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/
Well. This was just shit. We were knocked out. And I can’t even say it was unjust, because it wasn’t. (photo: partizan.rs)
There was pace, though. And action, too. In the beginning it was really a good game. Both teams fought, clashed, they all played it hard, Everton had a marvellous shot in the 5th minute, hitting the crossbar, seriously, only a little would have been needed for a goal.
One minute passed. One goddamn, rotten minute.
Dinamo attacked. Someone shot, Stojković saved, but couldn’t catch the ball. Morozyuk arrived, he was all alone, defenders were… God knows where they were… Morozyuk did what every striker has to do in this situation, he shot and scored. (1:0)
Afterwards… well, the boys really worked hard. They ran, fought, slid, clashed - but it all resulted only one attempt by Solomon in the 11th minute, shooting from 16 metres, right into the goalkeeper’s hands. Clashes were more and more tough, once Everton fell on the ground, then Tsygankov.
Then we got an awful goal.
28th minute. Shepeliev crossed from left, Shaparenko headed it forward, Morozyuk received it and immediately - and very selflessly - passed to Moraes. Moraes ruthlessly kicked it into the box. (2:0)
And the end wasn’t even near…
31st minute, fans still cheering after the previous goal. Pivarić headed the ball forward, Morozyuk placed it to the middle, all Partizan-defenders were just staring out of their heads with mouth open, Moraes arrived and just had to walk into the box with the ball. (3:0)
3 goals within 25 minutes, one shittier than the other. Fucking record. I really don’t remember when was the last time our defense line was this amateur.
Only the end of the first half brought again action. In the first minute of the extra time Dinami had a big chance, Shaparenko hit the sidenet. Then in the very last minute we got a penalty. Soumah was tackled and fell to the ground inside the penalty area.
Seriously. Soumah was invisible for the whole fucking game. He barely touched the ball for 90 minutes. This was his one and only useful action to fall and earn us a penalty.
Jevtović stood behind the ball, shot and scored. (3:1) He had luck, because the goalkeeper moved to the right direction, but couldn’t save.
There were a few attempts in the beginning of the second half. The Ukrainian goalkeeper had a big save, when Pantić shot in the 50th minute. 5 minutes later Shaparenko had a huge solo, running upfield, finally Stojković saved. And there’s no Partizan-match without the usual Tawamba-performance… He shot the ball with full force into the goalkeeper’s face in the 58th minute. (Goalkeeper Bushchan felt a bit dizzy, but he could continue the game.)
Then nothing happened for long-long minutes. We were just struggling.
I was thinking - and actually felt very sad - that these boys now really worked hard and did all that they could. And really that’s all they know. Not more. Not physically, but rather, and much more mentally.
The coup de grace came in the 76th minute. Bald Miletić and a Ukrainian clashed inside the penalty area. The home player fell to the ground, the referee gave penalty.
All slow motion replays from all angles made it clear that Miletić did touch the ball before sweeping off the Ukrainian, so it was a regular tackle. The referee did make a big mistake.
Let me be honest. In that situation one more or less penalty really didn’t matter anymore.
Moraes scored. (4:1) Hat-trick.
And it could have been 5:1… Besedin scored in the 87th minute, but he was on an at least 1-meter-long offside, the referee invalidated the goal.
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.
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
Well done.
We're fucked by the Poles big time. The world champion, CL-win aspirant Zaglebie Lubin
please, see the irony in it, thank you
labeled Partizan with the "rinky dink" price tag on the European football market. And let's be honest: for 210 minutes we could not score one single goal against them, because we played a brutally low level, soulless game.
It was especially a low blow after those bumptious, stuck-up statements for the press before the match. 'We came to Lublin to win', 'Partizan is the better team', 'we have optimistic expectations', blah blah blah.
Let's start it by making a few important things clear.
ILIEV OUT!!!
VAZURA OUT!!!
VUČELIĆ OUT!!!
VULETIĆ OUT!!!
Ivan Tomić must immediately resign if he still has a little bit of self-respect.
As for these so-called "players", ALL of them must hand down their shirts and jerseys NOW at the team ordnance and all of them continue their career as ditchers. None of you deserve to wear Partizan's jersey, you soulless, talentless fakers!!!
