Mihajlovic: In the tunnel, Stimac told me, "I pray to God my family will kill yours"

Sinisa Mihajlovic's autobiography entitled, "The Game of Life," saw the light of day in Italy and has already attracted a lot of attention!

The book talks about how Mihajlovic overcame leukemia, about the war in Yugoslavia, his friendship with Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan, but also many other things from his life.

On thiss occasion, Mihajlovic gave an interview to Corriere della Sera, whose journalist wanted to know when the Bologna coach realized that the former state would fall apart.

"During the Yugoslav Cup final in 1990. Red Star (Belgrade) lost to Hajduk Split. Before the match, in the tunnel leading to the pitch, my roommate from the youth team, Igor Stimac, approached me and said: 'I pray to God that our family will kill your family in Borovo' - the place where my father and mother are from," said Mihajlovic.

Of course, his friendship with late Arkan is certainly a hot topic for the media in Italy, especially since Mihajlovic received a letter that he must renounce it if he wants to become an honorary citizen of Bologna.

"When I played for Vojvodina FC, I insulted him after one game not even knowing who he was. As soon as I joined Red Star, he invited me to his villa. I thought he would kill me. Instead, he was kind: 'Sinisa, you can contact me for whatever you need. I'll give you my phone number'. In those days I would visit him at least 200 times a year."

 

 

 

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"In the beginning, I was attracted by his charm of a devil, and later we became great friends. I will never share some of his things, but I will not deny my friendship with him. And that's a part of my life. When he died, I published a large obituary for my friend Zeljko. Not for Arkan, the commander of the Tigers. That obituary attracted a lot of criticism."

"As for the letter I received, I will not reply to them. I tried to help as many people as possible during the war. I once bought a newspaper where I saw on the front page how three boys were 'the victims of Serb nationality.'And one of them was my childhood friend who is a Serb. But history is written by the victors, so we are the only ones to blame," Mihajlovic was clear.

When asked what he had done during his playing career that he would not repeat, Mihajlovic said:

"One thing I would not repeat happened in October 2000. When I played football, I would spit on players and elbow and insult them. That happened to Vieira as well. I told him, 'you f***ing n****r'. and I got a three-game suspension. I was wrong, and very much so wrong. But he was calling me a 'f***king gypsy" throughout the game. There is no such thing as racism against Serbs."

Mihajlovic also spoke about his leukemia.

"I became a better man. The disease strengthened me and changed me. I enjoy every moment, it wasn’t like that before. Illness is not a mistake, it happens, and I am no Superman or hero. I was scared and I'm not ashamed to say it."

Mihajlovic revealed that he was admitted to the hospital in Bologna under a false name.

"I was 'Cgikjltfr Drnovsk', a 69-year-old homeless man. They did not want to attract other patients' attention. After the first two rounds of therapy, I really looked like a 69-year-old."

Mihajlovic recently sang a well-known folk hit, obviously dedicated to his wife Arianna, considering that it was her birthday:

(Telegraf.rs)