Crvena Zvezda - KK Partizan 74:64 (Korać Cup, final)

Don’t ask, okay?
Because I don’t know.
In fact I do. I just can’t do anything against it. As long as this system exists, nothing will change.
The first quarter was tough, Zvezda was leading at the beginning, but we still jumped from 12:6 to 12:16. The referee (Belošević, I’ll never ever forget this name, how many times he screwed us in the Serbian league as well as in ABA Liga, my God) whistled foul for such things even here that made my hair raise. Though at this point he fouled both teams more or less equally. He took on his evil face at the end of the game, but more about that later. Zvezda equalized for the end of the first quarter with clenched teeth. 23:23.
We took the lead in the second quarter (23:25, Vrabac) and kept it. It was an exciting, spectacular game, at a point Zvezda took back the lead (33:32) and we started the good old "ping pong game", one basket here, one basket there. There was tension, there was action, the two fan groups yelled vulgar chants to each other. The first half finished with 36:34, but at this point the end was very far.

The third quarter brought a bit more struggle. Zvezda was leading, but only with 1-2 points (42:40). The referee was dancing on the remaining nerves of Partizan (and their fans). It was still a ping-pong game, with a lot of mistakes on both sides and rebounds. At 47:47 Jenkins was fouled out. Zvezda played more and more rough, for some reason they seem to love this player-to-player fight.
Here at the end of the quarter Zvezda made a jump. They could even squeeze out a buzzer-beater 3-pointer at the very end. The standing was 52:47, the game stopped, because Zvezda-fans threw a firecracker that hit someone in the first row.

Certain sports media sites tried to put the blame on Partizan-fans, even if quite a number of photos proved that Zvezda-fans occupied that tribune of the sports hall. It was them, too, who tried to set the hall on fire during the game.
And Sportski žurnal can go and fuck itself.

The fourth quarter was a nightmare.
I really don’t know what happened. Zvezda gathered full speed. They might have licked uranium rods from under the bench, or something. They looked like a team on doping. We blinked twice and they were ahead with 10 (!!!) points. The standing was 57:47 and somehow everything conspired against us. Zvezda, the referees, the fans, even that goddamned ball that just had to rebound every goddamn time. We struggled, it was very hard. Zvezda increased the difference (62:49). The atmosphere was very tensed, the two teams almost got into a fight. Nothing worked, all our attempts rebounded, the referees whistled on us every single foul. At 72:59, when there were less than 2 and a half minutes left, it was clear that all we could do was to die with our chins up.
That was all we could do.

Crvena Zvezda: Wolters, Thompson (15), Mitrović (12), Lazić (1), Dobrić (1), Simonović (18), Rakićević, Jenkins, Gudurić (18), Jović (5), Kuzmić (2), Bjelica (2)

KK Partizan: Ratkovica (2), Vrabac (12), Tanasković, Veličković (9), Majstorović (2), Birčević (11), Andrić (8), Pot (6), Gordon (8), Luković (6)

photos: kss.rs

XXXI. Summer Olympic Games, Rio de Janeiro - Day 16, 21st August, 2016

The men's marathon was scheduled on the last day of the Olympic Games. The athletes started it in heavy rain. 140 runnes could complete the race out of the 155, Anđelko Rističević finished 119th clocking 2:30:17. Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya won the race with 2:08:44.

Then came the basketball final. There isn't much to talk about the mutant aliens of Area 51 American team knocked out Serbia to 66:96.
If we see the positive side: nobody is better than Serbia in the world. (Americans don't count now, their position in basketball is the same as Germans' in football.) Well done, boys!!!

A message to Nemanja Bjelica from the podium (Bjelica had to cancel his participation at the Olympic Games in the last minute because of an injury): this medal is yours, too!

The water polo boys were there to support the team


Posted by Bogdan Bogdanovic on Sunday, August 21, 2016

Serbia earned 2 gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze medals at the 2016 Olympic Games:
Gold - Davor Štefanek (Greco-Roman wrestling, 66 kg), men's water polo team
Silver - Tijana Bogdanović (women's tae-kwon-do, 49 kg), men's basketball team, women's volleyball team, the Marko Tomičević/Milenko Zorić duo (men's kayak double 1000 m)
Bronze - Ivana Španović (women's triple jump), women's basketball team

Our Olympic broadcast has ended, thank you for your attention.