And hereby I declare, that the Polish team did deserve to qualify to the next round. We can thank only to goddess Fortuna that they didn't beat the hell out of us in regular time.
That Zaglebie we saw in Belgrade, that played monotonous, boring bunker football was gone. Instead there was an aggressive, ballsy, fearless Zaglebie on the field, of where the players knew very well what they wanted and how they could achieve it. Apart from a few minutes here and there they kept control in their hands for the whole game. Partizan had no time to pass the ball around or think things over, because Poles instantly tackled them and attacked.
The starting eleven was the same as for the previous game. I bet the tactics were also the same...
Radović freaked me out not just once. He was the weakest link of the team. He was mentioned a couple of times at the beginning, but even those were about how much he was fumbling. Then he stayed invisible until he was substituted (why did that happen so late?...).
Who brought him here and why? A League 5 veterans’ game has more fire and excitement than him. Even Babović was better.
Babović is a Matthäus compared to him...
The Polish team didn’t waste their time. They attacked, ran, had target shots, when either Šaranov had to perform big saves or they missed the target just with a few centimetres. As for us, all we had was Đurđić getting injured on his head after a clash. After he started to bleed, he got a turban made from gauze on his head. That was the mark to show that he is (still) on the field, because he made absolutely no other impression at all.
In the second half Mihajlović had a few moments that are worth to mention.
The truth is that our FIRST attempt was in the 82th minute. It was a 20-metre cannon shoot by Mihajlović.
IN THE 82TH MINUTE.
Our first actual attempt on a competitive game happens in the 82th minute, only 3 days before the superliga starts.
Dissolve the team now. Get out of the pro league, everybody, NOW, and go to the amateur league. We have nothing to do among professionals.
It's a joke. Nothing more.
Nemanja Mihajlović
And then Radović was about to receive a pass, but instead he did the splits down to the grass, like an over-aged ballerina, in the middle of nowhere, being all alone. Nobody was around him. IT’S IMPOSSIBLE, TELL ME IT DIDN’T HAPPEN!
Then came 30 more minutes of this struggle.
Here came the first positive moment, because Saša Ilić joined the game after a long time (substituting Radović). We immediately had a chance afterwards, Brašanac missed it out.
I swear, after a while I was begging for one goal. One single goal. It didn’t even matter to me who scores it, just make this shit end and let’s go back home.
They didn’t score.
Kubicki missed out an attempt, then Vlahović couldn’t find the target (Brašanac had a shot from the left, but his attempt was saved by the goalkeeper. He couldn’t grab the ball, it dropped to Partizan’s young striker, but he missed it out as well.)
Penalty shootout.
First came Brašanac. He shot it too high. 0:0
Then came Janus, he scored. 1:0
Next Saša Ilić. Calm and professional, as always. 1:1
Guldan. Easily. 2:1
Đuričković. Him too. 2:2
Todorovski. Šaranov saved it!!! 2:2
Janković. 2:3
Wozniak. 3:3
Mihajlović. He missed it!... He shot, the goalkeeper could touch it and pushed it to the goalpost. 3:3...
Last man. Vlasko. He ran up... and scored.
4:3
The end. Goodbye, Europe.
You can watch the penalty shootout here. At the end Janković collapsed :(
At least half of the starting 11 line-up was totally unknown for me.
Someone should tell me why it’s good to scrounge a bunch of new players that could make up an entire starting eleven. Players you’ve never heard of, and you don’t know who and why wanted to sign them for Partizan. None of them is a class player, none of them has character, yet at the same time we sell out our own youth/cadet players even before they reach the coming of age.
Fans started to chant "Vučiću pederu" before the start. Nothing new, nothing special, just carrying on where we finished in the previous season, right?
Starting line-up
Bench
(photos: partizan.rs)
I’d like to ask head coach Ivan Tomić about why Saša Ilić had to stay on the bench for the whole time NOW, when we play in the Europa League?...
Then the match started and we passed the ball among us. We also kept on passing the ball. We passed the ball here and there. Our ball possession was excellent. We could even reach the Polish penalty area, but we then stopped there. Đurđić was supposed to be on the striker position, yet I could hear his name to be mentioned only once during the first 20 minutes.
Zaglebie played defensive football. They probably wanted to survive this game without getting any goal. The first time they had any mentionable attempt on our goal (and it was really on target) was in the 24th minute. Otherwise Partizan kept on passing the ball. Here and there. With no visible result.
