Superliga, round 20: FK Partizan - Vojvodina 1:1

This was interesting. At the beginning there was no beginning. There was such a big snow on the pitch that fans gathered together and cleaned it off. (photo: partizan.rs)

Rumours say that Their Majesties Vazura and Vućelić also took a shovel and helped to clean the pitch. I hope there are photos about it. I want to laugh. The Fat Pig and the Old Commie actually doing something useful. A real fairy tale.

Let me note though, I hope players also helped to clean the pitch. On one hand they are athletes, on the other shoveling snow is an excellent way to warm up. Not mentioning the benefits of it to the team collective.

One additional thing: all other football games in Belgrade were cancelled, except for this one. Neither the pitch of Čukarički, nor of Rad was eligible for football. (The game was also cancelled in Čačak, but poor Borac, they are happy that they exist at all.)

Finally, after an hour-long delay the match started. It was actually exciting in the beginning, lots of running, sliding, actions and attempts on both sides.

It lasted for 10 minutes.

It was still snowing heavily and it brought life to the dull game. Partly because both the pitch and the ball were white, partly because after a while the pitch lines disappeared under the snow. There was just a big, white plain where players desperately ran after and fought over something invisible. Sometimes it was pure comedy.

As for the game itself, Tawamba had his private show in the 20th minute, heading Vulićević’s precise-as-possible cross too wide from the goalmouth. After that Vojvodina had chances. Stojković saved Mesarović’s shot in the 30th minute, then they missed out two attempts around the 37th. After the second one we had a counter-attack, at the end Rockov had a great save, when Tošić shot.

They found a red ball for the second half to play with, also two men with shovels cleaned the pitch along the lines, so we could see something out of the nervous players running up and down. And it seemed we did have luck. In the 48th minute Tošić took us the lead. A cross arrived from left, the ball rolled through the defenders trying to find their balance on the snowy ground, nobody saw Tošić appearing from behind. He grabbed the ball, Rockov desperately jumped out into the goalmouth, but couldn’t save, Tošić pushed it into the box. (1:0)

After this it was snowing heavily, other than that nothing happened. (photo: partizan.rs)

In the meantime I watched Getafe - Valencia on TV. The sun was shining there.

In the 64th minute non-bald Miletić was pushed to the ground inside the penalty area. The slow motion replay made it obvious that the ball wasn’t even nearby, but referee Zoran Široki whistled goal-kick instead of penalty.

Many felt revolted, and they were right. As for me, I just sigh every time this happens, I can’t get upset anymore, seeing it way too often. Just one little note, from here, at the sideline: could we maybe score from action perhaps? Because if our victory and honour depend on penalties, then it’s all fucked up.

Then in the 70th minute fans made a pyro show, it was much more spectacular than the game itself. The 73rd minute brought a snow-cleaning break, two workers entered the pitch and shoveled away the snow from the lines. (photo: partizan.rs)

Let me ask again, why not those big, well-trained athletes cleaned the snow? Does it hurt them or what? Even if they can’t be gentlemen, at least they would have done something useful instead of getting slowly deep-frozen.

And let’s be honest, the majority of them would be eligible only as a snow-cleaner.

Then… Everyone was watching the romantic snowfall when Vojvodina equalized out of the blue. 86th minute, cross arriving from the right, Stojković could only hit the ball with his gloves, but couldn't catch it. It fell right in front of the arriving Kojašvić, who thanked the gesture and scored. (1:1)

Did we fuck it up? - We did, as always.

Have we been lame ducks? - When have we NOT been lame ducks?... (Alternative answer: we are always lame ducks, just sometimes we have luck.)

What does that person deserve who used the snowfall as an excuse for our shitty performance and the result? - To get fucked by a cartful of tiny monkeys.

What does that person deserve who seeks only for excuses instead of taking a deep breath, standing in front of the public saying ‘dear everyone, we were/are shit and this is also my fault because…’ (and here they would nicely make a list about what they fucked up)? - To get fucked by a T-Rex.

