"Arianna called me at 9:30 pm, I cried out": Dejan Stankovic's moving testimony about Sinisa Mihajlovic

An exclusive interview Dejan "Deki" Stankovic gave to Telegraf in Budapest, about his "dad" Sinisa, whom he will never forget: "Every day begins and ends with a prayer for him"

After the untimely departure of Sinisa "Miha" Mihajlovic a year ago, there was a big void left among football and sports fans in Serbia, especially among his family and closest friends. One of those nearest to him, who actually became a member of Miha's family, is Dejan Stankovic, another legend of our and Italian football, whose career was intertwined with Sinisa's, and after that they became each others' best men and brothers for life.

In honor of Miha, Telegraf conducted interviews with his loved ones, in order to show what greatness he represented, and how Serbia could repay him in the right way and preserve his memory.

After speaking with Sinisa's brother Drazen, who, in an emotional testimony revealed some never-before-told details from Miha's life and career, as well as about his fight with leukemia until the very end, we spoke with another man whom Miha considered his brother - Dejan Stankovic.

A Telegraf crew went to Budapest, where Deki successfully coaches the giants of Hungarian football - Ferencvaros, who will play in Europe in the spring, having emerged from a difficult group where Fiorentina, Genk and Serbia's Cukaricki also competed.

Stankovic opened up his soul in front of Telegraf's cameras, told many interesting anecdotes from Miha's life and career, but for the first time he also spoke about how Sinisa's battle with leukemia looked from his point of view, from the moment he found out, until the very end, and the call he received from Sinisa's wife Arianna which stunned him. He spoke holding back the tears, which will undoubtedly come to anyone who reads and watches this interview.

Deki misses Miha immensely, not a single day can begin or end without him thinking about his best man, whom he mentions in prayer as soon as he gets up and before he falls asleep.

Deki's first contact with Miha - as ball boy ahead of Red Star's Bari game

We started the big story with Deki about Miha from the very beginning, when Stankovic was a kid training at the Red Star (Crvena Zvezda) youth academy, when he had his first contact with Sinisa by passing balls back to him and others from the golden "Bari generation" (who made Red Star European champions), from the touchline at the club's Belgrade stadium.

"I had the good fortune to be the ball boy during Red Star's campaign towards the Champions League title (then European Champions Cup), that generation that was made up of many talented players such as Sinisa, such as Vlada (Vladimir) Jugovic, such as Robi (Robert) Prosinecki... As you were collecting balls, they succeeded to infect you with that stardom, the great weight that jersey carries, that that club carries, and how you feel when you win. Someone who, like me, was a ball boy in front of 80,000 people and experienced and lived quite emotionally that path.

Sinisa left a phenomenal impression on me, together with that whole generation, that was my first time meeting with them. They were really energetic, good, nice to watch play, with what enthusiasm, with a kind of will they had playing for Red Star and then they simply showed you the path you have to take in order to deal with the importance of the Red Star jersey. So the first influence on me was made by that entire generation, of course, along with Sinisa Mihajlovic. I followed him after that, when he left, how he played in Serie A - Roma, a big club at that time. Everyone will remember his run to the North. I will remember his penalty kick in Bari, when he dug a hole from the force of the shot, that stayed in my memory and of course, his hair, his styling, his cute face, everything.... That is the first influence related to Red Star and Sinisa Mihajlovic."

Telephone conversation during which Deki stood up when he realized he was talking to Miha

"I was still playing for Red Star, that was before the transfer to Lazio was completed, around March, I would say. I signed for Lazio much earlier and played until the end of the season for Red Star. And then we heard from each other and when I answered, I was in the apartment with my then fiancee, future wife Ana. And when he introduced himself to me, he'd mostly act like that, 'Good afternoon, Sinisa Mihajlovic speaking'. When he said that, I stood up. She looked at me so strangely.