It started to be exciting in the last 10 minutes. First Radović missed out 2 chances in a row, then it was Mihajlović’s turn to miss out an attempt with the ball hitting a defender and by this "ricochet" rolling out of the field missing the target with 2 millimetres or so. Bogosavac too had a great chance, hitting the crossbar, while Đurđić raised to Bojinovian heights, when he screwed up an attempt 3 steps from the goal line in the 41st minute. (Then he had a fight with Todorovski.)
The moment when you realize Euro2016 is over and you have to content yourself with superliga
(photo: partizan.rs)
I think it says all that I was begging for the game to end already in the 50th minute. Numerous attempts were missed out (Đurđić, Radović). Papadopulos got his 2nd yellow card in the 55th minute, from then on Zaglebie played with 10 players.
And we still couldn’t score one single goal. We tried, while the Polish team didn’t pressure themselves too much. They played it defensive. They had one attempt in the 61st minute, they dribbled it so good that they made Everton fall on the ground, then they barely missed it.
The Substitute Of All Times. Đurđić off, Bojinov on. Effectivity is not our cup of tea, is it? Most important is to look fancy on the field, with the trendiest haircut ever
(photo: partizan.rs)
The team seemingly started to get exhausted around the 75th minute. Players slowed down, they fumbled more and more. It was easy for Polish players to tackle them. They even got up to our penalty area
once Gogoua almost headed an own goal
then they quickly ran back home.
Iliev’s facial expression is just priceless. Only he can make such a numbskull face
(photo: partizan.rs)
The team picked themselves together for the last few minutes and attacked the Polish goal line continuously, with no success. Bojinov just had to miss out a chance, kicking the ball to the sky from the five-metre-line in the last minute.
BotoxBiki (aka Biljana Obradović, Partizan’s so-called PR-manager) was staying behind the southern goal line among photographers, bringing a rather polluted aura to the field. If I had been there with the players, I’d have suggested to play target shooting: those who can hit her botoxed head off her giraffe neck, would get extra bonus after the match.
Saša Ilić was surely not happy with the sight
(photo: partizan.rs)
Goalless draw against a team that played most of the second half with 10 players. We must very heavily pick ourselves together for the return match, if we want to be mentioned as a "European team".
Miroslav Bogosavac and Marko Janković were the only ones who had fair performance
It’s just fucking hard now.
I can’t find the words. It just doesn’t work. Even if I deliberately slept it over.
What the hell could one say about it?...
The qualifying to the 1/16 final was in an arm’s length away. We were just an arm’s length away from Europe... and we couldn’t.
It was told before the match, the Germans need a 3:1 victory to qualify. For us even a 0:0 draw would have been enough.
And what was the result of this game?... 3:1 to Augsburg.
If I was about to make conspiracy theories, I’d say, the goddamned UEFA by default didn’t want Partizan to qualify, that’s why they sent here this lousy, cat-eater Italian, who refereed the game as it must have never been refereed. It was clear, even from distance that he hated to be there, he hated Partizan and wished to be as far from here as possible.
German fans set the tribune on fire before the game...
(photo: Twitter)
...Grave Diggers’ answer was this...
(photo: hotsport.rs)
(photo: hotsport.rs)
...and this
(photo: Twitter)
Partizan’s water polo team were on the tribune, they came to support the football players
(photo: waterpolopartizan.rs)
The start of the game
(photo: hotsport.rs)
Partizan’s starting 11
(photo: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)
You can see, Saša Ilić was not in the starting eleven.
Saša Ilić stayed on the bench for the entire game, he didn’t play even for a minute.
This wasn’t the only hair-raising anomaly in this match though.
We attacked right in the first minute. Andrija Živković crossed from the right, the goalkeeper caught it. Augsburg had a counter-attack, a player had a distant shot to our goal, it was way too high.
We were still in the 2nd minute, Andrija Živković got the ball on the right side. He made a row of fantastic dribbles, but the defenders kicked him on the ground. Free kick, from the line of the penalty area. Defenders headed it out, corner-kick.
In the 7th minute Bobadilla had a sudden, distant shot to our goal, but it was too high.