Venue:  Partizan stadium, Belgrade

Number of spectators: 3000

Official: Zoran Široki

FK Partizan: Stojković, Vulićević, Mitrović, Miletić I., Ostojić, Miletić II., Everton (Radin, 33.), Tošić (Marjanović, 51.), Pantić, Ožegović, Tawamba

Vojvodina: Rockov, Saničanin, Kojašević (M. Zličić, 89.), Lakićević, Antić, Vukašović, Jovančić, Kalezić (L. Zličić, 60.), Mihajlović, Mesarović (Subotić, 66.), Veselinović

Goal scorers: Tošić (48.), Kojašević (86.)

Yellow card: Mitrović (38.), Jovančić (81.)

Current championship standings:

1. Crvena Zvezda 53 points

2. Partizan 47 points

3. Spartak 36 points

4. Voždovac 35 points

5. Vojvodina 32 points

6. Čukarički 32 points

7. Radnički Niš 30 points

8. Napredak 27 points

9. Mladost 24 points

10. Radnik 22 points

11. Zemun 21 points

12. Mačva 20 points

13. OFK Bačka 18 points

14. Borac 14 points

15. Rad 14 points

16. Javor 14 points

RK Partizan - Vojvodina 27:26 (superliga, round 3)

Mea culpa. I almost forgot about this game. It was back on Wednesday, yes, on the same day as the Serbian Cup qualifying. I don’t know whose idea it was, but I send them my warmest (NOT) greetings, because it could be a great game, I assume it was one of the best, if not the best of the season.
Sportuzivo.tv broadcasted it though, I could watch approx. the first 30 minutes. It was not an easy game. Not at all. At least at that point it wasn’t. Looking at the statistics the rest of the game wasn’t any easier. Vojvodina was leading for the whole time. In the beginning it was 3:2 for a short while though, but Team Novi Sad switched it to 3:5.
Then it was 4:10.
Our boys were fighting hard. They put their heart and soul out to the court, but Vojvodina’s goalkeeper saved everything. I swear he even had an evil little smile on his face as well. But even that didn’t keep our team back.
10:12. Then 12:13. The team was on full speed so much, that 2 minutes before the end of the first half it was 13:15, then we equalized for the half-time (15:15).
In the first part of the second half Vojvodina kept their advantage, but this time we allowed them to be ahead with 2-3 goals only. Then in the 49th minute we equalized with Stevanović’s goal (22:22), then Živković took the lead for us!!! (23:22). There was no mercy. Stevanović scored again (24:22)
The last 7-8 minutes surely brought a game on the edge. 53rd minute. Vojvodina reduces the difference to 24:23. Živković has an instant reply (25:23). Vojvodina equalizes with clenched teeth (25:25). What is more, they take back the lead in the 57th minute (25:26). 59th minute. Kukić, who was playing in top form during the whole game, equalizes (26:26). And afterwards, almost immediately, in the same minute the Captain scores the winning goal. 27:26, time for the end buzz, WE WON!!! Well done, boys!
The hero of the day is Lazar Kukić with six goals. He is followed by 3 players, all scoring 5-5: Nemanja Živković, Darko Stevanović and Igor Mršulja. Vuk Milenković and Andrija Đuričić both scored 2-2 goals, while Nikola Ivanović and Aleksa Maksić added 1-1 to the victory.
PS: I hope sportuzivo.tv. will upload this game to Youtube. It will be worth to watch it (again). (If it’s uploaded, I’ll put the link here.)

Darko Stevanović smashing

Partizan bench on their feet

Captain Mršulja and one of his cannon shots

No Vojvodina-player can get any further, Pižurica (13) and Perunčić are watching

Milenković scores, even from the floor

Well-deserved celebration

Current championship standings:
1. CZ 5 points
2. Šamot 65 5 points
3. Dinamo 4 points
4. Spartak Vojput 4 points
5. Sloga 4 points
6. Vojvodina 3 points
7. Požarevac 2 points
8. Partizan 2 points
9. Morava 2 points
10. Metaloplastika 2 points
11. Rudar 1 point
12. Jugović 0 point

(photos: Facebook/Super Rukometna Liga Srbije)

FK Partizan - Vojvodina 1:3 (superliga, round 3)

Marko Nikolić, former and current head coach of Partizan returned to the bench at this game. As a kind of special celebration, Vojvodina put the "cheapest on sale" price tag on the team.
Three goals. That’s how many they scored to us. Just to prevent us from falling into the trap of overconfidence.