I think it reflects my respect for him and I remained standing until the end. That attitude towards him lasted until the end. I still remember that moment of getting on my feet to this day. That's how I experienced it. With a lot of respect, a clarity and a depth in our relationship. It was difficult to enter his world. But believe me it was even harder to get out. He would never let something happen to anyone and that standing up for people is what will always remind me of him, because after that everything ended up as it should have, with that Lazio and those first steps in Rome, in Lazio, in a dream team. If it weren't for him, it would have been a thorny, thorny, thorny road with many obstacles, many stumbling blocks, a lot of barriers. But having someone like him who spreads his arms and puts them around your shoulders and protects you, explains things to you, speeds up the process of adapting your work, thoughts, and maturing. So that time I got up speaking to him is for me, to put it that way, everything concerning our relationship, that's how I experienced it."

First time meeting him in national team

"I met him for the first time in the national team in the qualifiers in 1997, November, before the playoff against Hungary. And that's when I got my first call-up to the national team, only then that collision with those greats with whom I later had the honor and pleasure to play happened. That's when I met Sinisa, a unique, original, self-possessed, serious personality, that's a personality that I've never - respect to everyone, but I've never met such a person. We had lunch as a team, trained as a team, I looked up with admiration to all of them, of course also to Sinisa, not knowing that one day our paths would cross and that he would become an important part of the story of my life.

Without knowing it at the time, the entire generation with Sinisa, as well as the Red Star generation, had a lot of influence on my first encounter with the national team. I think that's very important, that a young player can feel what it is, where you are coming from and how important it is. I indirectly, collecting balls, got to know the atmosphere and size of the club at the age of 12. After that, in 1997, when I was just 19, I dreamed of getting to know what the national team is like, what it entails. I believe that any guy who receives an invitation to play for the national team should consider it as a great honor and privilege."

Rooming together in Lazio: "I shared room with Deki more than with my wife"

"That's when we started being roommates. He would say, "I shared a room with Deki more than with my wife'. When you play in a big club and goals are important, it can be hard to play Saturday, Wednesday, Sunday. My start was phenomenal, thanks to Sinisa, Roberto Mancini and Sven Goran Eriksson. As a kid in a dream team, I played 95 percent of the games that year. That support, that story... but I'm someone who can listen, not just hear, so I carefully did what he suggested. Of course, sometimes he also let me feel myself a little, steel myself, but he looked at me protectively from day one. After that one preparation, when he said to me, 'Kid, you've been on the ice a lot, but you passed the test'.

There are a couple of anecdotes, of course they are not all nice to tell, they go with cigars. He kept saying that. I'd say, 'So don't talk about it, dad,' and he'd say, 'It was like that, you can't change it'. That relationship with him, those five and a half years at Lazio and that example of a big family. I became a father quite young. By the time I turned 27, I already had three children. Somehow, when you look at a role model, when you look at an example, I liked the way he did it, the way he lived it, how he fought for his own, how he stood up protectively. It's the same in me, I matured very quickly and Ana and I decided to have children very early, at 27 we had three children, I think it's a nice step forward and a huge responsibility that changes your life, the first at 22, the second when I was 23 and a half... Surely he had an influence on me in those things as well."

"There was never any question who would be my children's godfather"

"There was no question mark for a single second, he had such a strong influence on me, I lived and experienced him as a family member and more than that, with a respect that I cannot describe, like that standing up I spoke about, such respect remained until the last day. Therefore, when I call him cale (literally Serbian for, 'dad'), of course he objected, but I know he was glad, he'd say, 'I'm not that old', but it wasn't about age, it was about being 'cale'. Of course, I have my Bora (Stankovic's father), whom I adore and respect and love, but somehow I brought closer that personality of Sinisa, because he helped me a lot and was by my side a lot, and I got used to calling him 'cale' and that word itself, you know what is carries with it."

Mancini was shocked when Miha told him he and Deki would not play against Red Star

"Well, there is nothing to it. There is no such thing as, 'well we'll sit down, then we'll talk'. So when we won that, it was - we're not going to play. We won't play, I can't play. How do I play? It simply was, it was not questioned. Of course, Miha conveyed that to (Roberto) Mancini and he was a little shocked, but that was our position. And he accepted, Mancini and Sinisa knew each other for a long time, of course, we knew each other, I'd been playing with Roberto for a couple of years. So it was a decision not to play, we were simply on the bench, and we would not even enter. And (there was) a really nice welcome at the Red Star stadium, and a phenomenal atmosphere, and the leadership of Red Star... We had that anecdote at the press conference, when I was talking, Sinisa and I were there, and when I was talking, I said, 'It will be hard for them (the Italian team) tomorrow', and then Sinisa nudged me and said, 'You mean, for us'? And I said, 'Yes, yes, it will be difficult for us tomorrow, because of the atmosphere and the strong (Red Star) team'. That's how it came out spontaneously out of me, but lucky that Sinisa was concentrated on correcting me, but what can you do with emotions, it's hard to control.

A nice evening, before the game a welcome and gifts, chanting under the North, wow, that reminds you of who and what Red Star is in Europe. A good game, a game where Red Star had the lead, a game in which we were lucky to equalize and qualified for the next round. Yes, I was (happy about) the sporting success, but I was not happy. And that is Red Star. Sinisa and I enjoyed that evening, and we were proud of our decision, which we made naturally, there was no effort in deciding we would not play against our Red Star."

NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999

"That was a time of hell. I know that we came to play for the national team all together and only that the state of war was declared, that there would be the bombing. I know that we all went away, because we were in Palic, we went toward Hungary, to Budapest, boarded planes. I was late for some plane, because there was a flyover at that moment, probably a plane from Aviano (a NATO base in Italy). I left for Zurich. I landed in Turin from Zurich, the manager waited for me there, and, switching on the TV in Turin was hell. At that moment, the sports factor somehow stops. You are want to be a professional, but you are one that is killed inside, you have no desire for football, you have many worries, many thoughts, the injustice of it all.

We tried, I don't know how far it went, I think it was like a drop in the ocean. But Sinisa had his influence and his statements were quite strong and quite firm. It's the 1998/1999 season, I'd just arrived, I didn't speak Italian well enough to be able to engage in some commentary. I could easily do it now, but Sinisa did it for both of us and we'd do it however we could, wherever we could, but that period left (a mark), you put a full stop on football. I remember that (coach) Sven Goran Eriksson, when it started, called a team meeting just for me and Sinisa. He asked the players to have understanding, he asked them to have a different view, that what we are suffering is a war in our country, but that we are fighting our own war at home, the football, to look to take the title, that was the season 1998/1999, after that in 1999/2000, we took that title, so the club showed understanding, our teammates did, Sven himself, who, I couldn't have had a better coach than him, at least I in my first year in Italy."

Inter transfer and saving number 11 for Sinisa

"I left six months before (Sinisa). I knew something would happen in the following six months, how things would go, which is not nice, because the coach at the time was Zaccheroni, with whom I also worked in Lazio and I played phenomenal football with him. To this day, I am in contact with Mr. Zaccheroni, who is a phenomenal personality and someone I like to talk to and those are long conversations, he gets to the point, he has something to say, he has something to retell, to tell. I knew that most likely Mancini would become the (Inter), I knew that Sinisa would come. That's why I took the number 11 jersey for those first six months, to save it for him when he came. A beautiful story, a new beginning, I knew even before my arrival, I talked a lot with him, he said, whatever I decide, I won't make a mistake. Roberto also had had an influence on me going to Inter, he said that, 'if you go there or there, you will be one of many, but if you go to Inter, you can make history'.

And then slowly, we started to arrive, some of us had won (trophies), starting with Roberto, Sinisa, Sebastian Veron, there were quite a few. Pepe Favalli came after, these were the layers that were used, maybe Pepe Favalli was not some big name, but his charisma and his character was phenomenal. Adriano came later, those new forces and the winning mentality came, where Inter went from the Super Cup, from the Italian Cup, to playing in the Champions League, to the first scudetto, which was won administratively (as a result of the Calciopoli scandal), but we played football, it means that there were enough points, those won on the pitch to win the title and then that period of 4-5 years where Inter was really top from 2005 to 2010 slowly started. Sinisa later ended his playing career, joined Mancini's staff, won the title with Mancini, tested himself and then continued his phenomenal career as a coach."