Then in the 11th minute Aboubakar got a fantastic pass. He ran up all alone, then shot and scored a giant goal. A-BOOM-bakar!!! 1:0!!! WE ARE LEADING!!!!
(photos: hotsport.rs)
This goal made Augsburg collapse. Even though they had two attempts after this, one in the 17th, the other in the 21st minute, but both avoided our goal. (First Stafylidis had a too high shot, then Trochowski attempted, but a leg appeared out of the blue and touched the ball, making the shot too wide.)
Then came the referee.
In the 22nd minute he whistled off a non-existing foul. Ninković tackled the German player arriving on the right. Džigi made it absolutely perfectly, even the slow motion replay confirmed it, but the referee ruthlessly gave a free kick to Augsburg. Our defenders headed it downfield, Andrija Živković could run up with an amazing dribble, just he gave himself a way too long pass.
Two minutes later Aboubakar sent a great cross from the right. Brašanac headed it to the goal, the goalkeeper saved. A minute later again Aboubakar passed the ball, now to Andrija Živković. Žile ran up, dribbled, then shot, the goalkeeper saved this one, too. Another minute later Brašanac headed upfield in the middle, crossed to Andrija Živković. Živković shot, it ended with a corner-kick.
In the 32nd minute Stafylidis had again a weak attempt, then almost immediately Janker brutally kicked Subić to the ground inside our penalty area. Subić was laying on the ground for long, finally he could stand up and continue playing - the referee didn’t whistle, there was no yellow card or any other retortion.
In the 34th minute again Stafylidis crossed from the right. It was very dangerous, Callsen-Bracker jumped up for the ball, Živko Živković had a great save.
In the 37th minute Callsen-Bracker fell on the ground after Ninković invalidated him. The German played "the dying swan", it took long minutes while the medicals picked his pieces together and carried him off the field. The game was on halt
by the way, the referee’s duty would be here to send everyone off the field, injured as well as medicals to continue giving assistance near the sideline, out of the field, so that teams can continue the game, wouldn’t it?
Then Partizan played defensive for quite a while. We were at the very end of the first half, playing the minutes of extra time, when the referee again stepped out of the dark. He gave a yellow card to Andrija Živković for a non-existing foul
he and Bandalovski were wrestling with an Augsburg-player at the sideline, then the guest player fell on the ground, the referee whistled it off, but I swear, my impression was that this rotten cat-eater guido was deliberately seeking for the chance to kill Živković
as well as a free kick for the Germans. The kick was headed to our net by Hong - it looked as if the ball dropped even on Živko Živković’s hand, but there was a too big goalmouth scramble, I’m not sure if I could see it clearly. 1:1
Živko Živković’s desperate face as he watches the ball dropping into the net
(photo: hotsport.rs)
The second half started with a German attempt. Trochowski shot, luckily a foot touched the ball, so it could avoid our net (it would have been most probably another goal otherwise). Thankfully the referee didn’t notice the foot, which almost surely belonged to a Partizan-player and whistled for goal-kick.
In the 50th minute Andrija Živković ran upfield and passed to Aboubakar. The Cameroonian dribbled, then he was kicked to the ground. (No, the referee didn’t whistle.)
A minute later it was 1:2.
I swear on anything that it was from offside, but there was no flag up. A very long pass came from deep, Dutch player Verhaegh jumped out and scored. (You can watch it here, if you have the heart for it.)
In the 52nd minute we got a free kick at the corner of Augsburg’s penalty area. Andrija Živković shot, the goalkeeper saved.
In the 56th minute Bobadilla crossed to the other side of our penalty area, to Ji. The Korean headed it to our goal line, Živko Živković saved. A minute later Aboubakar sent a big pass to Brašanac. Brašanac ran up, made a huge solo, fought himself through the defenders, then shot, the goalkeeper saved it. In the 60th minute again Aboubakar got the ball and passed to Ninković. Ninković ran up, dribbled, shot, it was too wide.
My nerves were wrecked way before the game. At this point I was in a catatonia, laying on the floor. I didn’t even have the strength to cry for a defibrillator. And the end was still way too far.
In the 61st minute Trochowski had a sudden, distant shot, Živko Živković had a great save.
Why does Živković have to stay on the bench?... Don’t take me wrong, I have nothing against Kljajić, he is skilled and talented, but Živković have these cat-alike reflexes. Just because someone had this idea that he made too many mistakes earlier?... Well, ladies and gentlemen, it is always the easiest to blame the goalkeeper for lost games. Kljajić is a great player, but he may need a bit more time to mature...