What could one expect from a team where the starting eleven includes Valeri "Sloth" Bojinov, Miroslav "Pensioner" Radović, Gregor "Last time I played was 2 centuries ago" Balažic, Alen "Pathetic" Stevanović and Darko "Seriously out of shape" Brašanac?...

The first goal was scored in the 6th minute by Vojvodina. Honestly... It was a top class goal by Dejan Meleg. He tricked the entire Partizan defense line including Bojan Šaranov (the latter one surely didn’t know where was north and south...) then passed the ball above the heads right into the box. Stevanović was standing on the goal line and desperately tried to head it out, but instead he headed it even deeper into the net. 0:1
In the 10th minute Bojinov again, once again missed out a giant chance. All doors and windows were open, and he hit the crossbar from a few metres. If he happened not to miss out attempts, then he either got stuck in offside position every goddamn time, or he was slower than a sloth.
If we happened to attack at all. It happened a few times, and it seemed as if there was a tiny bit more spirit in them than at previous games. Still all these attempts and attacks were unsuccessful. Vojvodina’s goalkeeper was totally jobless, their defense line blocked all our actions.
The 29th minute brought the second goal by Vojvodina. One of them easily tackled Everton, then Paločević shot from the left corner of the penalty area while running past Gogoua, as if Partizan’s defender had been a lamp post, finally he kicked the ball into the box. The ball flew past the falling Šaranov and landed in the bottom right corner. 0:2

Gregor Balažic some time during the game. He was ran off by Vojvodina’s attackers

In the 43rd minute Bojinov missed out the greatest chance of the entire game by attempting from three steps, but the goalkeeper saved right on the goal line.

Vojvodina immediately came up with a counter-attack, Trujić tried, Šaranov saved.

Nikola Trujić and Gogoua. Partizan’s former striker had a great game, he attacked, ran and fought a lot. That person who formerly told that he was "too much" for Partizan, here is a message: may a brutal diarrhea catch you at a public place

In the 51st minute there was a questionable situation, when Brašanac fell on the ground at Vojvodina’s penalty area line. Many complained for penalty, but the referee waved "go ahead".

I found no slow motion replay or analyzing about it. But even if it had been a penalty, it wouldn’t have changed the final result.

We could force the ball into the box in the 63rd minute. (aka we scored) Bojinov got the ball from Vulićević, it was the most unmissable chance of all unmissable chances - though Bojinov had missed out countless chances that were thought to be unmissable. Nevertheless this time he was lucky, because he could head the ball into the box. 1:2
Yet at the upcoming attempt he got stuck in offside position, probably he didn’t want to fall out of shape.
In the 65th minute Radović landed on the ground inside Vojvodina’s penalty area. The referee again waved "go ahead", and he was right. The slow motion replay clearly showed that it was NOT a penalty.
Our attacks were still blocked by Vojvodina defenders, and as a punch line they scored again in the 75th minute. Trifunović was hanging around all alone, he immediately got a cross right there. No flag up, Trifunović ran up leaving behind our entire defense line. Then he dribbled Šaranov, shot and scored. 1:3

At this point I turned a bit lower the volume of the stream and turned on the TV, where the Olympic Games were broadcasted live. There was a table tennis game running, but even that was more exciting than this crap.

For the rest of the game we were fumbling. We didn’t have many attempts, and even those we had were blocked. In the 80th minute I could see disappointed fans slowly starting to leave the stadium... It was like a salvation when the referee whistled off the game.