Miha's desire to decide Maksimir match, meeting with friend with backs turned to each other, crossing himself in front of Vukovar flag and match of career against Croats

"There are anecdotes when the draw (for the national team) was done, of course, we weren't happy about all that, but then again it's football and we kept to football, but Sinisa said, 'I would like to play the last game (in the group stage) at Maksimir (stadum in Zagreb, Croatia) and that this game decides who will qualify', I said, 'Miha, good, OK, we are brave, but come on, why be like that, come on, dad'. He says, 'no, no, no, I want to play the last game at Maksimir and let that match decide who will qualify'. It turned out that we would play the last game at Maksimir, of course we wanted to go there but for the game to not be decisive, but it turned out to be completely the opposite. There could be three outcomes, one, you are out, the second, you go to play-offs, the third, you qualify directly. The same went for Croatia, they had to win, to move on and hope for a playoff.

So it was an experience, the very arrival there, Miha's past, a meeting with a friend where they spoke with their backs turned to each other, I was sitting at a table with Sinisa, that friend was sitting at another, so that (the conversation) could not be noticed, because of a lot of things that are not a topic here, why - because the hotel was full of all sorts of things, let's put it that way. We were under a watchful eye and we were under a lot of protection, so the two of them, that conversation, I myself witnessed that conversation. Then you realize and understand what happened there and what kind of stories those were, I don't want to tell that. Of course, we didn't get it, his friend didn't wish us luck because the square (in Zagreb) was already full of people, ready for everything the next day, they were already celebrating, that concert itself that started at one, two (o'clock) at Maksimir and that whole atmosphere, of course, that it encouraged us and that it gave us the strength to be the way we should be.

And that one anecdote, if someone looks at the picture before the game, they will see only Sinisa and me smiling. And what was happening? What was happening was that when the sounding of the anthems was over Sinisa ran under the east (stands), where there was a big flag reading, 'Vukovar 91', he knelt and crossed himself and I called out to him to come back because we didn't take the team picture, but the noise was such he could not hear me. And then when he was coming back, I said, 'What are you doing, have you lost your mind?', and he laughed, and I started laughing. And then in that picture, the two of us are the only ones with a slightly different facial expression."

"In that game, Sinisa was the best man on the pitch. So that's what he wanted. Now I understand why he wanted it. Hardly anyone can do it, believe me. I remember warming up, you just felt like you were collapsing into the grass. It's not that your legs feel lighter after every minute of the warm-up, no. The tension was simply such that you were falling into the grass. Of course, that match meant a lot. For the first 15 minutes, we did not come out to play, and in the 16th, when they scored a goal, we were glad. 'Have your goal at last'. That is our famous anecdote and story. Have your goal (Croatia team) at last - so we can start playing football. Then that's when we really started playing football and creating chances. We had those two goals with an assist from Sinisa, who was on set pieces duty that day.

I mean, never better in his life. In the second half, he kicked towards Ladic's goal almost from the center, where Ladic (Croatia keeper) barely managed to save the shot. He had that will, that desire, that sense of revenge that awoke in him. At that moment, it could have been measured in tons, but only someone with a great character and someone who believes in their own abilities can one do that. Two set pieces, two goals. We survived with ten men on the pitch and it was one of the top three nights of my footballing career. Three successes, so to speak, which were difficult and challenging, but ultimately positive."

Sinisa's farewell match in Novi Sad

"Only Sinisa could have organized that, the way he knew how, spontaneously, purely, simply. He organized for Inter (players) to come by plane, organized his friends who were waiting for us. A full stadium in Novi Sad, a phenomenal atmosphere, a lot of famous people, a lot of fun, a lot of charm. A nice gathering after the game, dinner, all together, some in a bar, some in a club, some somewhere else... But we had a fantastic time. But that's Sinisa, I also remember the socializing afterwards at the hotel, everyone together with their families, many players, many emotions. But that is what Sinisa Mihajlovic deserved from Novi Sad and Vojvodina as a club. It was just, 'a la Sinisa', so to speak."

