"Angel who went through hell": Mihajlovic brother's emotional testimony about life, illness, fight until end

The raised collar was always in fashion because of him, and it will remain so forever for everyone who idolized him and who fell in love with football because of him, because of his free kicks, phenomenal goals and a character that is rarely seen. A year has gone since the passing of Sinisa Mihajlovic, and sports fans in Serbia are still pained by the thought that he is no longer with us.

One of the most beloved Serbian athletes left us on December 16, 2022 after a long battle with leukemia, during which he did not give up until the last moment, thus becoming a symbol of courage for the world.

In order to preserve the memory of such a great man, Telegraf created a series of articles in honor of Miha, where we talked to the people closest to to him.

They revealed to us new details about Miha's life that only the family and those nearest to it knew, what he was like in private, what he was like as a son, father, brother, husband, friend... And he was the best, that must be why it's so hard for everyone to accept the fact that he is here no longer.

Serbia repaid him by awarding him the highest state order, the Serb Republic as well, he was an honorary citizen of Novi Sad, Red Star (Crvena Zvezda) named a part of the stand in their stadium after him, but it is certain that football-loving Serbia can repay this legend much more.

We talked about this topic, but also about many others, in an interview with his brother Drazen, who opened up to Telegraf and told us everything about Sinisa's childhood, career, fateful events, how the two wars affected him, how his first cousin wanted to kill his parents while he was out playing the (Red Star European champions) final in Bari - the person who's father he had previously saved when he was imprisoned by Arkan's troops.

Drazen also spoke about the most difficult topic, his brother's fight against leukemia, from the moment he was diagnosed, while he was being treated and while he was battling the disease until the last days, the support he received from all corners, among which was Novak Djokovic, who visited him in the hospital in Bergamo, even at the cost of leaving his wife and children waiting on a plane.

The interview was conducted in the family home in Sremska Kamenica (Serbia), in a room that is a kind of a memorial dedicated to Miha (Mihajlovic's nickname) - where his jerseys, trophies, awards he received, iconic photos, his books, decorations, a pool table that he loved to play can all be seen.

Through the interview, the brother, Drazen Mihajlovic, took us through Miha's entire life, which was a struggle from childhood until its untimely end.

Childhood in Borovo, cutting off extra cleats on football boots

"The childhood was carefree and happy, until the moment we became aware of our parents' sacrifices and everything they did for us. I remember the moments, children, like any children, they are all the same, they grow fast, they have to change their shoes often, especially those who practice football, the football boots, they get torn, and the feet grow, so my father often exchanged his own shoes, which he received from the company he worked in, in our store in Borovo (Croatia). He traded his two pairs of shoes for one pair of his (Sinisa's) football boots.

I remember the first call up to the national team of then Yugoslavia, that youth national team, he (Sinisa) did not have proper football boots. His friend from the street had rugby boots, the kind used in American football, which have one extra cleat at the front. I know he gave it to him and luckily they wore the same size. He cut off that extra cleat so he could play for the national team. You can imagine what a difficult time that was. I also remember the moment when my mother would come home from the grocery store and bring chocolate. We'd split that chocolate in half, the bag of candies in half, literally everything was divided in half. It is probably our upbringing that contributed to him becoming a successful top athlete and a great man later. That is something one carries from home.

He was very unruly. He often liked to pick a fight. Also with guys older than himself. And as for the neighbors and all that, we had a neighbor across the street who worked the same as my mother, but he worked in shifts, he worked the night shift and when he's come home in the morning he'd go to bed, to rest. He (Sinisa) then comes home from school, as soon as he does, he takes the ball outside, he sets himself at some distance and keeps kicking, and it goes on for hours. That gate was metal and the ball kept bouncing and coming back to him. After that, he would go to a pitch, near the airport, where there were actual big goals, but there when he'd kick, every time he kicked the ball, each time he had to go get it back. So I often stood in goal, I have one memory, a crooked finger, broken, both my neighbor and I. Fortunately, it was only my little finger, while my neighbor's had his hand injured. He (Sinisa) had a strong shot since he was a child.