(photos: Facebook/Olimpijski komitet Srbije)

XXXI. Summer Olympic Games, Rio de Janeiro - Day 15, 20th August, 2016

THE WATER POLO TEAM IS THE OLYMPIC CHAMPION!!!

They won!!!

They are the best!!!

What a game it was.
They splashed into the water and sank the Croatian team. It was no question even for a moment who'll win.
The Croatians could keep the pace only in the very beginning. They equalized after 0:1, but then they couldn't. Not once.
Serbia was leading to 2:3 at the end of the first quarter. Goalkeeper Mitrović made amazing tricks and saves. He saved everything. Every possible and impossible shot. I’m sure he allowed those 7 scores into the box by fraternal sympathy. To keep those poor neighbours away from complete destruction. He saved 12 from 19 (!!!) shots.
In the half-time it was 3:6 for Serbia.
The other hero of the day was Dušan Mandić. Partizan’s former team captain was more wicked than all the devils of hell. He scored such goals that made the pool dry. Both from distance and from nearby. All you could see was the water started to boil as if you’d threw a piece of raw meat among piranhas. Then a mighty left hand raised, swung the ball, shot and scored a giant goal. Then Dušan Mandić appeared, too (belonging to the left hand mentioned above) to celebrate.

(photo: mozzartsport.com)

For the third half the standing was 5:9, even though Croats substituted their goalkeeper in the meantime. Josip Pavić arrived and the totally done Marko Bijač could have a rest.
Filip Filipović nevertheless had a nice welcome gift for Pavić (4:8).

It was already sure even at this point that the Croatian team needs a smaller miracle to be able even just to equalize.
For the last quarter the Croatians fell apart. The most typical moment was when the Croatian coach asked for timeout at 6:10, then when the teams returned to the pool Mandić scored just another goal. Serbs started to celebrate in the very last minute of the game already, and then when the end buzz came...

ŠAMPIONI!!!
Posted by Partizane naš si ponos on Saturday, August 20, 2016

Champions.
They totally deserve to celebrate and to be celebrated.

Živko Gocić, one of the toughest players of Team Serbia could not keep his tears back on the podium. Next to him there is Dušan Mandić celebrating

And big big congratulations to the Serbian female volleyball team for their silver medal...

...and to the Serbian female basketball team for the bronze!

Predrag Danilović was there to support the basketball team...

...as well as Saša Đorđević

(unmarked photos: Facebook/Olimpijski komitet Srbije)

KK Partizan - Crvena Zvezda 65:70 (play-off, final, 4th match)

This is when you feel like a full spittoon. Even when you deliberately slept it over. Even if you were somewhat prepared for this. If I can be this very brutally honest: deep inside I wasn’t surprised on the end result. I had a feeling for the entire final series that this Partizan won’t be able to compete with this very strong, well-organized, well-prepared Crvena Zvezda.
It still feels terrible though :(
Many came again to support the team.

Danilo Anđušić...

...Kosta Perović...

...Miloš Vujanić and Milenko Tepić...

...Nikola Milutinov and Nemanja Bezbradica...

(photos: hotsport.rs)

...Nemanja Mihajlović...

(photo: Twitter)

...on this photo it’s not exactly Nikola Peković is the main figure, but rather Vladimir Volkov in the background... 

(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)

...our water polo players were also there...

A photo posted by Nikola Jaksic (@njaksic) on Jun 9, 2016 at 1:26pm PDT

...as well as Joffrey Lauvergne...

(photo: hotsport.rs)

...who got a fantastic ovation from Partizan-fans

Meanwhile the boys walked out to the court...

(photo: hotsport.rs)

...Lauvergne was singing "Dobro pamtim sve" together with the fans...

...one last group hug and discussion before the start...

(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)

...and we gave it a kickstart.
Less than two minutes passed when Murić got his first foul.

It came to my mind that betting offices should have an option for people to bet not just for the end result or the winner, but also for Murić on how soon he gets his first personal foul. You get what I mean. Within how many minutes or even seconds arrives the first foul. As an extra possibility people could even bet whether he’ll reach his third foul within the first quarter. It would be a smash hit. (I’d like a few-percent-slice for my idea, thank you.)