Deki's farewell from Serbian national team with Miha as coach

"I had surgery on my tendon and then I had the misfortune to have another, but if that wasn't the case, I would have been part of it (the team), even though I said I was done playing, I would have answered his call for sure and he was waiting for me. Waiting for my recovery, in the end I said this is not it, that I am not satisfied. And then he said, that's his anecdote, 'Come and say goodbye while I am (the head coach), because I don't believe that you will be having a farewell, that someone esle will call you to the national team for that'. But he told me - 'you have to lose weight', because by then I had already gone up to 100 (kilograms) quickly and I really did lose weight, and I believe that I wouldn't have had a farewell game if he hadn't invited me then."

"And then it turned out nicely, it was also in Novi Sad. It was important to say goodbye to the national jersey, for me it was sacred and I always tried to give my best. But his courage, I have yet another anecdote, we were training and my calf was seriously injured, so I could barely last 10 minutes, gritting my teeth. But I saw how glad he was (that I played). He was very happy to see me and my family next to him. His eyes were full of tears, I was full of emotions, so only later did I look at everything and realize what he had done for me. I thank him, because it was a proper farewell to the national team."

Deki's never-before-told story about Miha's battle with leukemia

"I was on vacation, it was summer. (Mihajlovic's) start of preparations with Bologna, the beginning of July. He called me even before it came out in the press and told me, we talked for a long time and cried and had a serious talk. It was simply a shock that you can't... After that he explained in detail how it would go for him. For my part, I was still in shock and disbelief. But I didn't want to believe that there would be any other outcome but recovery, the only option. Because I believed in Sinisa and his character. If anyone could do it, he could. I kept saying that. And so it started. We had a difficult conversation, very strong, very emotional. I didn't want to accept it then, and he had already gone through that acceptance. His story when he locked himself in the room, knowing him - whom I had seen cry maybe only once before - for him to break down, that was really hard.#

"I couldn't believe what therapy did to him, but it didn't kill his spirit"

"Then the recovery begins, the first (bone marrow) transplant, the first visit when I saw him for the first time after that, when he lost a lot of weight and that left a very strong impression. So, Sinisa is a fighter. I - when you sit there and you see that bed and that apparatus, you can see his weight, because you can see that information at all times. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it. What is this therapy and what did it do to Sinisa. But it did not kill his spirit, he continued to work. As much as (Miroslav) Tanjga, and certainly Arianna and everyone tried to persuade him, 'Stop, you don't need that extra stress, you simply need every atom of strength and lucidity, concentration to push through!' But I understood that it was the only way for him, not to think about what was going on. The only way was football and that's why we were born, what we prepared for all our lives and were always in it. He battled hard, he persevered after that first transplant and slowly came back to normal, and slowly, but surely, he regained his weight, appearance, and worked."

New shock when disease returned: "When I saw him on video call, I immediately started crying"

"Then comes the second one, which was surely an even bigger shock. Twice as big a shock as the first, because it would have taken so little. It had been two and a half years (since the first diagnosis), it would have taken as much (to remain in remission), but he was totally fit, totally back to his old habits and training and running and the gym and traveling and mixing with people. Then there was Covid, and he had to take care of himself, all sorts of things were happening. So, that second time was a shock, of course I knew when the transplant would take place, thinking that like the first time, it would be 4-5 days before we could speak.

He wasn't taking my calls, then of course, I called Arianna and she explained to me that at that moment his body was fighting a hellish battle, with infections, with fever. We spoke only after 14 days. Arianna was on a video call and when Sinisa and I saw each other, I started crying immediately, reflexively because I couldn't believe it. What could that battle have been like, that he couldn't talk for 14 days, he didn't have the strength to talk, but he was glad, said Arianna, that only I spoke to him via video, no one else, because Sinisa looked like an 80-year-old. Believe me, it was a shock and he just said, 'We'll talk'. I said, "Yes, but you will tell me! But you will tell me, you have to tell me!' He replied, 'I will tell you'.