Due to blackmail to sign for Dinamo Zagreb, he did not play for youth team at World Cup

"I remember everything, they came from Rijeka, from Sarajevo, he was also in Dinamo, it was 1987. He went to Dinamo for a trial, they went to Salem in Germany, he was named the best player of the tournament. After that he returned to Dinamo, then head coach was Ciro Blazevic and told him, they brought someone that played in his position on the left. They told him that he was still young and that Dinamo could offer him a scholarship contract, he did not agree to that, he returned to Borovo, got a call from the coach of the national youth team, it was Mirko Jozic, he told him that if he did not sign for Dinamo he could not go to the championship in Chile, although he was standard in the starting 11, together with Mijatovic, Suker, Boban, Prosinecki, he was part of that youth team. He didn't agree to that blackmail either, he stayed in Borovo that year. I remember we watched that final, where we (Yugoslavia) won and where his teammates became world champions, celebrating and rejoicing, while he was crying.

War in former Yugoslavia and children with guns in Vukovar that stayed in his mind

"He left in 1988, everything was still fine, he went to Vojvodina (a club in Novi Sad, northern Serbia). The war began in May 1991. It looked terrible, he was with his friend somewhere, I think he was in Spain on vacation and from there he called his parents to see what they were doing since he heard on the news that there had been serious shootings in Borovo. During the phone conversation, gunshots were heard outside, he asked what was happening, the mother said, it's nothing, it's something on TV. She didn't want to worry him, however, when he came back he saw that it wasn't quite like that and after that, all kinds of things happened.

He was in Borovo immediately after the liberation of Vukovar, members of the Guard took him to his house and he immediately went back, saying, 'I will never return here again'. Why? Because it was no longer the town he knew. It took him a long time to come back again, we were persuading him to come back for a long time and I told him many times, it's not what it used to be anymore, so Vukovar is now a city like it used to be, everything has been built up, everything has been repaired, you'll see when you come, it's just not what you saw (during the war). And he saw, I think he also described it in his book - children, 10-11-year-old boys carrying rifles, playing war with real weapons. It's an image that remained in his head for a long time. It never got erased from his memory.

"I think it was around 2016 or 2017. Miroslav Tanjga, he and I went together from the airport directly to Borovo. The first thing he visited was the stadium, where he started, then we went to the elementary school and finally to the family home. I remember when he entered the rooms, that is, the rooms where we grew up, he had a 'flashback', he was back in the past, in his childhood. Everything was going through his head, where he played, what he played with. So, it was very emotional.

After becoming refugees, whole family and relatives came in his apartment, while he went to a hotel

"At that time, I was in (Sremska) Kamenica attending school. I know that they called me and said that I had to go to Spens (in Novi Sad), that some family was waiting for me there. When I went, it was terrible. Like the scenes we can now watch (in war-torn areas around the world). Thousands of people who came with only a bag, with one bag. So, they left everything behind where they used to live. Among all those people was our family from our mother's side, who during the war, for the three or four months it lasted, hid in basements, in various shelters, and came here to Novi Sad (Serbia) to find salvation.

"They knew I was here, they looked for me, I went and called my mother and father in Belgrade, since they were there in his (Sinisa's) apartment, to ask what to do. They didn't say anything except take them to the station, send them by bus to Belgrade. So, our family house was full, uncles and aunts, there were many, many people. It was after Bari (the final), after winning the (European) title, everything was happening before Tokyo (where Red Star became club world champions), it was sometime in November, he needed some peace of his own, to prepare for both training and matches, which of course he couldn't have there. He was hearing all kinds of stories, he had to hide, he checked into a hotel, until they all went their separate ways."

How did he fall in love with Red Star?

"The love of Red Star started in his boyhood days. I remember, it was not like now, where you can find a jersey on every corner and buy jerseys of various football players and stars. That wasn't like that, I don't know how he got it, whether the father found it somewhere and bought it for him. I know that he was always in a Red Star jersey, the tracksuit was such that there were those patches on the knees, the sneakers and the ball in his hand all the time. He was always outside, he was always on some field and playing football. That was the only thing that attracted him in that period.