Scratching your head will not make you score more goals, dude

Highlights:

Facts:

Venue: Partizan Stadion, Belgrade
Number of spectators: 7000
Official: Milan Ilić (assistants: Oliver Petrović, Miodrag Zdravković - 4th official: Nemanja Petković)

FK Partizan: Šaranov, Vulićević, Gogoua, Balažic, Bogosavac, Everton (Leonardo, 58.), Brašanac, Radović, Mihajlović (S. Ilić, 46.), A. Stevanović (Đurđić, 46.). Bojinov
Head coach: Marko Nikolić

Vojvodina: Kordić, Mićić, Kovačević, Meleg (Zličić, 82.), Puškarić, Paločević (Trifunović, 66.), Babić (Jovančić, 66.), Antić, Malbašić, Miletić, Trujić
Head coach: Nenad Lalatović

Goal scorers: Meleg (6.), Paločević (29.), Bojinov (63.), Trifunović (75.)
Yellow card: Trujić (31.), Everton (35.), Bojinov (41.), Puškarić (41.), Mićić (45.), Antić (48.), Brašanac (50.), Balažic (61.) Bogosavac (74.), S. Ilić (75.), Leonardo (78.), Jovančić (80.), Kovačević (90.)

Current championship standings:
1. CZ 7 points
2. FK Voždovac 7 points
3. Vojvodina 6 points*
4. Radnički Niš 6 points
5. Metalac 6 points
6. Mladost 6 points
7. Javor 5 points
8. Radnik 5 points
9. Spartak Subotica 4 points
10. Novi Pazar 4 points*
11. Napredak 4 points
12. Čukarički 1 point
13. OFK Bačka 1 point
14. FK Partizan 1 point
15. Borac 0 point
16. Rad 0 point

*Vojvodina and Novi Pazar played one game less

(photos: partizan.rs)

Inline hockey championship, round 2: 3 games, 3 convincing Partizan-victories

We went down to Crna Rupa sports hall for some training.
That was this round in a nutshell. It means, we are still undefeated.
At first we clashed with NS Stars, we washed them off with 4:7. The next match was even better. 13:1 (!!!) with Spartak.
Finally we played with Vojvodina. That was probably the only game that made our boys sweat a bit. The standing was 3:3 even after the 2nd period, then the team sped up for the last part and we pushed the opponent down with 9:4. Right now we are on the top of the league table with the maximum of points.
The next round will be on 5th June in Crna Rupa sports hall.
There are some photos from the game against Vojvodina:

(photos: Facebook/Savez hokeja na ledu Srbije)

Current championship standings:
1. IHK Partizan 15 points
2. SHKL CZ 12 points
3. HK Vitez 11 points*
4. HK Spartak 6 points
5. HK Vojvodina 3 points
6. HK NS Stars 1 point**

*, ** - 1 point was taken away from Vitez, still not being able to play with NS Stars; their match was whistled off in the first period at 0:5 for the too many injuries of Vitez's players.

FK Partizan - Vojvodina 3:2 (superliga, round 37 - play-off, round 7)

Despite it was the last round of the season, again there were less than few spectators in the stadium. (The official report mentions 4000.)

Saša Ilić warming up

(photo: partizan.rs)

A few minutes before start

I could catch this image, and it’s too beautiful not to share it with you. Partizan stadium’s tribunes in the foreground, St. Sava Cathedral in the background

(screenshots)

(photo: Twitter)

Teams arrive

(screenshot)

The match had a heavy start, Vojvodina got a free kick already in the 3rd minute, about 18 metres from the box. The shoot was too wide. Two minutes later they got another free kick. The cross arrived from the left, but the referee whistled it off, as one of our defenders was pushed down to the ground.
Then came the 6th minute. We got a corner kick, Mihajlović kicked it to the goalmouth, where Milenković raised up and headed it into the net with a classic movement. 1:0!

(photos: partizan.rs)

Both teams attacked and ran a lot, there could be no complain for the pace. Vojvodina started an attack right after the kick-off. A cross came from the right, Meleg shot it to the box, missing it just with a few centimetres. In the 13th minute Saša Ilić ran up on the right with the ball and crossed it to Bojinov in the middle.
Seriously I haven’t seen such fumbling in my life as that was presented by Bojinov here. (Or if I still have, it was very long ago.) All doors and windows were wide open, but he could still fumble it away. You can watch it in the highlights at the end of the blogpost from 1:40, but only for those with strong nerves. (I warned you.)
In the 15th minute Vojvodina got another free kick, 20-22 metres from the box. Meleg shot, Kljajić had a fantastic, spectacular save.
Meanwhile on the southern tribunes fans made an amazing demonstration. They hung a rope across the tribune and hung all those T-shirts, sweatshirts and hoods they stole/robbed/tore off from Crvena Zvezda-fans. There were those with CZ-logos, Delije Sever-logos, even with Olympiakos-logos. Then they ritually burned these (often terribly dirty) clothes to ashes, while chanting tongue-in-cheek, vulgar rhymes.
You get photos:

(photos: Twitter)

There’s even a video about it:

In the 18th minute Brašanac got the ball after a free kick. He shot it to the box, it was too high. It was his turn again in the 22nd minute. He ran up, dribbled, then shot, but it wasn’t powerful enough to land in the net. The goalkeeper caught it.