And then, of course, we saw each other and he said that it was hell, that fever and that pain, that he had been 'there more than here'. Hallucinations, and everything. And again he started to leave it behind him. But I think we were all very afraid then."

Third diagnosis: Innovative therapies in Bergamo and last meeting in hospital

"Recovery went well and everything went well and then, after two and a half months, the third time, that was the final blow. Although I still believed that it could not happen. It would be alright.

"My last time seeing him was in November, a national break (a pause in European club competitions), I had already joined Sampdoria (as coach) and of course I came, we spoke to each other constantly and of course the praise and criticism from him were always honest and direct and I had no problem with that. I went to see him in the hospital in Bergamo, at that time no one even knew that it was an innovative therapy that could only be received by people who had undergone two transplants, two rounds of chemotherapy, who had, as it were, gone through hell, to be able to enter that group of people, to try this innovative therapy.

And he seemed completely okay to me. There was no indication that a month from then, there would be disaster. Nothing, he looked totally normal. We spent three hours there, I couldn't stay longer because of the protocol and everything. I remember this, when the nurse brought that IV that he needed to receive, I asked him what it was. He said it was his therapy, I ask , 'Just that'? He says, 'Well, if that tea doesn't take, it won't be good'. That's what he called it, 'tea', because a doctor told him that what he went through could have killed a bull, let alone a man. That process he was going through then, receiving it, he told me, if this tea doesn't take... I can't say now what he said exactly. I turned around and said, 'Come on'. After that, we talked again about football, and that, the nurse was passing by and I was explaining something to him, he had that board too and the paper and then I was explaining how I would play, we were really talking, and then the nurse passed by and he said, if this tea doesn't take.... I didn't get what it meant the way I should have."

I was petrified when I saw Arianna was calling me at 9:30 pm, I cried out..."

"Slowly, his blood type was getting much better and more white blood cells needed to be created, but slowly it was getting better. I remember, I was on preparations in Turkey with Sampdoria, when Arianna called me. Honestly, when you get a call around 9 in the evening, half past 10, you see it's from Arianna Mihajlovic, of course you freeze, you become petrified... I took the call. 'How are you Deki'? I think to myself, 'Surely you are not calling me to ask how I am'. What is it? 'Well, Sinisa is currently in a morphine coma, I wanted to call you, to tell you that this is it. That this is it, that they don't believe that he will come out of this coma. I knew how much he loved you and I just wanted to tell you that'. I know I screamed, because I was sitting with the coaching staff and everyone, and I cried out and went to the room upstairs and just asked for them to bring me, I had had quit smoking, but I just asked them to bring me cigars, cigars, to bring them to me, because at that moment.. they did and I was on this terrace, I couldn't accept it, I didn't want to accept it. I called, I spoke with Tanjga, Drazen (Mihajlovic), I couldn't believe it. You hope, just hope, it will go away.

Of course, you don't sleep and you don't sleep the next day and the day after, and you call and call. And then, of course, I didn't want to upset Arianna, because I can't even imagine what she was going through. But I know that I heard from Tanjga and he told me about him being with Sinisa and that he'd only gone (to the doctor) because he had an eye infection. But in fact it was the beginning. He went to the hospital not knowing that he would never leave. And when those thoughts are running through my head, this life is very, very cruel sometimes. Because he went and thought, 'put some ointment on it and let me go home'. They told him to lie down, he said that there was no need to lie down, they insisted, they started doing the tests, by noon, he was already in a morphine coma. An induced coma, because they had to relieve his pain."

"We are not aware of human greatness that has gone, I dream about him a lot, I only missed one minute to ask him something..."

"On the 16th (December last year), a call arrived that he had passed away, and that is something you have to accept, but you will never agree with it. I think we are not yet aware of who has left us and how much human greatness has left with him. I don't put myself up there, I've said that many times when they ask me about Sinisa Mihajlovic, Arianna, Viktorija, Virginia, Miroslav, Dusan and Nicholas (his children) are above all. His mother and Drazen are there above all, it's blood, it's pain, indescribable. I have my place, I keep it, I love it.