At the time, I was studying in Zagreb (Croatia), I was nowhere near that. I came back in 1990, I moved from Zagreb to Sremska Kamenica (Serbia). I was there with him for about 2-3 months while he was still playing for Vojvodina, since in 1990, sometime in December, he signed for Red Star and after that he went to Belgrade and we separated again. As for Red Star and the games, my first game (to watch) was against Bayern. I was a kid then, I was 16-17 years old. That was my first big game. I'd never seen so many people in a stadium in my life. He was destined to be the key man. He scored one goal, the second was to his credit. That is what remains deep in my memory from that period.

First cousin planned to kill Sinisa's parents, while Sinisa was playing the final in Bari

"No, I wasn't at the game in Bari. As I said, I was there in Kamenica attending school, I just couldn't go out of the country, but I followed the game on TV. Later, regarding that match in Bari, I have to make a small digression, we heard about that later, when our family gathered at his apartment in Belgrade. I don't know if he's ever told it or not. My uncle's son, my mother's nephew (Sinisa's mother is an ethnic Croat, his father was an ethnic Serb), the day of the match in Bari (that Sinisa played for the European title), he (the first cousin) was walking in front of our house in Borovo. It was May 29, and on the second day of May it (the war) had started in Borovo, this is 20 days after the first clashes, there was constant shooting.

At halftime, the neighbor across the street came out and saw someone walking behind the house. Since the street lights were turned off, he recognized from the silhouette that it was our cousin, and asked him what he was doing there. And he replied 'no problem, neighbor, I'm looking after my aunt and uncle'. His own brother was in our house, watching the game with mom and dad, probably because he heard some story about what was supposed to happen. The story is that he (the cousin) was supposed to throw a hand grenade into the yard of our house, but he didn't do it because his own brother was there, too, and his own brother probably heard the same story, and in order to protect his aunt and uncle, he came and watched the game along with them, although he was not a Red Star fan, but he came just to be there. We learned all that later, when that family gathered in Sinisa's apartment in Belgrade."

Sinisa rescued that same counsin's father when Arkan's troops captured him

"That hit Sinisa hard, especially since this was a person whose father he had helped before. He saved the life of the father of that cousin of ours who was about to throw a bomb. That's the story, when Zeljko (Raznatovic, aka "Arkan") captured our uncle and a couple of other people. He was held in Erdut in their camp, they interrogated him I think for two days, they kept him in a basement, that's what he said, the basement was full of water, it was November, cold... until they found a small notebook where he wrote down phone numbers, ours was under S - Sinisa, and the Belgrade phone number, I know that the one who interrogated him asked him, 'who is this Croat in Belgrade, what is he doing in Belgrade?' So he said, it's my sister's son' - 'So, what is he doing in Belgrade' - he plays football, where does he play, the uncle responded, Red Star... And he says, in that moment it was as if someone turned on the light in them (the soldiers), they stopped the questioning, they immediately called Zeljko, told him what was happening.

Zeljko dialed that phone number, and our mother answered, he introduced himself, said he was Zeljko, he was looking for Sinisa, and Sinisa was in training, he wasn't at home, and said, 'Tell him when he gets back, as soon as he arrives, to call me back immediately'. And when he came home our mother told him, a certain Zeljko called you, told you to call him back right away, he left some phone number, Sinisa said, I don't know any Zeljko, I only know Arkan as Zeljko - well then, she said, call him. And he called him, it really was Arkan, he asked him, 'Do you have an uncle', Sinisa replied, 'I have three uncles, I don't know who you mean'. He told him the name, Sinisa said, "yes, that's my uncle'. He (Arkan) told him, 'he is here with us, what should we do with him, do you want (us to do) this, or should we take him home?'

"That's my mother's brother, bring him here to Belgrade." And they dressed him nicely and brought him to Belgrade, I know that mom and dad went to pick him up at a pastry shop across the street from the stadium. And when they went inside, there weren't a lot of people there, they didn't even recognize him, since he was blue all over. They brought him to Sinisa's apartment, and I know that some doctor from the Military Medical Academy was coming for seven days, that they bathed him in alcohol, to get that blue out of him. Well, that's the story, where on the one hand someone wants to kill your mother and father, and on the other hand, you save someone's life.