In the 69th minute a cross came from the left, Živko Živković caught it.
In the 71st minute we got a free kick, from about 25 metres. Andrija Živković shot, Ćirković headed it to the goal, it was a great movement, but the referee whistled it off, for him it was offside.
In the 73rd minute Ninković sent a distant, amazing cannon shot to the goal. The ball hit the crossbar and dropped to Andrija Živković. Živković shot, it was too wide.
In the 77th minute Živko Živković had a GIANT save with his leg (!!!). Earlier a Partizan-player was kicked to the ground again, the referee didn’t whistle again, even though our player stayed laying on the field. Brazilian player Caiuby ran up and shot, Živko Živković saved not just the goal line, but also fans from another heart attack.
We had quite a few of them during the game...
In the 79th minute we played "pinball football" on Augsburg’s half, passing the ball very quickly among each other, finally the ball dropped to Ninković. Ninković ran up on the left side, dribbled and shot, just barely missing the goal.
And here the referee sent off Andrija Živković.
The reason was simple, Žile touched the ball with his hand, and he already had a yellow card. He had to leave the field.
You rotten mafioso idiot referee, I hope you’re satisfied that you could turn off Partizan’s best player...
After this Andrija Živković was watching the game standing at the tunnel
(photo: mondo.rs)
In the 88th minute Brašanac got a fantastic pass. He run up all alone in the middle, shot, it was too high.
(photo: hotsport.rs)
The 89th minute brought the coup de grace.
Augsburg attacked, with the usual goalmouth scramble. Suddenly Caiuby headed the ball to Bobadilla. The Paraguayan had nothing else to do than walk into the net with it. He did so. 1:3
That was the end.
End of the game, end of all hopes.
(photos: hotsport.rs)
Here is a video about the moments right after the final whistle. It says more than any words.
I won’t put any video highlights here. Sorry. On one hand UEFA blocked all videos, as usual, on the other I just have no heart for that. If you want to see it, you can search for it, you’ll surely find it uploaded, if not else, then the goals.
Here I’d like to take the opportunity to congratulate Lazar Marković and Petar Škuletić that their teams (Fenerbahce and Lokomotiv Moscow) qualified to the 1/16 final of the Europa League. An extra high five to Markec for his fantastic goal.
After the game hell broke loose. Head coach Ljubinko Drulović plain and simply didn’t go to the post-match press conference. A few journalists could catch him as he tried to sneak out - he said something to them that he had a very important discussion with Iliev, that’s why he didn’t take part at the conference, then he disappeared.
WTF?... How?... And why?... It’s just impossible that the head coach deliberately misses out the press conference. No matter how many goals we get, no matter how deep is the shit we are in, the head coach must stand out and talk to the press. Responsibility, my ass...
After this even crazier rumours started to circulate. B92 talked about the entire Partizan-presidency resigning after the match. Though they added, these news are not confirmed. Unfortunately they are still not.
Rumours speak about raging Partizan-fans surrounding the club’s headquarters, demanding the resigning of the leadership. Press says the presidency collapsed for this heavy pressure and resigned. It smells a bit like Njuz.net, but if it really happens so, I’ll celebrate with champagne.
Facts:
Venue: Partizan Stadion, Belgrade
Number of spectators: 20 000
Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (assistants: Alessandro Giallatini, Matteo Passeri - 4th assistant: Filippo Melli - goal line assistants: Marco Guida, Andrea Gervasoni) - ITA
FK Partizan: Ž. Živković - Bandalovski, Ćirković, Fabricio, Subić (Petrović, 64.) - Brašanac - A. Živković, Babović, Jevtović, Ninković (Grbić, 83.) - Aboubakar
Head coach: Ljubinko Drulović
FC Augsburg: Hitz - Verhaegh, Janker, Callsen-Bracker (Hong, 40.), Stafylidis (Max, 80.) - Koo (Caiuby, 60.), Baier, Trochowski, Ji - Bobadilla, Matavz
Head coach: Markus Weinzierl
Goal scorers: Aboubakar (11.), Hong (45+1.), Verhaegh (51.), Bobadilla (89.)
