But I have to agree with him here. Because the team is fucking disfunctional (and players know best what doesn’t function, as they are the ones who are there and not us), and the coach’s duty is to put all available players on court, esp. when the opponent is ahead with almost 20 points, and ours function only as fumbling, lame ducks. Samuels might have been vulgar, but perhaps this is what’s needed for a few eyes to open up and end self-pity. No, he is definitely not my favourite player, but we do need more of such open and honest people.

(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)

Update: a media shitstorm is on the way. Samuels is still fuming on his Instagram and I still agree with him. Head coach Nikolić had a press conference where he said without the blink of his eye that it’s not him to blame for this situation, it’s Partizan (ie. the team) to blame.

Idiot.

Eurocup, round 5: KK Partizan - Lokomotiv Kuban 83:93

It’s merely keeping the records why I made a blogpost about this game. I don’t want to waste too many words on it, even these I wrote so far are more than it actually deserves.

It was a shitty game, we were shit, we played like shit, we lost, we deserved it. That sums it up.

The beginning was like a constipation. Slow, hard, sweaty and stinky. Lokomotiva seemed to be even sleepier than us. We lead in the first quarter (26:21). As for the second, I remember nothing. It was so terribly boring that I did some needlework instead, or else I would have fallen asleep. The Russian team took the lead here and there, but I know no details, maybe for the better. All that comes to my mind is that Williams-Goss git a technical foul soon before the end and the half-time result was 39:42. The third quarter was very annoying, it was this “pingpong”-game, this team take the lead, other team score, they take the lead, first team take it back… 47:49, 49:49, 49:52, 52:52… you get what I mean. We missed out a countless amount of chances. Like a bunch of amateurs. It’s so obvious how much the players themselves hate it. The third quarter ended with 57:63, it was obvious that we would fail unless some miracle happens.

It didn’t happen.

In the last quarter Lokomotiva realized that it might have even won the game. They actually started to play, and they put speed into their game. It was still far from the level of NBA, but it was still a little faster than before. Samuels was fouled out two and a half minutes before the end. Only 1 minute was left when the difference was 10 points (79:89). The two Americans lost their temper, they played nervous, yelling with the referees, who all whistled a foul on them after every scene. (83:93)

That’s all. Go to sleep.

KK Partizan: Miller (17), Williams-Goss (18), Tadić, Aranitović, Jovanović, Marinković (13), Tomić, Pecarski (5), Andrić (3), Samuels (17), Šalić (5)

Lokomotiv Kuban: Collins (6), Antipov (10), Ragland (23), Baburin, Lacey (13), Ivlev (2), Ilnitskiy, Khvostov, Elegar, Kulagin (17), Qvale (12), Broekhoff (10)

ABA Liga, round 7: KK Partizan - Crvena Zvezda 84:100

It’s hard now. Even after a whole day.

No, not because of the defeat. That was expectable. It’s because of being THIS very weak and shitty and we just don’t function THIS VERY MUCH as a team.

Zvezda was better. There’s nothing to question it. They have very strong (not just physically), skilled and experienced players (e.g. Pero Antić) and they play in Euroleague on a  basis against the best teams of Europe. They do it well, they regularly qualify to the best 8.

Dear Readers, please, someone tell me honestly, what the fuck did we want against them? What did we think of ourselves? Did we think that we could beat them with this dysfunctional team which would get defeated even by a team of teenagers from the basketball playground near the blocks? KK Partizan didn’t function as a TEAM. Andrić and Marinković looked as if they had never ever worked under Duško Vujošević. Veličković? To hell with Veličković, he should retire as soon as he still has the chance to remain in the memories as a class player. Miller, oh, my God, Miller, I don’t know who brought him here, but they should immediately disappear in hell together with this lame duck American. Samuels is tragic, he’s the love child of a sloth and a bear woken up from its winter sleep at the end of December. Pecarski, please go back to kindergarten. Nigel Williams-Goss, I have no idea why he is treated as some demigod

Musli and Gagić of 2013 would wash up the floor with him, separated as well as together. After that they would still have energy to make 50 press-up’s, for fuck’s sake

he is typically the “one-eyed king among the blinds”. Let’s be honest: NWG is a mediocre player. He can’t do anything extraordinary, he just does what he has been asked.

Do you know what’s really sad?

That even this minimal effort is enough in this “team” to be practically the best player.