Strange meeting in Zagreb with that cousin before Maksimir match in 1999

"I was lucky enough to travel with them to Zagreb for that famous match (Serbia) against Croatia in 1999. I remember that same first cousin of ours wanted to come and see us. And Sinisa said no problem, let him come. He came and passed by us and left, he sat down at another end of the hotel, so then another cousin of ours, who was there with us, went over and asked him, who does that, you ask to come, then you pass them by and don't say hello. (He said) something like, 'I couldn't say hi because I saw some people there' - since he had in the meantime become some sort of general in their (Croatian) army.

He wanted to see them, but alone. The only way to do that was in a room. Sinisa said, 'no problem, I'm going to the room, let him come'. I know that he was in that room with Dejan 'Deki' Stankovic (another legendary Serbian footballer). I went upstairs with him to the room, and Deki, who was still a kid at the time, there were a fork and a knife left in the room from some meal. He said, 'I'm going to take this fork and knife, keep it back here, if he (the cousin) starts something, I'll stab him'.

That's that, as far as that is concerned, Bari, and the match and what you asked about the relatives of the family who were with him in the apartment.

We grew up together in the same street (with the cousin), our house was far maybe a hundred meters away. We spent our entire childhoods together. It was a very chilly conversation. There was no apology, there was nothing. I don't know to this day why he came and when he did, why it was like that. But, oh well. I may have seen him briefly once again. During my uncle's funeral, his father's - my mother and I went to the funeral and I saw him for a short time, but we never talked about it again.

Farewell game in Novi Sad, kebabs, burgers and sarma for Ibrahimovic

"I was present and involved in organizing it all, it took a long time, it was very tiring and very difficult to fit in everything, to bring all the players from Inter to Novi Sad, which (the stadium) didn't even have floodlights at the time. The mayor of Novi Sad at the time, Maja Gojkovic, helped us a lot. Sinisa brought his friends here because there was often talk in the dressing room, there were always, so to speak, these football players from our region, where they talked about our parties, Belgrade and everything, so he brought his friends on a couple of occasions. I think it was Adriano and Vieri then, they were eating pljeskavice (a Serbian version of burgers).

(Zlatan) Ibrahimovic, he was in the game announcement, maybe 20 days before the game in Novi Sad. I know that the plane landed a little later, they had to go back quickly because of the training, so as not to be late for the training, and they got a day off before noon and the training was moved to the afternoon. I know that Zlatan asked for kebabs and pljeskavice to eat and then we sent a friend who went and brought him kebabs and pljeskavice. He was looking for sarma (Serbian dish with rice and sour cabbage), beans, goulash. Because he is a Balkan boy. Yes, he did grow up in Sweden, but he has our roots and craved our food. They packed it for him after the conference and he took it to Milan. I know he didn't do the training session that day when he came back, he was complaining about an injured muscle, but he'd overeaten. He just couldn't train, because he'd wanted to taste everything that day."

Also famous are photos taken with stars of Inter in Belgrade and Novi Sad

"Sinisa was a bohemian, he liked to go out with friends, to have a good time. It was his outlet after hard training, matches, the stress... He loved (Serbian folk singers) Marinko Rokvic, he loved Ljuba Alicic, and their songs... Dzej, when he was sad then it was Dzej's (songs) since Dzej had sad ballads, those are some songs he liked to listen to in taverns."

Sinisa's farewell in Italy was honor that only prime ministers and presidents receive

"He was appreciated and respected in Italy. I was aware of that, but I was not aware that he was so appreciated and respected until the moment, unfortunately, when it all happened (his death) and then I saw it. We were taken there by a driver from the ambassador of the Republic of Serbia to the Vatican, an older gentleman who was in Italy for 30 or so years, literally a man about to retire. I know that it was the day of the funeral, a hearse carrying Sinisa's body came in front of the house, such are their customs there, and we went around the whole circle. From home we went to Olimpico, stayed there for a while, then headed to the basilica."

