ours in every match, and fans still recount that Vidić would put his head where nobody else dare place their foot, and when such a footballing legend prais- es the signing of Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho, you must agree with him. - I’m glad United brought him into its ranks. Pri- marily because he is a fantastic player and an excep- tional person, but also because he’s from Serbia and is called Nemanja. Those are very good character- istics, excellent quality! I heard that they sang him the song that they made up for me. I adore it; it is very special to me and I hope Nemanja will compel them to sing it for a long time. It’s great when you get such recognition – says Vidić, 35. They also have one more thing in common – hu- mane characteristics. The humane qualities of these guys are best described by their deeds. Although the Serbianationalteamplayerbecamethemostexpen- sive Serbian player ever when he transferred from Chelsea to United for €45 million this summer, he hasn’t forgotten his home village of Vrelo near Ub. He continued paying his dues to friends and rela- tives, and also became the benefactor of a 19 th -cen- tury church. By paying for the complete reconstruc- tion of its 41-metre-tall tower, renovating the façade of this house of worship and decorating its altar, he wanted his village to have something like London’s Elizabeth Tower, aka Big Ben, which he has achieved. Vidić’s humane side, both on and off the pitch, has never been lacking. And the size of the heart of this former footballer is clearly demonstrated by his as- sistance to the father of his late teammate and friend Vladimir Dimitrijević, whom he helped to resolve ba- sic existential problems after the death of his son. And we didn’t find out about these noble gestures from them – they are too modest to talk about that. From Vidić we heard about his impressions of first meeting the young Matić, who he, at the time, could not have known would follow in his footsteps... - I remember when Nemanja arrived at a na- tional team gathering for the first time. We played
Nemanja left an indelible mark at United. Just imagine how hard it is to be a foreigner and the captain of a team like the one at this famous English club! I will do my best to repeat the success that Vidić had, and I know that will be very tough
Nemanja Vidić
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