After 4:4 we took a confident lead (12:6). Zvezda was seemingly confused. Again there were too many fouls, we again missed out a lot of attempts, but we were leading (14:9).

In the 7th minute Murić got his 3rd foul. His performance was catastrophal, not just on this very game, but on every match of the final series. Foul within a minute, 3 fouls within the first quarter... It might be fine on one single match, especially on a derby. But on ALL matches... it’s just too much.
Don’t come up with the counter-argument that Dangubić also got his 3rd foul in the first quarter. I couldn’t care less for Dangubić, and I think a Partizan-player should have enough self-control not to get involved into so many mistakes right at the beginning of the game.

Zvezda jumped from 19:13 to 20:18. Milutinović scored in the very last moment, just at the end buzz. We finished the first quarter with 22:18.

Andreja Milutinović

(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)

At the beginning of the second quarter Zvezda took the lead (22:23). Not much later Micić got a technical foul, we took back the lead by the free throw that followed (25:23). Both teams fought hard so much, that soon Lazić also got a technical foul.

The referee was the same as on the first two games, but this time he was surprisingly (or even shockingly) impartial.

We were leading to 29:23 with a 7-point-series behind us when a firecracker was thrown to the court.

The game halted, everyone was complaining, for this or that reason. Then when we could finally continue, we started with missing out 3 chances for 3-pointer in a row. Aleksandar Džikić asked for time-out, he could somehow shake us up. (31:27)

Did I hear well that fans here started to chant "Duško Vujošević, ša la la la la"?...

Zvezda reduced the difference to 31:30. Jones was fouled 3 times in a row within a few seconds. Veličković kept the spirit in the team. The standing was cluse, but at least we were leading (37:36). The game was tensed, but exciting in the second quarter - definitely better and more exciting than the previous three.
Zvezda took back the lead with a 3-pointer (37:39), and even though we equalized once (39:39, Marinković), they were leading again in the half-time. (39:41)

Fans clashed in the half-time - because no game can pass without war

The third quarter was awful. At the beginning Murić was fouled for the 4th time and it was absolutely legitimate.

We were in the middle of an attack when he pushed Jović to the ground. Obvious offensive foul. Obvious and totally unnecessary.

Zvezda played more and more self-confident while we had beginner’s mistakes. Traveling, running out of time, foul after foul... Jones wanted to throw a 3-pointer, the ball rebounded, someone wanted to push it back to the ring, the ball rebounded again. We fell apart. The opponent was leading (44:50) and the worst was that they played the very same player-to-player defense with full court press tactics they did during the previous matches. As if there's no remedy against them... We got nervous more and more, which brought more and more mistakes (missed-out attempts, long row of rebounds while the opponent controlled the boards). We tried this hang-on-the-opponent-under-the-board trick, but it didn’t work out. It ended with a defensive foul every time, including the usual free throw for the other side. It was 46:54 before the end, when Wilson could score one more just at the end buzz (48:56).

Jamar Wilson

(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)

For the last quarter we lost control. Zvezda took back the two-digit advantage (50:60). In the middle of the quarter players got into a combat fight. Zirbes started to push Jones, then picked up a fight with Wilson, too. Everyone was nervous. Lazić was fouled out, followed by Wilson not much later. We struggled, but all our attempts rebounded. Zvezda was leading (61:65), then 39 seconds before the end we reduced the difference to 2 points with Murić’s free throw (63:65). Zvezda’s head coach asked for time-out. Tension grew, only 25 seconds were left. Free throw for Zvezda (63:67). Aleksandar Džikić asked for time-out. We walked back to the court, Jones scored (65:67) only 19 seconds before the end, after great struggle. Zvezda again asked for time-out. We walked back to the court. Vitkovac got fouled, free throw for Zvezda (65:69). A last, desperate attempt by us for a 3-pointer. We miss it out. The whole team is totally nervous. Only 7 seconds are left. Free throw for Zvezda. They score one (65:70). We have time only to throw the ball in to the court. End buzz. The end. That was all.
Grave Diggers welcomed the team as if they had won the title, and not the other side.