The funeral of Sinisa Mihajlovic

"That road from the apartment to the basilica, to the stadium, that's something I've only seen in some movies. The route we were on was empty of vehicles. Everything was literally blocked, every street, every intersection was blocked by the police, and the people who were there and who were waiting patiently for the roads to open, went out, stood next to their cars in the street, stood by the road and applauded. At one point, that gentleman (the driver) turned to my mother and me and said, 'you can be proud of your son and brother. What I'm seeing now, I haven't seen in the 30 or so years I've been here'. He said, that an athlete, a foreigner, after all, he was still a foreigner in Italy, regardless of everything, to be seen off like this. He said that they only show their presidents and prime ministers this respect, but that he never saw a farewell like this for an athlete during all those years.

Arianna was with Sinisa every minute of his suffering

"What love is, is best described by the fact that this woman spent every minute he was in the hospital and every minute of his suffering by his side. She was by his side, supporting him from the beginning to the end. I have already pointed it out once, and I will say it now, a huge thank you to that woman. There are very few wives who would stand by someone in such a way."

Shock after learning that Sinisa had leukemia

"In 2019, I and my family were his guests in Sardinia for two weeks. We were together, we spent those two beautiful weeks of vacation. And at some point, on the 12th day of our vacation, a day or two before he was go to start season preparations with Bologna... He's spend all those days, one day running, another paddlling. That was his routine and that morning we agreed to go by boat. We agreed to be ready to go at 9 o'clock. We got up a little earlier, we were sitting on the terrace and I heard someone walking and I heard them dragging their foot. I looked and saw him, walking and dragging his foot. I went, what's up with you? 'I don't know what's wrong with me, my back hurts, my adductor longus muscle hurts. It's strange that it should hurt 12 hours after activity. If it hurts, it either hurts immediately, or it doesn't. At least I know that from experience. Either it hurts right away or it doesn't. I don't know what's wrong with me. My back and leg never hurt like this'. He called the doctor, the doctor told him, 'of course you are getting to Bologna in two days, take something to relieve the pain, and when you come here we will go for a full examination to see what is wrong'.

He went to Bologna for the preparations, got some injections. I know he ran, he would run ten kilometers. He was really in shape, such that he could play for his team, not merely train them. On the way back, we returned to Bologna, we saw him, we had dinner. The next day we were in the training camp and then left for Novi Sad (in Serbia). He didn't say anything at the time, only that they were doing blood tests, he was waiting for the lab results and so on. That supposedly everything will be all right, that there is some kind of inflammation involved. We arrived in Novi Sad, let him know.

In the morning, I remember it well, it was somewhere around 8:15, I was sitting on the terrace. It was July, the phone rings. I see it's Sinisa who's calling, he never calls so early. And when I answered, the question was, 'Where are you'? He just asked, where are you. Immediately from the tone of his voice, we've known each other for 50 years, there's no doing anything about it... you can't hide anything. I could tell by the tone of his voice when he was in a good mood and when he wasn't. I said, I'm here, in my apartment, where would I be. He says, 'I have a problem'. I immediately thought of the children, since I know that the children stayed behind (on vacation). They are young, they drive, go out. I suspected something had happened to them. He himself wasn't on my mind at all, that something was happening to him. That anything could happen to him. And when he said, 'I have leukemia' - I was looking through the fence of the terrace as if I was in an elevator. It was as if I was landing on the ground floor. In other words, shock. I don't know how long it took at all. Neither he nor I spoke. Then after some time he said, 'Well it will be all right'. I mean, after that we continued the conversation, he explained, he comforted me more than I comforted him. I really was stunned. No words could come out of me.

But, after that shock, there was another. How do you tell your mother? What do you say to the mother? An elderly woman. Who will tell her, him or me? And I say, alright, I will, you call later. I went (to her) after some time, after I put myself together first. I went to her. I couldn't find a way to tell her. It couldn't come out of me, but I knew I had to tell her. I don't even know how I even started the conversation, went into all that. It was really, really, really hard. It's very hard to bear all that, that truth. It was the hardest for our mother and me, but worst for him. And for his children, his wife, everyone. Everyone."

