MOJI SLAVNI PRIJATELJI Kada sam 1987. godine postao selektor Nemačke, nisam ni sanjao da ću tamo postati prijatelj sa velikanima njihovog sporta. Recimo, danas je moj prijatelj Franc Bekenbauer, čovek čiji rad i zalaganje izuzetno ce- nim, legenda njihovog i svetskog fudbala, sa kojim sam sarađivao to- kom rada u Košarkaškom klubu Bajern iz Minhena. Franc veoma vo- li košarku i bio je jedan od onih koji su mnogo doprineli tome da Bajern osvoji prvenstvo posle više decenija. Isto tako, moram da istaknem i prijateljstvo sa Matijasom Zamerom, koji je takođe radio u Bajernu, a sa kojim sam imao odličnu saradnju. Moram da pomenem tenisere Bo- risa Bekera i Štefi Graf, sa kojom sam imao priliku da se družim tokom treninga za vreme Olimpijade 1992. Naravno, među njima se nalaze i legende nemačke košarke poput Dirka Novickog i Detlefa Šrempfa, sa kojima se i dan-danas čujem i negujem prijateljstvo. MY FAMOUS FRIENDS When I became the coach of Germany in 1987, I never dreamt that while there I would become friends with greats of their sport. For example, one of my friends today – a man whose work and dedication I rate highly – is Franz Beckenbauer, a legend of German and world football, who I collab- orated with during my work at the Bayern Munich Basketball Club. Franz really likes basketball and was one of those who contributed greatly to Bayern winning the championship after many decades. Likewise, I must also note my friendship with Mathias Zamer, who also worked at Bayern and with whom I had excellent cooperation. Next I must mention tennis stars Boris Becker and Ste Graf, who I had the chance to hang out with during training for the 1992 Olympics. Of course, among them are also legends of German basketball, such as Dirk Nowitzki and Detlef Schrempf, with whom I still speak and nurture friendships.
gap of 54 years, and they became world champions by defeating Brazil 7-1 in the nal, so it could be said that I was some kind of talisman for them, which is whay the media wrote. Living and working in Germany, or more speci cally in Berlin, showed me that being an important and famous per- son doesn’t mean anything in some sit- uations. You see, I was the only foreign citizen during that time to be awarded the title of a honorary citizen of the City of Berlin in recognition of the success I achieved with Alba and the German na- tional team, which I led to gold at the Eu- ropean Basketball Championships of 1993. However, on one occasion I was rushing to training by car; there was major con- gestion and I committed a tra c viola- tion. The policeman recognised me and was very kind, and after my explanation that I was rushing to the hall for train- ing, he told me that there was no prob- lem, but that I would have to pay the ne. That only testi es to the orderliness of the country, the respect for laws and rules, which – alongside the preserving of na- ture and standards – are things that I re- ally respect among Germans.
go to with my family and friends include the Albasha International Restaurant, as well as some of the restaurants of the Ha- sir chain, which mainly serve oriental dish- es. As a great lover of co ee, in my spare time away from gyms and training, apart from walking around Grunewald, I liked, and still like, to drop by at the Einstein cafe, as well as Caras, and these are the places where – at least in my opinion – the best co ee in Berlin is served. Given that I’m a great lover of football – I support Red Star, Bayern Munich and Barcelona – I gladly hang out with foot- ballers, and one such get-together and support led to the creation of the now fa- mous T-shirt that was worn by all players of the German national team during their journey to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Speci cally, I was then the coach of the Bayern basketball club, and a large part of the national football team’s players came from for FC Bayern Munich. The idea came from Bastian Schweinsteiger and Thom- as Müller, who symbolised their support for the basketball club due to their ina- bility to support the team from the ter- races in the nal series of the champion- ship. That year we won the title after a
Ono što je posebno zanimljivo i stvarno je atrakcija jeste zgrada Bundestaga Something that’s particularly interesting and a real
ed across the street from my home. Today my daughter lives there with her family, so whenever I have a chance I use the op- portunity to visit my old neighbourhood and walk around that park, which is the largest oasis of greenery in the city cen- tre. The city itself is actually richly covered with greenery, and the best times to vis- it if you want to experience it in its most beautiful light are from May to Septem- ber, when it’s really beautiful. However, a special impression was left on me, and on everyone I’ve hosted there, by boat cruises along the River Spree, because that gives you an opportunity to tour almost every corner of Berlin. Multiculturalism is re ected at every step, so sometimes while walking around you get the feeling that the German lan- guage is spoken the least here. This as- pect is also evident in the culinary o er of the city, as it is rich with many restau- rants and cuisines of all the peoples who came here to secure their existence. Dur- ing my life, I’ve also had the opportunity to live and work in Rome, among other places, but I visited restaurants with bet- ter Italian cuisine in Berlin. My personal favourite restaurants and places I like to
attraction is the building of the Bundestag
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