Vidite, najlakše mi je bilo da igram fudbal, ali biti selektor je odgovornost koje se ne bojim See, the easiest thing for me was to play football, but being a manager is a responsibility that I don't fear
cesses and disappointments, but also expectations... “I decided that now is that moment when I should perhaps also “sacrifice” myself. Maybe I could have lived much better, worked somewhere abroad, you know how a coaching job can be beautiful, but I accepted this responsibility. At the same time, I feel great satis- faction and honour that I will represent my country.” We must ask you - can a good footballer also be a good coach? “See, the easiest thing for me was to play football. That‘s how it is. You have a responsibility to play, to run, which is also a pleasure. If you play well, score a goal, then great, and if you miss you quickly for- get, forgive. Some other match is coming, some oth- er opponent. Other people think of everything in- stead of you. All you have to do is play. Well, this is now something new. Being a manager is a responsi- bility that I don‘t fear, nor does it represent a problem for me. I‘ve always moved through my life with max- imum responsibility, towards football, the state, the army when I served in it, towards my family ... Here in Serbia expectations are high, eyes and lights are focused only on me, from the moment I wake up all the way until I go to sleep. Everything I do is meas- ured, what I will do or say. But that is motivation for
DRAGAN STOJKOVIĆ, FOOTBALL MANAGER We'll play for respect, trust and pride It was on his 56 th birthday that he received the opportunity to lead the Serbian national team – at the 2022 World Cup, for starters. He was masterful on the pitch, and there's no doubt that he'll do his best to get us to Qatar. He says that he doesn't like losing… D ragan Stojković, or Pixie, whichever you find easier and better. The fifth of Red Star‘s stars, a doctor of football and a Japanese tsar... He‘s now finally where he should have been long ago: in the po- sition of manager of Serbia‘s national football team. Here he tells Elevate about how he decided to take over the “Eagles” at a difficult juncture, about the cul- tures he‘s met and the friends he‘s brought to meet our country. He tells us about the beauty of football, suc-
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