Yellow card: Ninković (36.), A. Živković (45+1), Bobadilla (90.)
Red card: A. Živković (80. - second yellow card)
We won!!!
What a game it was, my God.
Average Fan died a couple of times, resurrected, died again, resurrected again... and at the end shed tears, without feeling ashamed.
This photo was taken the day before the game with fans of Partizan and CSKA Moscow. Russian fans were also present to support Partizan and Grave Diggers
(photo: Twitter)
Our starting eleven
(photo: Facebook/Fudbalski klub Partizan)
We didn’t start too aggressively, the Dutch team took advantage of it and attacked heavily. In the first 15 minutes we got stuck around our penalty area. They kept on possessing the ball, Partizan’s only hope was that they can’t break the defensive wall. In the 12th minute dos Santos shot from the penalty area line, Kljajić saved. Two minutes later Dutch team had a "pinball style" attack inside our penalty area. Three of their players had an attempt to goal, all of them were blocked by our defenders. Then in the 15th minute we could finally break out. Brašanac passed the ball to Andrija Živković on the right. Živković ran up and shot, the attempt ended in a corner kick. After the kick the ball dropped to Babović, he shot, it was too wide.
In the 17th minute again the home team attacked. A cross shot came from the left, the ball rolled through between Kljajić’s hands, cardial arrest, but the ball rolls away to the other side of the penalty area, where there was no Alkmaar-player, for our great luck. It ended in a goal-kick.
In the 19th minute Alkmaar attacked again, now Brežančić shot from the left side, Kljajić caught it.
In the meantime one follows continuously the other match of Group L. At this point Bilbao was leading to 1:0 against Augsburg. Great, fantastic, if Bilbao wins over Germans, that’s the best for us, if we can also win, then even a draw is enough in the last round to qualify to the 1/16 final.
The opponent started to slow down, their big pace from the beginning was gone. For some reason we could’t make any advantage of it though... We kept on passing the ball backwards and even though we could make sometimes to the Dutch penalty area, we couldn’t make any more than a corner kick out of them. Then in the 32nd minute Alkmaar again attacked on the left. The cross was passed to Iranian player Jahanbakhsh on the right. He shot, it was too high.
It seemed that the referee didn’t like Partizan much either. There were cases - not just one or two - when a clear foul was committed against our player, but he always waved "go ahead".
In the 35th minute Brašanac got the ball in the middle. He ran up, passed to the right to Andrija Živković. Žile brought it back almost from the baseline, then crossed it to Aboubakar in the middle, but the chance was missed out.
In the 41st minute Subić ran up on the left side. He crossed it to the middle, the ball dropped to Babović. Babović shot from the goalmouth, but it was too wide. A minute later Ninković shot from the left, it was also too wide.
Partizan sped up for the second part of the first half. We attacked, we had attempts, and Babović was kicked to the ground more often at this very match than in the entire season.
Grave Diggers
(photos: Twitter)
A quick look in the half time to the standing of the other match: damn it, Germans equalized... It’s not good for us. Not at all. We MUST win, come on!... The first half was broadcasted by RTS 2, then they probably thought that the nerves of Partizan fans are not broken enough, so they made some extra excitements. The second half was broadcasted by RTS 1, the problem was that at this side of the globe there’s no normal (ie. working) RTS 1-stream. All of them are blocked. Desperate search for ANY working link, finally a Croatian one popped up, but those people practically broadcasted the entire EL-round showing only pieces from all matches. Desperate search continued, finally an English stream was found, but the commentator was not much talkative there. Never mind. It will be fine.
At the beginning of the second half, in the 48th minute Alkmaar took the lead. Brežančić crossed from the left side, dos Santos got it in the middle and shot between two Partizan-defenders, right into the net. 1:0
No. Just... no. It’s death. It’s impossible. It can’t be.
Partizan collapsed from this goal. The speed of the previous half’s last minutes was gone, we were again that slow, cautious, backward-passing team as we were in the beginning. The Dutch team heartened up, they again possessed the ball more and attacked, too. Finally, in the 55th minute, we could have an attempt. After a corner-kick Ćirković headed the ball to the goal, the goalkeeper had a great save.
In the 62nd minute we lost the ball, Janssen got it. He ran up all alone, shot, Kljajić saved. Two minutes later a distant Dutch shot came from the middle, Kljajić was at his place.