As for the others, I don’t even know their names. That says all.

As for the game, there were a few famous guests. Half the football-team came (on the picture there are Ožegović and Tošić, but there were somewhere Vlahović and Kosović, toi, and probably others as well)...

(photo: aba-liga.com)

...Saša Pavlović...

(photo: hotsport.rs)

...but the most famous was without a doubt Bastian Schweinsteiger.

(photo: hotsport.rs)

Seriously, that was the best part of the whole game. Let's just forget the rest. We were in our usual form. We missed out EVERY goddamn chance. Everything rebounded, we made such air balls, that the ball flew over the backboard crying. Zvezda did whatever it wanted already in the first quarter, while they scored a row of 3-pointers.

It was almost scary. They scored. And scored. Precisely, ruthlessly, from everywhere. Especially Bjelica. That dude surely ate uranium rod before the game. Or I don’t know. He was unstoppable.

The saddest was that we had no answer. We were just staring out of our heads. We were helpless. Zvezda lead for the whole game. We equalized only once, in the very beginning (3:3, yes, that was all we could achieve), then they took back the lead and kept it. The first quarter ended with 21:26, in the second they were ahead with 10 points (21:31) and even the bitter, angry, vulgar chanting of Grave Diggers didn’t bother them. They played us off the court.

There’s one thing for which they really deserve a high five, from me surely: they left behind that typically sly, disgusting style that was so characteristic of them. Yes, there was wrestling, a lot, but thankfully those revolting, cunning little tricks disappeared from their game. Well, yes. It’s not Dejan Radonjić coaching them anymore.

Fouls followed fouls, yes, mostly we were fouled. It was expectable, wasn’t it? I’ve seen many critics about the referees - yes, they were indeed terrible, but it shouldn’t be an excuse. How many games did we play that the referees could have take on the opponent’s jersey? Good old days… When the team was still full of combative energy and fire. Those times are gone… Meanwhile Zvezda lead, we struggled, but hey, we were lame ducks on every previous game, why would have we changed now? The half-time result was 42:51, I thought why not asking Saša Pavlović to join us a bit, he surely still has enough in himself to teach these a bit what is basketball.

The second half brought no surprise. Zvezda was still dominant, they played fast and aggressive, we were still lame ducks, around the middle of the third quarter I started to feel sorry for the team. Poor guys, they just struggle, visibly all their efforts are in vain, everyone and everything are against them, they are talentless and fed up with it all. The end of the quarter was so fragmented that both teams scored only from free throws. It finished with 63:74. For the last quarter Partizan collapsed. Zvezda had fun - well, they were leading to 74:92, we watched them with a weary smile, with no more energy to do anything. There was the coup d’etat left: a few seconds before the end buzz Zvezda scored its 100th point. It’s very painful for me to say it, but that’s the truth and I won’t hide it: they deserved it. We should draw the consequences and learn from our mistakes instead of self-pity.

(photo: aba-liga.com)

KK Partizan: Miller (16), Williams-Goss (17), Aranitović (1), Marinković (7), Veličković (18), Tomić, Pecarski (6), Gavrilović (4), Andrić, Samuels (11), Čakarević, Šalić (4)

Crvena Zvezda: Radičević (2), Dangubić (12), Davidovac, Lazić (2), Antić (13), Dobrić, Feldeine (15), Apić, Rochestie (14), Lessort (11), Jovanović (2), Bjelica (29)

Current championship standings:

1. Budućnost 13 points

2. Crvena Zvezda 12 points

3. Cedevita 12 points

4. FMP 11 points

5. Partizan 11 points

6. Mega Bemax 10 points

7. Igokea 10 points

8. Cibona 10 points

9. Mornar Bar 10 points

10. Zadar 9 points

11. Petrol Olimpija 9 points

12. MZT Skopje 9 points

Superliga, round 16: Mačva - FK Partizan 1:3

After this game I had nausea and really wanted to throw up. My stomach was upset even hours later. This was the shittiest, most shameful victory ever, backed by the referee as well. We were lame ducks and we played with no brain

has there been any tactical meeting before the game? Or everyone decided to play Assassin’s Creed instead?

