It is rare that some of the most beautiful stories do not come from big clubs or centers from the former Yugoslavia, and Borac from Banjaluka took care of the new great euphoria and hope in regional football.
The Montenegrin national team player found himself in the center of that story and another beautiful page Marko Vukcevic, who with his teammates in Banja Luka won over the Austrian LASK 2:1 and is within reach of the knockout phase of the Conference League.
The fighter with seven points enters the last two rounds - they will visit Shamrock, and at home they will play against Omonia, whose jersey they wear Stevan jovetić (no right to perform on the European stage) i Novica Erakovic.
- In the club, we all live for a new European challenge in front of our fans. The atmosphere against LASK was a "bomb", the stands were full despite the heavy rain and the audience carried us to victory. It is an understatement to say that there is euphoria in the city and the club, it is a real pleasure to be part of this team. The atmosphere is great, and now everyone in Bosnia and Herzegovina knows what we in the club knew from the beginning of the European story - that we have two great players in each position and the quality to play on the international stage - Vukčević told "Vijesti".
The champion of BiH had his calculation...
- According to the projections from the beginning of the competition - seven points mean placement in the 1/16 finals. We collected them two rounds before the end and a draw in the next two games would mean that we are not dependent on unforeseen events. And football is very unpredictable, so everything is possible - said Vukčević.
ARRIVAL IN BANJALUKA FULL OF SIGHTS
It was the call of European ambitions that decided Vukčević to choose the one that Borac sent him this summer out of numerous offers.
- And I wasn't wrong. Although I enjoyed two seasons in Romania, and there were offers to stay there. Here we are not only formally and legally in the status of domestic players, which is a great decision by the leadership of the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but we feel that way at every step. It was a painful relegation on penalties in the Europa League qualification playoffs against Ferencvaros, but then we drew with Panathinaikos, and now with the victory over LASK, to have the quality for the Europa League as well. The Austrians came to Banjaluka after a victory in Salzburg over a club playing in the Champions League. And it's really a good team that plays that German style, with a lot of tactical runs, transition... However, our coach is also a really great tactician and we have excellent professional work - says the 31-year-old defender.
"WE WILL BE BACK, COUNT ON US"
Only after the Budućnosti games, numerous engagements, and the title with Olimpija from Ljubljana, Vukčević collected 27 appearances for the senior Montenegrin national team.
- The future is my house, but nothing can compare with the atmosphere in the national team of Montenegro. Well, even a record series of defeats didn't spoil that... That's why there was a real "boom" in Nikšić, we showed against Turkey that we can and will come back. And without Stefan Savić, Adam Marušić, Marko Vešović, Vladimir Jovović... We were missing a lot of players, but we played a great match. The coach Robert Prosinečki set a great tactic, we came out really high, surprised them with the 3-5-2 formation, closed their backs and left them with no idea to do anything. We have quality and we will come back, count on us - promised Vukčević.
The time is coming for a change of generations, but Vukčević wants to continue playing with the best players that Montenegro has.
- We hope that Savić and Marušić will be ready. Those who are not on the field cannot even imagine how much they mean to us, and they mean to the clubs, and then they force them, they play under injections, and the calendar is tiring, the sacrifices are huge - concluded Vukčević.
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