Diagnosis revealed worst type of leukemia, Sinisa never gave up the fight, even though disease returned three times

"Unfortunately, after that, let's say, that terrible diagnosis, came an even more terrible one. When they determined what kind of leukemia it was, since there are several types, sub-types, he had the misfortune of having the worst one, where the survival rate is really very low.

He was a fighter his whole life, he never gave up. He got as far as he did thanks to himself, he didn't have anyone's help behind him. Everything he did, he did alone. And through that sport, through football, he learned that he simply had to fight. He must fight, the game is never lost. As long as there is a one percent chance, you have to fight. So he accepted it and started his battle. Fortunately, he had the support of the club. And the fact that he was working from the hospital bed, conducting training sessions, matches, somehow kept him going and diverted his thoughts a little to something else.

Recently, in Rome, the foundation for voluntary bone marrow donors was named after him, it bears his name. And I would like to use this opportunity to appeal to all our citizens here in Serbia, who can, those who are truly healthy, to become a bone marrow donor, it's really nothing terrible, it's not some kind of surgery or I don't know what kind of (scary) thing. It's very important, because we can help, not only help, but save someone's life by donating bone marrow. That's one thing, another thing is that we as a country, if we don't have enough donors, we can't enter that world organization. I'm saying all this because of what I learned during his battle, through conversations with doctors in Italy, it's simply the reason why Serbia is still not where it should be - that our people treated for leukemia could also request help from that international structure where the whole world is included and where some compatibility with them, a match would be much faster and easier."

Novak left his wife and kids on plane to visit Sinisa in Bergamo, and took medicines to hospital room

"I remember when Nole (Novak Djokovic) was there, thanks to a mutual friend, Ljubica Komnenic. She's a master chef, she's the boss of all these Michelin chefs who rate restaurants. She knows Nole well and thanks to her, Nole arrived there at the hospital, a surprise for Sinisa. I knew, I was there that day. I met him (Djokovic) then, I'd just come back. Sinisa was discharged from the hospital in Bergamo and I went down to the pharmacy to get those medicines that he needed while he was at home. I went back upstairs and met Novak in the hall, in the room in front of that part, the one that was sterile. We met there and I asked him to take the medicines to his room as well, since I could not be in the room, many had already been there, these rooms are sterile so that one person (at a time), maybe none, can be next to that who is being treated from such a diseases. And Nole, I think he was traveling to Spain and he landed in Bergamo on the way to Spain, he left his family, his wife and children waiting on the plane while he went to visit Sinisa in the hospital. That's another thing that really speaks to Novak's greatness as a man. I wouldn't say they were some kind of friends, they knew each other from the world of sports, they spoke several times, they saw each other several times in Rome as Nole would play the Masters, they sent messages to each other, support, and everything. So much about Nole."

Vucic called him in hospital 5-6 times, Sinisa wouldn't answer number he didn't recognize - until he saw a message

"As for the others, I can say this, it is also written in this book, I hope that this book will see the light of day here in Serbia. It is a book that was written in Italy, and that day I was with Sinisa, in the room with him, when his phone rang five or six times, a Belgrade number, an unknown number, he normally does not answer unknown numbers, especially then in that situation he was in. My wife and I were in the room, she asked him why he wasn't answering his phone, he said, 'What should I do, probably some annoying journalist is calling, I can barely talk to you let alone to them'.

He was really in a tough moment and then a message arrives from that same number, I think it said something like, 'Sinisa, I just want to say hello, it's Aleksandar Vucic, I want to convey to you messages of encouragement from me and all of Serbia, when you can, call back'. When he read the message, he was simply stunned. He was surprised and took the phone and called the (Serbian) president, he talked to him and I know that the president promised him as soon as he felt well, when he came to Serbia, that he would be his guest, share a brandy, since he heard that he had good brandy. They were going to share a brandy, but unfortunately, it never happened.