Mačva decided - very smartly - to play it aggressive. It brought quite a number of wrestling scenes on both sides, but at least there was pace, even though with minimal attempts on goal. (And even those were better to forget.) After the 20th minute the pace slowened, by the way, I heard Tawamba’s name at this point for the first time. The dude touched the ball for the first time after 20 minutes… Nothing happened for long minutes, I was thinking maybe it was better to do needlework or something, even that would be more exciting than this… In the 35th minute Matić got the ball at a Mačva counter-attack. He ran up with 3 Partizan-defenders behind him, spitting out their lungs, finally Everton chose the worst solution and kicked Marić to the ground.

I really don’t know what to think about Everton. He has a very big heart, but sometimes acts like a real peasant.

For Everton’s great luck he got only a yellow card. A more strict referee would have probably sent him off with a red. Nevertheless Mačva got a free kick. Lazarević stood behind the ball, shot and scored a fantastic cannon shot goal. (1:0) Honestly, it was a huge goal and Mačva totally deserved it. They had another attack, almost immediately, Matić’s shot was too wide.

Then in the 40th minute Tawamba killed all my leftover nerves. We had a turnover, Tawamba ran upfield ALL ALONE, he faced only the goalkeeper. Nobody else was around. What does an average striker do? Tackles the goalkeeper, shoots the ball above him into the box, and scores, this way or that way.

What did Tawamba do?

Tawamba started to fucking toddle. Like a baby. He toddled, didn’t shoot, just toddled, the defenders were already back, Tawamba was pushed to the right side, finally we got a corner kick. The ball was shot to the goalmouth and Tawamba fucking missed it out, the ball rolled out through the baseline at the other side, goal kick.

May the sky fall upon the stupid head of that idiot who brought this talentless sloth Cameroonian here. I’ve seriously never thought there is worse than Bojinov. There he is… To hell with this fool, to the bench, but he should be allowed to play only when the entire striking line, even the stadium’s cleaning staff are injured...

Mačva had a strong start in the 2nd half, too, actually not much would have been needed for a 2:0 standing. As for us, Ožegović had a very weak attempt in the 51th minute, then a minute later Tawamba showed up again. Huge chance, and he falls on his ass 3 steps from the goal line. Seriously. It just can’t be.

In the 54th minute we finally managed to equalize. It was Tawamba, Vulićević’s 1000 % precise cross arrived, he just had to nod a little. (1:1) It was an “unmissable”, a “zicer”, you know, that kind which even my grandmother would, etc. etc.

Then I don’t remember much. Probably nothing happened. Around the 66th minute an asshole from the Partizan-fans’ tribune threw a smoke bomb on the pitch, halting the game fir a short while.

We fucking needed that, you idiot.

Mačva had a few dangerous counter-attacks, our attempts were blocked by their defense line.

(photo: partizan.rs)

Tošić was the other nerve cell killer. Either he is totally lame or his level of motivation is lower than of a rheumatic snail. It was physically painful to watch.

Then came a weird situation. 84th minute, Tawamba again fucks up a chance. The goalkeeper saves, Average Fan concludes - not for the first time - that we are lame ducks, deep inside congratulates to Mačva’s goalkeeper for the great save, then Pantić suddenly falls. The referee whistles and gives us a penalty.

ArenaSport showed the situation from every possible angle with slow motion replay. As for me, I have a suspicion that Pantić might have even faked that trip a bit. It was very questionable to say the least. Honestly, I do think the referee made a big mistake. No wonder the entire home team yelled his head off his neck. Their fans chanted “lopovi, lopovi” (thieves, thieves) and I have to admit, I could totally understand them.

And I felt ashamed.

Saša Ilić shot the penalty, scored. (1:2) Mačva-fans were booing, hissing, cursing, and I could not question their rage. It was a disgusting penalty which we didn’t deserve. The Captain’s presence just made it sadder. In the 89th minute little Jovanović scored our 3rd goal (1:3), Mačva-fans lost their temper and they kept on chanting “lopovi, lopovi” even after the final whistle.

Shameful victory we can’t and mustn’t be proud of.

How weird. In the previous season everyone (me included) was spitting on Zvezda for the very same reason, namely referees gave them penalty even for the most painful fake trips. They practically had no games without any questionable referee’s decision. It seems that - using a popular Hungarian expression’s English translation - we switched to the other side of the dick and the same seems to happen to us, we were the ones who spat, now we are the ones who are spitted.

