A festival of football, joy and smiles, a reminder of the goalkeeper who still lives in the hearts of fans.
This is how the 2nd "Matija Šarkić" Memorial was conceived, which will be held on April 3rd and 4th in Podgorica, with an impressive list of participants.
The academies of Tottenham, Inter, Aston Villa, Wolverhampton, Antwerp, Partizan, as well as the national teams of Slovenia and Montenegro under 14, will revive the memory of Matija, who passed away on June 15th last year, with a two-day tournament at the FSCG Camp.
He was only 26. Ten days before his death, he played his last game - perhaps the best of his career, wearing the beloved jersey of the Montenegrin national team in a friendly match in Brussels against Belgium, the country in which he grew up.
The first Memorial was held in Brussels, and the organization will now be taken over by the Football Association of Montenegro.
- Matija deserves to be at least partially repaid, because of his attitude towards the coat of arms, which he proudly wore from the earliest age categories. He could choose the national team for which he would defend, and he chose Montenegro, playing for the cadet, youth, young and senior selections - said FSCG Secretary General Momir Đurđavac.
There is a lot of symbolism, in his last game, unfortunately, and in his untimely death.
- It was as if fate wanted him to play such a game, the last one of his life, for his national team, against Belgium in Brussels, and then return to his native Montenegro, where he ended his young life.
That is why it is natural, continues Đurđevac, that the Football Association of Montenegro takes over the organization of the Memorial.
The list of clubs whose selections of boys under 14 will glorify the memorial tournament is, to say the least, representative...
- The list of participants is impressive, it is probably the best tournament of that age in Europe. All this is thanks to the respect of those clubs towards Matija, but also to the enthusiasm of his father Bojan, and the entire family - said Đurđevac, emphasizing that FSCG will make all available capacities available for the entire Memorial to run as it should.
Bojan Šarkić announced the continuation of the tradition, which began in April - every year Podgorica will have a tournament like this, with prestigious academies.
- Thank you to the Football Association for everything they did for Matija and his brother Oliver, who from the earliest days proudly wore the Montenegrin coat of arms and represented Montenegro. We organized the first Memorial in a hurry, because we only started collecting teams in January. Despite this, we managed to have almost all the teams in Brussels that Matija played for - Birmingham, Millwall, Aston Villa and Wolverhampton - said Bojan Šarkić.
Belgian Antwerp arrives in Montenegro as the winner of the first Memorial, and a special invitation has been sent to the Slovenian team. It is clear why - just a few days after Matija's departure, the players of the "country's" senior team wore black jerseys, and on the biggest stage possible, at the European Championship match against Denmark.
Bojan Šarkić emphasized that he will remember this gesture as long as he lives and that it deserves great attention from Montenegro and his family.
- 146 boys from five countries and eight teams will gather. We imagine these two days as a football holiday where we will remember Matija, and which will bring a lot of laughter and joy to everyone who comes. We want to give these boys days that will remain in their memories, and we should not forget that great players are born in tournaments of this kind - Bojan Šarkić emphasized.
Group A will feature Montenegro, Antwerp, Tottenham and Aston Villa, while Group B will feature Slovenia, Partizan, Inter and Wolverhampton.
The opening of the tournament will be symbolic - Montenegro and Antwerp, the winner of the 1st Memorial, will meet.
All teams will have three matches a day, playing twice for 20 minutes, 11 on 11, with flying substitutions, according to UEFA's Grassroots rules, said the head of the FSCG grassroots and amateur football office, Nikola Prentić.
Bonus video:
