From street football to goals in the national team

Raising a Golden Goddess is a unique boy's dream anywhere in the world. Andrej Bajović, the first team member of Dečić and the young national football team of Montenegro, went after his dreams from the small town of Šavnik, where there is no football club.

After daily driving from Šavnik to Nikšić and back, the then 12-year-old boy, in order to learn football techniques at Saša Medina's school, via Sutjeska and Podgorica, gained the status of Dečić's first team member and a young Montenegrin representative.

- Football is my love, a passion that made me leave the warmth of my family home, school, and society as a boy... It wasn't easy, but my love for football determined my path. And far from the fact that I regretted a single moment - the 19-year-old, blonde midfielder tells "Vijesti".

Although he did not have the opportunity to be a part of organized football schools or clubs from an early age, Andrej passed all the representative selections of Montenegro, from under-15 to under-21. As a crown, two great goals came in the victory over Albania 4:2 last weekend, in the test and preparation of Miodrag Vukotić's team for the upcoming European Championship qualifiers.

- We can't wait for the hat draw in February, because we have a good generation. We won Albania without the goalkeeper Ivezić, but also the fantastic Đukanović, Mijović, Striković, Krivokapić..., I think we have something to show.

Although there is a break in the Meridianbet 1.CFL due to the representative break and the World Cup, there was no rest for Bajović.

- During the break, I played two matches for the youth team, and now we need to prepare for the big goals that Dečić has. Our goal is the title, we are in the finals of the Montenegrin Cup, and we want the club to finally win a big trophy. The administration is great, we have exceptional support and the only thing missing is the stadium, but it is being renovated and soon Dečić will be a place with perfect conditions. Because of that project and the management relationship, I accepted a two-year contract, although I had other good offers on the table, Bajović admits.

In 12 appearances in the strongest domestic championship this season, Bajović scored a 2:1 goal in a 3:1 victory over Mornar.

- I am very satisfied with the time I get, and the status in the team, which is above the original plans, because I am dually registered in Mladost DG, in order to progress through the games. However, I fought my way through great competition and with the enormous help of older, more experienced teammates who help me significantly. I believe that no other club has such class and experience. The advice and work with Draško Božović, Fatos Bećiraj, Igor Ivanović, Jovan Nikolić, Matija Božanović are very useful... Despite the great competition, the atmosphere is fantastic, after a result crisis we got together, talked and the results started. We got Arsenal, who beat us on our field in the first round of the season and thus ended the bad streak - stressed Bajović.

Training is in progress, but so is the World Cup...

- Yesterday I specifically had two training sessions, I'll see how much time allows me. The World Cup is really a spectacle, the players cry when they sing the anthem of their country, but I also noticed that there are a lot of injuries and it's only the first group games. But these are representations and the game is played with incomparably more desire and emotion, mercilessly for the national coat of arms. Those representation matches are something special for every player - concluded Bajović.

To the first league scene in just five years of training

The career of Andrej Bajović is an example that football is not only taught in schools and clubs. From Šavnik, which does not have a football club, he is paving the way to football heights.

- It's really a shame and it's not clear to me how to not start with it in the municipality, because there is space for a stadium. There are also talents and I know many for whom the lack of conditions was an obstacle, and I believe that they could do a lot. Here, the brothers Bajović, Miodrag and Milorad left their mark in Partizan, and Milorad Peković had a great national and club career. Peković is the most responsible for my rapid progress and status as a first league football player, since he gave me a chance at the age of 17 in Podgorica. Now he is a coach in Bulgaria with Saša Ilić. A great coach and person - says Bajović.

How did you manage to get the strongest domestic competition and representative selections in those conditions?

- I loved playing so much that I was constantly on the street, in the yard, on a small futsal court, wherever there was company, mostly older people. Thinking that since I spent so much time on football, I would neglect school, my father said that he would take me to Nikšić to train only if I got all A's in school. However, learning was easy for me, I got all A's and he couldn't get over the words. He drove me 45 kilometers in one direction every day to training sessions. Until, after a year of training, I moved to Podgorica. In the beginning, my older sister helped me, then she left for America, and I got used to an independent life. Well, my colleagues started training at the age of six, but now I see, it meant when you play against older people on the field, admits Bajović.