The organizers learned from their mistakes (a few years ago Partizan won the title, the championship silverware was put on display, and Simonović simply stole it and disappeared with it among their fans), this time security guards kept the chalice

Novica Veličković at the end of the game. He was the only one here, or even at the entire final series who really deserved Partizan’s jersey

(photos: Twitter)

At the post-match press conference Aleksandar Džikić confirmed that Kevin Jones leaves Partizan. The reason is simple: he asked for such a salary that Partizan cannot afford. Jones will probably continue his career in NBA.
Still not confirmed though, but it seems most players will stay at Partizan. Vrabac, Marinković, Cvetković, Andrić and Koprivica are more or less sure. Veličković’s contract expires, but the team will do everything to keep him. Murić is not sure, but his stay cannot be excluded either.

KK Partizan: Aranitović (3), Jones (12), Murić (4), Marinković, Veličković (19), Vitkovac (4), Đumić, Magdevski, Milutinović (4), Williams (5), Vrabac (1), Wilson (13)

Crvena Zvezda: Kinsey (15), Rebić, Dangubić (3), Mitrović (10), Lazić, Micić (5), Simonović (15), Gudurić, Jović (3), Miller (4), Zirbes (15), Štimac

Crvena Zvezda - KK Partizan 72:75 (play-off, final, 3rd match)

We won.
We should mention though that we could make it with greater-than-life luck and we could take advantage of Zvezda’s boosting self-confidence thinking that this night they would celebrate. If I can be brutally honest: this game was rather lost by Zvezda than won by us.
But sports are not about "rather"-s and luck, but about points and/or goals. At the end it’s only the result that matters.

Warning: I might anger some people with this blogpost, but despite the end result I won’t be gentle and forgiving to anyone.

We had a horrible start. There’s nothing to attenuate on it. I have never seen such a terrible, crappy game start by this team (I’ve been watching them for 3+ years now). We could score ONLY FIVE (5) POINTS in the entire quarter. Not more, not less. Five.
They were all scored by Jones.

Kevin Jones

(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)

We shat into the pants. There were five scared field mice on the court running circles. It was a shame. No excuse.
The quarter ended with 13:5. Okay, Zvezda didn’t push themselves either, but as I said earlier, they were too sure about their victory.
The second quarter started with the fight of Veličković and Miller.

(photo: hotsport.rs)

Referees solved it by giving technical foul to both.

This time the main official of the game was a different referee, not that one from the previous two games. If I wanted to crack a weak joke, I’d say maybe that was the reason why we could win now. What’s sure is that this time (at least at the beginning of the game) there were definitely much less fouls and openly biased judgements by the referees. Though later they made it up for the large-scale production, so to speak.

We picked ourseves together a bit (15:10). We took advantage of Zvezda missing out many attempts. Veličković was on the top. He scored a lot of 3-pointers, we can thank mainly to him that we reduced the difference to 24:22 and we could even keep it. Once we even took the lead. Murić first equalized (26:26), then he got a free throw as well and scored one (26:27). It didn’t last long though (28:27). Both teams struggled with no result. Finally referees commiserated Zvezda and gave them a free throw at the end of the quarter. We finished the first half with a two-point drawback (29:27).

Zvezda-players were not too friendly with Murić

(photo: hotsport.rs)

In the third quarter Williams joined us

where the hell was he in the first half?...

and we immediately sped up.

Darrell Williams

(photo: hotsport.rs)

We equalized (29:29), we took the lead (29:31) and kept it (37:39). Williams made a fantastic series and he didn’t stop (39:41). Zvezda equalized (43:43), for a short while they took back the lead (45:43), then we were leading again with Murić’s 3-pointer. This was when Zvezda’s overconfidence striked back. We didn’t just lead (47:50), but what Vrabac did at the end buzz, that was unbelievable.

He threw the ball at the half-court...

...the ball perfectly fell into the ring. Time to celebrate

(photos: hotsport.rs)

There’s a video about this scene:

The quarter ended with 47:53.

Yes, we were leading. Still there was something that made me sad, or at least turned off my mood enough that I could't be happy with the standing. Namely I saw nobody with enough pulling power for the whole team. Neither this time, nor during the past 5-6 games. Okay, Veličković and his great routine helped us getting out of the bottom, but he had to do it all alone, because the others did not help or assist him. Okay, a few players had some good moments, e.g. this great 3-pointer by Vrabac, or Williams’s performance in the 3rd quarter. But on one hand none of these had a balanced performance, on the other the rest of the team was just a grey mass. Wilson was invisible, Murić excelled mostly with his faults during the past games. As for the rest, the only reason I remember them is because I see a few of their names in my notes near the scores. None of them had any remarkable moments. And this is unadmittable, because this is PARTIZAN and not just a nameless team from the countryside.