I will not give up on that place of mine because I am too proud of the relationship I had with Sinisa and I will never accept (what happened), because I dream about him a lot. I dream about him a lot, really a lot. I always wonder what he wanted to tell me, because I missed it by a minute, just for him to tell me something, just for me to ask him something, for him to tell me... I know that he will always have the right answer, whatever it is, whether it hurts or not, I know he always had the right answer. And I talk about him all the time. I like to talk about him and I wake up with a smile when I dream about him, I tell everyone.

"Miha, Sinisa, it's really unfair, I say it again, and it affected me a lot, this loss of a sincere, true friend. He has changed me a lot in the last year. I don't know if it's for better or worse, but he certainly changed me. I certainly don't give importance anymore to some things that simply don't touch me, they slip off my back and the essence is totally different. When he went like that and left behind five children, a wonderful wife, a mother, a brother, and left this world, why should I be upset about anything. We talked when we saw each other, you said, "Well, you're okay, you look well'. Yes, I look well and I will look well, and I know he would tell me that. Yes, I will not pay attention to any nonsense, I will not give weight to some things that are not worth at all, because look how it is. It's been a year, it was yesterday to me. I will always keep him in my memory, I will always be proud of our relationship, of everything we built together, his examples, his advice and I miss him, yes. I miss, miss, miss that one minute to ask him a few things."

"Not a day goes by that I don't think about him, my morning can't start and I can't fall asleep before I mention him in my prayer"

"No, no, because I have my prayer in which he is every morning and every evening, and then my day can't even begin and I can't even fall asleep before I mention him in my prayer. So, Sinisa is always and always will be, and it was a great injustice and I miss him a lot."

Italian elite showed up at Sinisa's farewell, Rome stopped in those moments

"That only speaks to the greatness of Sinisa Mihajlovic, his character and respect and the way people looked at him from the outside. I can't comment on the funeral. For me that is normal, that respect that Sinisa received. It's the least they could do for a man like Sinisa."

"Dusan reminds me of Sinisa the most"

"I'm kind of a realist in some things. Proceeding from myself, it's a difficult example, but surely it's the most difficult for them, no keeping it touch can do that, nothing can alleviate or replace him, but yes, I am in contact with Dusan, with Miro, with Nicholas. From time to time, with Virginia and Viktorija. Filip (Stankovic's son) sees them, since my Filip and Federica are in Genoa, and Virginia's husband plays for Sampdoria. Filip is in Genoa. So they hang out and see each other. With Arianna, from time to time, to see how she is doing, if she's well, if she needs anything. She is a strong woman, she is a very strong woman. They visited me now, a month ago, Dusan and Nicholas were here to watch the game against Genk, at home, Duki (Dusan) reminds me (of Sinisa) the most, I was also their godfather. I was his godfather, I adore them, all of them, but somehow Duki reminds me the most of Sinisa, both in character, in story, and in attitude. He is making an effort to speak Serbian, and they miss Sinisa a lot. Everyone misses, everyone misses him."

Deki's sons proudly tell everyone that Sinisa was their godfather

"They are still shocked, they worship Sinisa, with respect and pride that he was their godfather. And tell everyone about it and brag about it to everyone. No one can take that away from them and no one can erase it."

Idea of naming National Stadium after Sinisa Mihajlovic

"It would be nice if something important would bear the name of Sinisa Mihajlovic, because that important thing must have the same character and be recognized in Sinisa Mihajlovic, something that is big and important. He deserves it. I think that everyone who knew him, who knew him well and those who were afraid of him, who didn't know him, I think I can only tell you good things about Sinisa Mihajlovic and the way he looked at life and faced life until the last moment, so it must be something strong and important. I'm sure it will be."

One word that Dejan Stankovic would use to describe Sinisa Mihajlovic

"Loyalty. He was loyal. Which is rare. Especially nowadays, that word does not exist for many people. Literally, it doesn't exist."

Note: Parts of this text can only be reprinted with the permission of the authors and the Telegraf editorial staff!

(Dusan Ustevic, Zorica Radulovic)