Darko Brašanac some time during the game

(photo: partizan.rs)

After this Vojvodina made an immediate counter-attack. Bogosavac stopped them in the last minute, making the attempt end in a corner kick. In the 25th minute another Vojvodina-attack arrived from the right. Rosić (if I could see his shirt number well) crossed to the middle, someone headed it to the box, barely missing it.
A minute later Mihajlović arrived at Vojvodina’s penalty area from the left. He dribbled himself to the middle, then shot and scored, like it’s written in the Big Book of Football. 2:0!

(photo: partizan.rs)

The 29th minute brought another of Bojinov’s great (?) moments. Mihajlović crossed to the middle, Bojinov attacked, he even shot, right into the goalkeeper.
Vojvodina’s first goal came in the 32nd minute, after an embarrassing ball-losing by Partizan. Meleg was right there, he grabbed the ball, ran up and shot it into the box next to Kljajić, who ran out of the goalmouth. 2:1
Two minutes later Nastić had a shot from the left, Kljajić had a great save.

This was the point when I realized there was a relatively peaceful atmosphere on the pitch (despite the usual fouls that always happen on football games). No fights, no yelling, no pushing each other around, yet there are goals, attempts, pace, like on an average football match.
Oh, wait. Everton didn’t play today, so there was no one to pick up useless fights with the opponent.

In the 38th minute we made Vojvodina stuck a bit into their penalty area. We passed the ball around, finally Mihajlović shot from the left, onto the side net.
The last minute brought another dangerous-looking action - well, it would have been dangerous if the ball hadn’t ended at Bojinov. Golubović passed it to the middle, but I have no idea what was going on with the Bulgarian, whether he fumbled it away again, or - AGAIN!!! - he was slower than a snail, nevertheless a defender from the guests tackled him easily.

To the neighbourhood, with lots of love

(photo: Twitter)

The pace slowed down for the second half. The first actual attempt came in the 53rd minute. Lukić ran up in the middle, then passed it to Saša Ilić. The Captain passed back to him. Lukić wanted to shoot, but he kicked the air instead of the ball.
We were leading to 3:1 in the 61st minute with an own goal that literally ached. Rosić wanted to block one of our attacks, but either the ball hit him and flew away in the most possible twisted way, or he kicked the ball into the worst direction, nevertheless instead of the (probably original idea) kick-out/downfield kick the ball flew into the middle of the net with such a fantastic arch you can barely see even at action goals. The goalkeeper desperately ran back to the box, but it was impossible to save this, even if he had stood on the goal line. 3:1

Deep inside I felt for Rosić. It could be a terrible feeling.

In the 65th minute Jovičić sent a distant shot to our box after a free kick, it was too wide. Then in the 73rd minute it was already 3:2. Meleg got a pass in the middle and shot right there, from 20-22 metres. That’s what they call cannon shot.
Vojvodina sped up, they definitely wanted to equalize. In the 77th minute Vukčević (if I could see well) sent a distant cannon shot to our goal after a free kick, but instead of hitting it, he sent the ball out of the stadium. In the 82nd minute Vojvodina got another free kick. Now Meleg shot, Partizan-defenders cleared, though as I could see, it was very close. Another Vojvodina free kick came in the 85th minute, again by Meleg, it ended in a corner kick.

Young Birmančević arrived in the 88th minute as a substitute for Mihajlović

(photos: partizan.rs)

Vukčević sent another cannon shot to our box in the 90th minute, Kljajić saved. Finally, in the 93rd minute there was one free kick left for Vojvodina at our penalty area line, but it ended in the wall. This was the moment of the final whistle as well.

