Former Yugoslav national team member Mateja Kežman, former football star of Partizan, PSV Eindhoven, Chelsea, Atletico Madrid, Fenerbahçe and Paris Saint-Germain, was a guest of the show (Failure) of the champion, which is hosted by the famous handball name Mirza Dzomba in the second season.
Through almost two hours of very interesting and inspiring conversation, Kežman recalled many interesting details of his rather colorful career, in which he played in big clubs, collaborated with big players, big coaching names...
One of the details is related to the current president of the FSCG, and then coach of Serbia and Montenegro, Dejan Savićević, with whom Kežman, as he says, became a great friend...
"Dejo is a great friend of mine today, I have the best possible opinion about him. It's stupid to even talk about it, I think he's our best player of all time, but at that moment youth creates some relationships that are set up like that," Kežman said.
Everything happened during and after the now famous match SCG - Azerbaijan, played in February 2003 at the stadium under Gorica (2:2).
"That match against Azerbaijan happens, just like any other, where we play in Podgorica unchallenged, next to Belgrade and everything else, where it rains for three days, where the field does not exist, and despite everything, we lead 2:0. Dejo made some decisions to take out me and Peđa (Mijatović), I don't know for what reason, we conceded two goals, the game ended 2:2", says Kežman, at that time a big star of PSV, in which he was two years earlier, he left Partizan for a record transfer in the history of "Philips" - over 30 million...
"And then a couple of us make a mistake and decide to bypass the team and go home on a private plane, on another line, although this has always been done. And that's where the problem arises, although if we had won, probably nothing would have happened. And since we played 2:2 against Azerbaijan , I was not the only one, but 7-8 of us. And it started to bother me. Then Pixi was the president of the Association and then some things happened with Deja happens, some pointless and ugly conversations and I'm very sorry for that".
Kežman says he apologized, not only to Savićević.
"When I finished my career, I made a list of people to whom I owed an apology and forgiveness, because I think I made a mistake, but your pride, youth and vanity at that moment do not allow that. And then I started in order - from those few people for whom I mean, I asked them for forgiveness, so that it would be easier for me, because I think they deserve it and that they didn't deserve my reactions at that moment, but that's what life carried and that youth in those moments."
Kežman talked about going to Chelsea, where he was part of Mourinho's "revolution" in 2004. He also reveals why he struggled at Stamford Bridge.
"I came from PSV to Chelsea and it was a new world for me. From a peaceful place, Nunen, with 15 thousand inhabitants, an organized club, without stress, without tensions, I came to a world that is totally different, where money is very important, publicity, public... It took me a while to realize that I'm no longer in Eindhoven, now I'm here where every step is followed you're going to behave, what are you going to do... Change cars, you have to drive something better, otherwise they don't respect you... Totally something new where you need time to fit in".
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However, it started very well in the preparations.
"After me, Drogba was brought in. We had a tour in America during the preparations where I scored goals for Milan, Roma... Then we returned home where I functioned brilliantly in tandem with him in some other preparatory games. Then came the first game of the championship, we open the Premier League against Manchester United in our stadium, where Mourinho will of course not take any risks, he wants to close, after all it is Manchester United... And he starts with one, not two strikers and says that we will already from the next game, let's go back to what we played during the entire preparatory period. We won 1:0 and we never played with two strikers again," says Kežman.
"In spite of that, I fought for every minute I had, but it was very difficult afterwards, because we are talking about the striker Drogba, who is realistically a better player than me, who is a beast - as it turned out later, a guy with whom I cannot to compare myself one on one, I can play together with him, but not in front of him".
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