I found this on Twitter. Feel free to use it

Current championship standings:

1. Crvena Zvezda 43 points

2. Partizan 39 points

3. Vojvodina 30 points

4. Spartak 29 points

5. Voždovac 28 points

6. Čukarički 28 points

7. Napredak 23 points

8. Radnički Niš 23 points

9. Radnik 21 points

10. Mladost 17 points

11. Mačva 16 points

12. Zemun 15 points

13. OFK Bačka 13 points

14. Javor 11 points

15. Rad 11 points

16. Borac 10 points

Europa League, round 4: FK Partizan - Skendebeu 2:0

My! Fucking! God!

How long it has been that I was this tensed and nervous before a game. I realized just now how much I missed this feeling.

It would deserve a separate blogpost what a wicked race this match-watching became. The first 10 minutes passed with nervous searching for stream - reliable forces made it sure that I lost absolutely nothing - then the one and only available stream was so ill that it collapsed in every 2-5 minutes. Never mind. I brought you coreo-pictures. (source: twitter.com/SerbianUltras)

The two teams were more than nervous. It was no wonder at all. Everton worked hard to tear Albanians to pieces (for this reason he had a smaller verbal fight with the referee around the 21st minute), other than that not much happened. We had a weird situation (or chance?...) in the 29th minute, an Albanian defender wanted to pass the ball back to the goalkeeper. He did so, the goalkeeper made a goal-kick. He hit Ožegović with the ball, and it seemed that the object (ie. the ball) will roll through the goal-line as an unsaveable hit. Finally it rolled out of the pitch missing the box with a few centimetres, and in the meantime the referee whistled it off for handball. (The slow motion replay did show the ball hitting Ožegović’s arm, the referee was right.)

Referee Carlos Del Cerro deserves all respect and hats off. It was a very difficult, tensed game with two nervous teams and thousands of raging fans. Still he kept impartial and consistent for the whole time. Thank you, Mr. Referee, keep up the great job!

We missed out another chance in the 33rd minute, a cross from the right was too long for Janković. Then in the 38th minute we got a free kick, approx. 30 metres from the box. Tošić stood behind the ball. He kicked...

And DANG! He scored!!! Goooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaal!!! 1:0!!!

For the rest of the first half Stojković had two great saves, Tawamba had a fight with someone (all I could see was the Cameroonian making big gestures and yelling with someone, while the referee was trying to calm down them). In the second half the stream was dying and finally it gave up around the 60th minute. May it rest in peace.

Cursing, spitting, desperate searching on all available stream sites. Nothing. Meanwhile I saw on Twitter that we scored again, now Tawamba. Oh well. I’ll try and watch the goal later. No stream link around the fucking internet, I can’t believe! Fucking direct RTS-stream available only from Serbia. May you all get diarrhea at a public place. Nothing, absolutely no available stream. What can Average Fan do then? Moves to MozzartSport’s site to follow the text broadcast.

I could see there Tawamba’s goal. 66th minute, Ožegović passed to him, all doors and windows are wide open, even the goalkeeper ran out. Even my grandmother (with walking stick and shopping bag in her hands) would have scored. Whatever. The ball was behind the line. That was the only thing that mattered. 2:0

MozzartSport’s text mentioned nothing special for the rest of the game. There was an approx. 12-minute-long idle period when I thought Mozzart’s reporter was abducted by UFO’s, because the page was not refreshed. Then it came to light that it was the game itself being painfully eventless… At the end little Jovanović joined as substitute, then came the final(ly) whistle. Time to celebrate. If the full game is available on YouTube (or anywhere else) be kind and copy the link to the comment box. (You’ll get a virtual cookie.)

Venue: Partizan stadium, Belgrade

Official: Carlos Del Cerro (assistants: Juan Yuste, Roberto Alonso - 4th official: Javier Rodriguez - additional assistants: José María Sanchez Martinez, Santiago Jaime Latre) - ESP

FK Partizan: Stojković - Vulićević, Miletić (bald), Mitrović, Miletić - Janković, Everton, Jevtović, Tošić (Pantić, 82.) - Ožegović (Radin, 74.), Tawamba (Jovanović 88.)

Skenderbeu: Shehi - Vangjeli, Radaš, Jashanica, Mici (Aliti, 65.) - Muzaka, Lilaj, Taku (Sahiti, 89.) - Gavazaj (Nešpor, 68.), Sowe, Adeniyi

Goal scorers: Tošić (39.), Tawamba (66.)

Yellow card: Jevtović (44.), Tošić (52.), Jashanica (65.), Miletić (71.)