(photo: hotsport.rs)

This is one of the most touching moments of the game, if not the entire season. This photo says more than a million words

(photos: partizan.rs)

Match highlights:

Facts:

Venue: Partizan Stadion, Belgrade
Number of spectators: 4000
Referee: Bojan Nikolić (assistants: Nenad Kurčubić, Srđan Minić - 4th assistant: Uroš Stojković - goal line assistants: Dejan Dimitrijević, Novica Anđelovski)

FK Partizan: Kljajić - Vulićević, Milenković, Jovanović, Bogosavac - Brašanac, Jevtović, S. Ilić - Golubović (Lukić, 46.), Bojinov (Vlahović, 65.), Mihajlović (Birmančević, 88.)
Head coach: Ivan Tomić

Vojvodina: Kordić, Lakićević, Rosić, Miletić, Nastić - Sekulić - Malbašić, Paločević (Jovančić, 58.), Babić, Meleg - Ašćerić (Vukčević, 68.)
Head coach: Nenad Lalatović

Goal scorers: Milenković (6.), Mihajlović (26.), Meleg (32., 72.), Rosić (61. - own goal)
Yellow card: Vulićević (35.), Rosić (58.), Brašanac (62.), Jevtović (74.)

End result of the play-off:
1. CZ 54 points
2. Partizan 40 points
3. Čukarički 39 points
4. Vojvodina 36 points
5. Radnički Niš 35 points
6. Borac 30 points
7. FK Voždovac 25 points
8. Surdulica 25 points

End result of the play-out:
1. Mladost 31 points
2. Spartak Subotica 29 points
3. Metalac 28 points
4. Rad 27 points
5. Javor 26 points
6. Novi Pazar 25 points
7. OFK Beograd 18 points
8. Jagodina 15 points

We-know-who’s are the champions, hooray, applause and congratulations.
LOL, just kidding.
Eventually we made it to the 2nd place. Thanks to this and to our cup winning we can enter Europa League. Čukarički and Vojvodina will join us. What is already sure that we enter the Liga in the 2nd round of the qualifyings. The draw will be on 20th June.
As for the play-out: Jagodina is dropped out together with OFK Beograd that had a surprisingly terrible performance this season. Napredak and Bačka Palanka qualified from the prva liga, for the latter one this will be the first season in the superliga.

RK Vojvodina - RK Partizan 25:23 (play-off, round 7)

The lowest point about this match is not when you got noticed BELATED that there was a TV broadcast.
No, dear fellow fans, the lowest point is when you have to sneak around on the homepage of the opponent to steal photos about the game, because there’s absolutely no available material about it anywhere, neither on sports sites, nor on Facebook. I'm totally fed up with this amateurism.
And we were defeated, too. Though we were leading, for God’s sake in the entire first half... 5:9, 8:11, we went to half-time with 10:13. Vojvodina couldn’t even equalize, not even once.
At the beginning of the second half it looked even better. 11:15, 13:17, 15:19... until the 50th minute. There Vojvodina equalized, from 15:19 they jumped to 19:19 within 7 minutes. God knows what happened... They even took the lead (20:19). Živković equalized (20:20), but in the last 10 minutes the home team was leading for the whole time.

That’s what is called injustice :(

The hero of the day is Nemanja Živković with 7 goals. He is followed by Mihajlo Radojković and Lazar Kukić (4-4). Both Živan Pešić and Aleksa Maksić scored 3-3 goals, while Stevan Sretenović added 2 to the final result.
And now the photos.

Vojvodina’s player shoots on target, Popović just raises up his hands

Sretenović is rising up to the skies to tear the net to pieces

Cannon shoot by Radojković in 3, 2, 1...

We’d attack, if Vučković didn’t want to steal Popović’s shirt (probably to keep it as a souvenir)

Sretenović is about to block Marjanović, but it’s already too late

Radojković won over gravitation

(photos: rkv.rs)

Current standing of the play-off:
1. Vojvodina 11 points
2. Metaloplastika 11 points
3. Partizan 8 points
4. Spartak Vojput 7 points
5. Sloga 3 points
6. CZ 2 points