In the 65th minute Subić got the ball from the left. He passed it ahead to Ninković. Ninković crossed it to Aboubakar in the middle, and Aboubakar headed it right into the net, pefrectly. GOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAL, yesssss, that’s it, we equalized! 1:1!
(photo: partizan.rs)
A quick look at the other match. Goddamn it, the Germans are leading to 2:1... Come on, boys, come on, push it, push it hard, as hard as you can!...
In the 68th minute a Dutch attack came from the right, but Kljajić rolled down the shutters. A minute later Henrikssen had an attempt from the middle, the Bulgarian Sergio Ramos, aka Bandalovski
Bojinov said it once, and who am I to disagree with him?...
touched it, the attempt ended in a corner kick. The kick was headed downfield by Ćirković.
In the 70th minute, after another Alkmaar-corner kick we started a counter-attack. Aboubakar possessed the ball, he passed it to Ninković. Ninković ran up and with a delicate movement he passed the ball above the goalkeeper, towards the goal line... and it was too wide.
(photo: partizan.rs)
From this the Dutch team immediately ran up for a counter-attack. Janssen had almost the very same scene with Kljajić as Ninković with Coutinho, just Ćirković threw himself into the way (then stayed on the ground).
In the 76th minute we again started a counter-attack after an Alkmaar-corner kick, but we lost the ball. The Dutch team attacked back, arriving on the right, but Kljajić inactivated the shot.
Dutch players turned into more and more rough, the referee either whistled it off, or not. Time passed... We were in the 83rd minute, Ortiz had a distant shot, it was too wide.
In the 86th minute Alkmaar got another corner kick. Kljajić punched it out, but Luckassen headed it back to the penalty area, making a goalmouth scramble. The ball dropped again to Luckassen, the Dutch player was on a huge offside, but no flag up. Luckassen shot, it was too wide. A minute later we attacked, Aboubakar passed the ball to Andrija Živković. Živković passed it ahead to Vulićević, he crossed from the right, the goalkeeper caught the ball.
A quick look at the "neighbourhood": Bilbao took back the lead!!! If we can keep this draw, we can make it!!!
And then came the 89th minute.
Aboubakar got a cross on the left side. He ran up to the Dutch penalty area and crossed to Andrija Živković in the middle. Živković had nothing else to do than shooting it into the net.
He did it.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL, a fantastic GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!!!!!!
1:2!!!!
We’re leading!!!
Živković scores...
...and celebrates
(photos: partizan.rs)
Three miuntes of extra time were left.
Life’s longest three minutes.
But then they ended. Final whistle. Time to celebrate.
(photos: partizan.rs)
(photo: uefa.com)
For Average Fan there was still a short, but nerve-racking part left, because the Augsburg - Athletic Bilbao game hadn’t ended at this point. Bilbao was leading to 2:3, may the Heavenly Forces give us to stay like this for the end.
It did.
Celebration time.
If there’s any video, I’ll update the post.
Facts:
Venue: AFAS AZ Stadium, Alkmaar, The Netherlands
Number of spectators: 15 000
Referee: Harald Lechner (assistants: Andreas Staudinger, Andreas Heidenreich - 4th assistant: Maximilian Kolbitsch - goal line assistants: Alexander Harkam, Julian Weinberger) - AUT
AZ Alkmaar: Coutinho - Johansson, Gouweleeuw, Luckassen, Brežančić - van Overeem (Tanković, 75.), Ortiz (Hupperts, 88.), dos Santos - Henriksen - Janssen, Jahanbakhsh (Muhren, 80.)
Head coach: John van den Brom
FK Partizan: Kljajić - Vulićević, Bandalovski, Ćirković, Subić - Jevtović, Babović (S. Ilić, 75.) - A. Živković (Grbić, 90+2.), Brašanac, Ninković (Bojinov, 84.) - Aboubakar
Head coach: Ljubinko Drulović
Goal scorers: dos Santos (48.), Aboubakar (65.), A. Živković (89.)
Yellow card: Bandalovski (26.), Luckassen (45.), A. Živković (90.)
Current standing of Group L:
1. Athletic Bilbao 12 points
2. Partizan 9 points
3. Augsburg 6 points
4. AZ Alkmaar 3 points
