Tragic day for Red Star: The man who took the club to the roof of the world passes away

Sad news from Red Star (Crvena Zvezda) - Vladica Popovic, a legendary footballer, coach and official of this club, has passed away.

The legendary Vladimir Vladica Popovic was born in 1935 and spent his entire life in red-and-white.

He started in the youth categories of the club, winning four titles and three cups as a player, and was capped for the first national team of Yugoslavia 20 times.

Since 1970, he dedicated himself to coaching, working in Venezuela and Colombia, while his greatest success came in winning the world club title in 1991 with Red Star against Colo-Colo.

He was a Red Star player from March 1950 until 1965, was part of the famous matches against Manchester United and the "Busby Babes," won the Danube Cup, after which he continued his career in Stuttgarter Kickers and Deportivo Canarias in Venezuela.

Even after leaving Red Star, those were exotic appointments - he led Peru from 1992 to 1993, then Colombian Millionarios and Caracas from Venezuela.

Upon his return to Serbia, he was always with Red Star, both as an official and as a fan. Many fans remember how he would go to many matches in Belgrade on foot, or by taking a tram in his old age, following the club wherever it played.

(Telegraf.rs)