Then came the last quarter where we demonstrated how to gain a 15-point advantage, then we demonstrated right there how to lose it until almost the last point.
At first we were leading, almost confidently (50:59). We reached the two-digit difference (52:62). Hey, people, it’s the last quarter and we are leading with 10 points! What is more, with Jones’s 3-pointer it was 52:65. Aranitović showed himself, too (52:67). 15 points, in the last quarter!!!
Oh, wait...
It was reduced immediately to 10 points (57:67). Murić scored a 3-pointer (57:70) three minutes before the end. At 62:72 Veličković was fouled out, while Zvezda sped up (65:72). Full court press, combat fights, Vrabac was fouled in an impossible situation. Even ArenaSport’s commentators didn’t believe their eyes... Only 50 seconds were left, the standing was 70:73. Zvezda was struggling hard, while we desperately tried to defend the result. Wilson raised our advantage a bit from free throw (70:75), Zvezda scored 9 seconds before the end (72:75). In the most critical moment Wilson dropped the ball out of his hand. For our XXXXL-sized luck there were only 2-3 seconds left and Zvezda had no time to change the standing.
Here’s a video about this circus:

Then it ended. The standing is 2:1 now for the neighbourhood. The next game will be on Thursday, at 21:00 on ArenaSport 1.

(photo: hotsport.rs)

Crvena Zvezda: Kinsey (10), Rebić, Dangubić (4), Mitrović (4), Lazić (4), Micić (3), Simonović (15), Gudurić (3), Jović (5), Miller (5), Zirbes (19), Štimac

KK Partizan: Aranitović (4), Jones (13), Murić (12), Marinković, Veličković (13), Vitkovac (4), Đumić, Magdevski, Milutinović (8), Williams (12), Wilson (4)

Crvena Zvezda - KK Partizan 84:53 (play-off, final, 1st match)

It’s so hard. So hard to say anything on it. The end result speaks for itself.
Yes, the opponent ground us. The only reason the referees didn’t wear red-white striped jerseys is probably that they have to have a mandatory uniform on. Yes, the opponent’s fans threw the dirtiest, most vulgar curses on us (for which the basketball association will surely not punish them, or even if they will, it will be only something token).
Still there’s no explanation for our weak performance, nor for the fact that there are seemingly no useful tactics against Zvezda’s grinding style.

Teams warm up before the game

(photo: Twitter)

At the beginning we led for a short while

it says all that less than a minute passed when referees fouled Murić, nobody knows why

Jones threw baskets for us, but then they took the lead (10:9). Cvetković equalized from free throw (10:10), but they immediately took back the lead (12:10). Referees gave a row of gift free throws to the other side, but even worse was that we couldn’t score any 3-pointers. Players were wrestling for the ball, Zvezda brought the best out of their man-to-man-fight tactics. These brought them a lot of steals and they paid off. The first quarter ended with 21:15, with some exaggeration we can say that the match also ended here.

Fight on the court - Wilson vs. Kinsey...

(photo: hotsport.rs)

...Williams vs. Jović

(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)

The second quarter started with a struggle. No scores on both sides for long. Finally we reduced the difference to 2 points with the baskets of Cvetković and Vitkovac (24:22).
Then Zvezda jumped to 32:22.
In the meantime referees supported them with small, sometimes invisible but still significant actions. E.g. they didn’t mind a Partizan-player being smashed to the court, or they validated Zvezda’s almost-over-the-buzz score with a broad smile (had Partizan scored the same way, that would have been surely invalid).
We struggled. Zvezda made a 10:1 series, from us only Jones (34:25) and Veličković (39:27) could score. The hall was covered with smoke, after a few firecrackers were thrown

did I see well that one of them almost hit Murić?

and Zvezda threw just another basket at the half-time buzz. It was high time to end the first half. (42:27)

Williams in the grinder

(photo: Facebook/KK Partizan)

Aleksandar Atanasijević (sitting), OK Partizan’s former player came to support the team. On the photo he is with his teammate Miloš Nikić from the national team

(photo: hotsport.rs)

In the third quarter Zvezda continued to grind us, while we just couldn’t take up the gauntlet. We were just fumbling... And then Cvetković got injured after clashing with the opponent, he couldn’t continue the game.
Zvezda put us under very heavy pressure. It was so hard that we couldn’t even throw the ball and ran out of time. Or if someone was brave enough to break under the backboard, he got torn to pieces. They did whatever they wanted... they reached the 20-point-difference as well (58:38).

