Žarko Vukčević is among the greatest strikers of Buducnost of all time, with 45 first league goals he is among the Top 10 best scorers of the "blues" ever.
He did it at "that" time, in "that" Java, in "that" league, even though football, and even playing on that stage, as he himself admits, was never a priority for him.
Žaro played for Buducnost, scoring goals for the big four of Yugoslav football, destroying Red Star, Hajduk, Partizan and Dinamo, while simultaneously studying at the Faculty of Law in Titograd.
In today's times, in today's football, in professional chains, as he points out, he wouldn't be able to do two such serious things at the same time.
Football as a hobby, at a high level: such were the "romantic" 70s and 80s. Stadiums were full, and the players of Buducnost - legends of the city, true gods.
- I never considered football to be number one. Of course, I treated my obligations professionally, went to every training session, I loved football, but school came first. I wanted to repay my parents in some way. Football was, of course, what I am known for, but I was not 100 percent dedicated to it. Looking back, I may be a little sorry about that.
He made his debut for the first team of Buducnost at the age of twenty. A debut - like something out of a fairy tale. Around fifteen thousand spectators at the stadium under Gorica and a goal against Partizan, in a 2:0 victory.
The year was 1977, the date was April 17th, and Žarko Vukčević was a regular junior national team player of the SFR Yugoslavia, participating in the European Championship. However, a chance at Buducnost was not so easy to come by.
- I didn't even know I was going to play. I wouldn't have played if the youth coach had told me to. Milan Rogošić He didn't meet me on the street by chance. He immediately shouted: "What are you doing here, run to quarantine". I replied that no one had told me anything. I rushed home to get my football boots, and the next day I was in the first team. Mirko Radinovic I was also in attack, and it was his debut.
And who knows what would have happened, how his career in Buducnost would have developed, Vukčević points out, if he had not scored on his debut in such a match.
Vukčević attributes much of his brilliant career in the blue jersey to, as he points out, "sports luck"
- To this day, I think that goal helped me stay. It was very difficult to get into the first team, there was a rule that you couldn't go abroad before the age of 28, the quality was concentrated, all around me were great players, and only in attack... And who knows how many talented football players there were who didn't have the sporting luck that I had - to score a goal for Partizan on their debut. They would usually be sent out on loan, and that's how they would get lost... I'm saying that for myself, but also for Mirko Radinović, who also scored a goal in that match. If we had lost 3:0, the question is whether we would ever have gotten another chance.
What did that goal look like - a turning point in Vukčević's career:
- Long ball, goalkeeper Borota went out a little to shorten the angle, I hit the net with the outside of my foot.
It was a huge privilege to wear the Buducnost jersey during that period.
- The attitude that people had towards you was abnormal - on the street, in the neighborhood. So many nice encounters, that was very impressive. I didn't believe before that how much love there was for the club. You can see, simply, that it means a lot to people. And those people never came to the stadium out of boredom, to pass the time.
Vukčević joined the first team of Buducnost in the year of their greatest success - when Buducnost reached the final of the Marshal Tito Cup. He traveled to Belgrade to play against Hajduk, but was not on the scoresheet.
- There were 20 of us, 16 players were on the scoresheet. I expected to be among them, but it was still the final and a reward for a generation, for the entire journey it had traveled, and I was almost new.
Vukčević also recalls an anecdote.
- When they chose me to go to Tito's reception the morning before the match, I assumed I wouldn't play. But when I saw that Hajduk had sent me to the reception Zlatko Vujovic, my hope returned. Because Vujović was a great talent and there had to be a place for him in Hajduk. However, after the reception in front of Tito's villa, a taxi was waiting for him, but not for me. I thought along the lines of "if I take a taxi myself and arrive on time, I will be in the team". I arrived, but the coach Mako Valok "I had already determined the other 16 players," Vukčević recalls, with a smile.
What was missing from the then, great generation of the Future, but also from the one that followed, with Dejan Savićević, to take the final step and win the trophy?
- What was missing was that the big four were unassailable, both on and off the field, and it was very difficult to get a chance. Few succeeded. As for the Cup, it was already different there, one game, if you score first... We just needed a little luck. If we had taken the lead against Hajduk in the final, and we could have, everything would probably have been different.
The league was - too strong, with many great football players.
- It was too late to go abroad, so there was a huge concentration of quality. I remember, for example, Sloboda from Tuzla. They played us in the last round, won a point and escaped relegation. The next season, the same team qualified for the UEFA Cup. That's just one example.
Vukčević made an international transfer from Buducnost to Turkey. He said he enjoyed the conditions and the league, which has little in common with today's, but his lack of commitment was "expressed" there, as he points out.
- I was in a hurry to get back, for my family's sake, and I could have stayed longer.
Žar's three "aces" and the two best teams of Buducnost
Žarko Vukčević wore the Budućnost jersey for a full decade (from 1975 to 1985), approximately the same amount of time he served as the club's technical director at the beginning of this century.
Choosing the best teams, first and second, he says that Buducnost had "aces", players of the highest possible caliber:
- Ante Miročević, Dejan Savićević and Peđa Mijatović. They would play in any team, in any country.
For three more, there is no dilemma:
- Dragoje Leković, Slavko Vlahović, Caco Ljumović.
Everything else, as he says, is nuance - a matter of personal affinities, assessments...
- I choose players that I have watched, that I remember. With great apologies to the former aces that I have not watched.
So, Leković in goal for Vukčević's first team, right back - Mišo Folić.
- I watched him the least, actually only once. But from what I saw, and from what they told me, how he played for Buducnost, how he played for Hajduk, there is no doubt.
The center-back tandem of Vukčević's first team consists of Vlahović and Branislav Drobnjak, the left-back is Dragoljub Brnović.
- Brnović senior was such a versatile footballer that it was unbelievable. And he would have been even better if he hadn't played like "with a calculator" - calculatedly, as if he knew how much to spend - Vukčević points out.
So, Petar-Caco Ljumović, and alongside him in midfield are Dejan Savićević and Ante Miročević.
In attack, Peđa Mijatović on the right, Anto Drobnjak in the center, and Vujović on the left. No, however, Guzo Vujović. Žarko Vukčević “shoots” a surprise:
- Nikola Vujović! Such talent, such predispositions. And he would have had a great career if he hadn't made a wrong step.
Vukčević reads to the other team:
- Branislav Đukanović in goal, Duško Vlaisavljević and Zoran Vorotović as defenders, Vojo Vukčević and Grof Božović as stoppers. Branko Brnović, Janko Miročević and Igor Burzanović in midfield, Zoran Batrović and Mirko Radinović in attack on the wings, Željko Janović in attack.
The two best teams of Žarko Vukčević's Buducnost
The best team of Buducnost as chosen by Žarko Vukčević is:
Dragoje Lekovic - Milutin Folic, Slavko Vlahovic, Branislav Drobnjak, Dragoljub Brnovic - Petar Ljumovic, Ante Mirocevic, Dejan Savicevic - Predrag Mijatovic, Nikola Vujovic, Anto Drobnjak.
The second best team consists of: Branislav Đukanović - Duško Vlaisavljević, Vojo Vukčević, Miodrag-Grof Božović, Zoran Vorotović - Branko Brnović, Janko Miročević, Igor Burzanović - Zoran Batrović, Mirko Radinović, Željko Janović.
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