It just came to my mind that we deserve to be behind them this much for this impotent performance.

The quarter ended with 64:39.

Grave Diggers

(photo: hotsport.rs)

The last quarter was merely a desperate struggle by us.

National team member Štimac was the biggest disappointment. He has been turned into a real moron (and he seemingly didn’t protest against this role). Do state dotation and the presence of this political mastodon Nebošja Čović matter this much?...

We collapsed. It’s needless to get into details... Zvezda took advantage of all our weaknesses.
Next game will be on Sunday from 21:00. ArenaSport 1 broadcasts it live.

Crvena Zvezda: Kinsey (2), Rebić, Dangubić, Mitrović (8), Micić (9), Simonović (11), Gudurić (1), Jović (15), Miller (24), Zirbes (6), Štimac (5)

KK Partizan: Cvetković (6), Aranitović (2), Jones (9), Murić (3), Marinković, Veličković (3), Vitkovac (2), Đumić (4), Milutinović (2), Williams (10), Vrabac (4), Wilson (8)

CHAMPIONS!!! VK Partizan - Crvena Zvezda 10:9 (play-off, final, 2nd match)

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!

Yes, we!!!
Oh. My. God. OH. MY. GOD. OH! MY! GOD!!!
I still died a few times during the game. No, the stream didn't die this time, just me, but I still brought you some screenshots with my last breath.

Lining up for the introduction of players

Fair-play (mwahaha) handshakes

The boys are getting ready...

...while the team captains discuss with the referees

Then all hands to quarters...

...and a last group hug before swim-off

Here is a video about the roll-call:

Utakmica je počela! Partizan nastupa u sastavu: Rističević (k), Gielen, Tigkas, Manojlović, Subotić, Drašović, Gogov, Jakšić, Vico, Tanasković, Lazić, Asanović, Brakočević, Radojević.
Posted by Vaterpolo klub Partizan Raiffeisen on Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Then Zvezda took the lead just one and a half minutes after the swim-off. 0:1, unbelievable. First (sudden) death.

Meanwhile this happened. How to strangle Partizan-players slowly but surely

We equalized immediately with Asanović’s goal.

There’s the ball in Zvezda’s box

Then Average Fan blinked twice and it was 2:1, goal scorer: Nikola Jakšić.

Then 3:1. Gogov, from power play. Here Zvezda scored one (3:2), they were also in power play.
We got back our 2-goal advantage almost immediately. Gielen sent a distant cannon shot to Zvezda’s goal and destroyed the right lower corner.

Gilen is swaying the ball just to tear the net into pieces in the next moment

Then Gilen scored another, because it’s always better to be safe than sorry. (5:2) Gilen never acts as chance directs.
Two and a half minutes were left, when Zvezda scored again, now from penalty (5:3).
Then came Gogov’s great moment. Radojević sent him a long cross from the other side of the pool. Gogov pushed it into the box with a delicate movement, almost just stroking it into the net. (6:3)

Gogov celebrating his goal

50 seconds were left from the quarter when Zvezda again scored (6:4) meanwhile both teams were fighting hard with each other.
It was something awful. Partizan played their usual "zone" tactics, while Zvezda came up with the classic man-to-man-fight trick. It meant that whenever we attacked, every Partizan-player got their own barnacle, and these pairs mutually tried to drown each other. The water was boiling sometimes, slap came after slap, and during one of these fights Vico was hit so hard that his nose started to bleed.

This was all you could see. Like when you throw a piece of bloody meat among piranhas

Nemanja Vico could pick himself together, he still had to come out of the pool to get medical attendance

The first quarter finished here.

1/4
Sjajna igra oba tima pred prepunim tribinama Banjice! Nakon prve četvrtine vodimo rezultatom 6-4. Po dva gola su postigli Gogov i Luuk Gielen. #NapredPartizan
Posted by Vaterpolo klub Partizan Raiffeisen on Wednesday, May 25, 2016

After the goal-rich first quarter the second one brought struggles and clenched teeth. Both teams missed out many chances.
Rističević made some fantastic saves.

Dimitrije "we are closed today" Rističević. He is there behind the water curtain

Zvezda scored their 5th goal only 2 minutes before the end of the first half, in power play, while we couldn’t take advantage of a double power play at the other side of the pool.
This second quarter was a slow brain death in itself, but the third quarter brought the real struggle.
First we made all possible mistakes. Throwing the ball into the goalkeeper from 1 cm, dropping the ball out of the hand in an all-doors-and-windows-open chance and such. Average Fan rapidly grew a lot of new grey hair. Zvezda equalized (6:6). The game turned into more and more ruthless, with a lot of fight and water wrestling. Then 3 minutes before the end we got a penalty. Vico shot and scored. At long last (7:6)

Vico sways, Zvezda’s goalkeeper raises up, but in vain, because in the next moment we were leading again

The problem was that Zvezda equalized again (7:7). Suspends came after suspends on both sides. We had numerous attempts, but we were unable to score. (Thankfully that was true for the opponent as well.)

Time-out at the end of the quarter

3/4
Napeto je u bazenu, a i van njega! Ukupno 3 gola u mrežama, a 7. gol za Partizan je postigao Gavril Subotić. Rezultat je 7-7, u toku je poslednja četvrtina. #NapredPartizan
Posted by Vaterpolo klub Partizan Raiffeisen on Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Something happened for the 4th quarter. I don’t know what Vladimir Vujasinović told (or didn’t tell) the boys, nevertheless six roaring lions arrived for the final, wearing caps with Partizan-logo. Zvezda-players haven’t even splashed into the water when Subotić took back the lead. Only 20 seconds passed from the quarter.

Yes, over there, that’s our 8th goal

Here an amazing comedy came. It started somewhere with Gogov missing out a penalty.

Average Fan’s last wish was a defibrillator.

Then a guy wearing red shirt started to yell with the referee in an atrocious manner. The ref didn’t bother too much, he just showed the seemingly frustrated dude the red card.

I got to know later that he was not else than Viktor Jelenić, Crvena Zvezda water polo club’s president

Red card

Jelenić can’t stop, while security guards gather around him to carry him out of the pool

I don’t know who he was (if you know, then please, write it to me in the comment box), but he also had to leave

Meanwhile the water wrestling continued. Zvezda equalized again (8:8), but one of their players also got a red card. (The coach had to push him to the bench, because the player just couldn’t shut up. I’m really wondering about the referee’s report and what it will include about these incidents.)

Just a few minutes earlier I wanted to die, but at this point I swept my tears off that ran out from laugh. It’s unbelievable, this circus...

5 minutes were left, when we took back the lead with Vico’s fantastic goal (9:8). Tigkas got fouled out, but he took out Zvezda’s team captain with himself. (I’m not sure if the XXXXL-sized captain was also fouled out or he got a red card.)
Only one and a half minutes were left, when Jakšić scored such a HUGE goal that the echo came from Jajinci (10:8). Zvezda could handle the tension harder and harder. Their second coach also got a red card

because the head coach was suspended from this game, as he got a red card on the previous match

so Zvezda had to play for the rest of the game without coach. They could still score one more goal about a minute before the end, but then they had no more chance. And then came the end buzz

AND PARTIZAN WAS THE CHAMPION!!!

It was time to celebrate. We deserved it.

4/4
VK Partizan je ŠAMPION Srbije za sezonu 2015/2016. !!! Fantastična igra u 4/4 za pobedu rezultatom 10-9. BRAVO MOMCI !!!
Posted by Vaterpolo klub Partizan Raiffeisen on Wednesday, May 25, 2016

The Preciousssss

Celebrating with the fans

Receiving the medals

Nikola Jakšić among children

Team captain Dimitrije Rističević receives the championship cup from the president of the Serbian Water Polo Association

(photo: hotsport.rs)

(photo: sportske.net)

Family photo with the cup, the team, and... MIŠA TUMBAS

(photo: hotsport.rs)

Here’s a video about how they celebrated:

Šampioni!
Vaterpolo klub Partizan Raiffeisen - ŠAMPIONI SRBIJE 2015/2016.
Posted by Vaterpolo klub Partizan Raiffeisen on Wednesday, May 25, 2016