How Sinisa 'crossed out' all politicians after NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999 and how Slobodan Milosevic apologized to him

"And what I said about politics, that is the period of 1999 and 2000 when there was the (NATO) bombing (of Serbia), then he 'crossed out' all the politicians. You know that there in Italy he advocated for peace and went to (then Italian PM Massimo) D'Alema and begged for help, to stop doing what was being done, but they told him, 'Sorry but it's not up to us, if it was up to us, it wouldn't have happened if it was up to us, but we have to act as America says, so we have to act'. He (D'Alema) said, we are very sorry, for your people and for everything, but we cannot do anything about it. So that, when it was all over, Sinisa as well as (Predrag) Mijatovic and all the other athletes who at that time tried in every possible way to draw the public's attention (abroad) to what was happening to our country, then President Milosevic decided to award them diplomatic passports, because truly athletes then, and now, today, they are our best ambassadors, people who represents our country in the best and most beautiful way around the world.

Minister of Sports at the time was Velizar Djeric, and the agreement was that Sinisa would go to a school to visit some children and sign and fill out those forms regarding that diplomatic passport. But what happened? I mean, that Velizar Djeric, among all those papers, among all those forms, slipped in an application form to join the SPS (ruling party). Of course, Sinisa didn't look at it, he just signed what he gave him, he didn't look, I mean, you trust him, after all, he is a minister - a minister, he should be someone who is serious, right? So the next day, it was, I think, some game, I know that it was played at the Partizan stadium and that his bag, his phone was with me and he had received about a dozen calls from an Italian number. And when the game ended, he picked up the phone and saw that someone called ten times, it was from the ANSA news agency. And that some journalist had said, is it true that you joined the SPS -  they considered Slobodan Milosevic there then, and afterwards as some kind of... He said no, where did you get that from, the journalist said we have information, we have pictures, we have everything and then it was also broadcast during our Dnevnik (the main Serbian state TV news program) at half past 8."

"And I know that the doctor of the national team at that time was from Nis, I think he was a relative of General (Nebojsa) Pavkovic. Sinisa asked him for help to see how to solve this, I mean what was this, who does that, nobody asked him ahead of time (to join the party), then he got in touch with the general, the general got in touch with the president and in the end it turned out what I said a little while ago that the guy (the minister) had slipped it in among all those papers. And I remember that the president (Milosevic) then ordered him to call each one of us individually, first the father, then the mother, then me, I mean first Sinisa, to apologize and then to apologize publicly for what he did.

That's as far as he and politics go. He also had a lot of support from Italian politicians, there was a problem when he was in Bologna, the city granted him, just like here in Novi Sad, he was also an honorary citizen of Bologna. But a very, very good friend of his, a politician, he has his own party and somewhere he supported him publicly through some address. However, there in Bologna they are against that party and they simply did not want to, for more than a year, they did not want to grant him that recognition because of that. In the end they agreed and he eventually became an honorary citizen of Bologna.

His closest friends were by his side whenever they could see him as soon as he left hospital

"Dejan (Stankovic) was there with him, everyone was with him. Dejan, and Miroslav (Tanjga), and Roberto, literally all his friends were there. They could support him from a distance. They couldn't be next to him. Whenever he came out of the hospital, they used that opportunity to be with him and by his side. He truly had great support from both his friends and the public.

He was the one who actually cheered us on, lifted us up, instead of it being the other way round, he was the one who lifted us up, who gave us hope that everything would be as it should be and it really was at one point, a year or two into it, everything was fine, and it started slowly to - not be forgotten, that cannot be forgotten - but there was the faith that it was going towards that path of final healing. And then, it happened in March 2022, where again during a checkup it was established that the disease had returned and that everything had to be done from scratch. Anyone who has gone through all that once knows that is very scary. It's very horrible to go through all that. He agreed to everything, because he was a fighter, he had to, he fights, he wants to live and he started again from the beginning a new battle, where he was also convinced that he would succeed, although the chances were very low, but he was a person that would never give up. Never, not even at that point."

Red Star vs Vojvodina game, and Red Star supporters' art featuring his image

"I was so surprised when I saw that fan display ("choreography"). I've never seen anything like it, to be honest. Not because it's Sinisa, but simply to make something like that is really an art form and they really did that, when you look at it from the western stands, they hit the character and they hit everything, really. It was very emotional, especially since his two sons, Dusan and Nicholas, were present at that game, along with my family, and I really owe a big thank you to the management of Red Star and Vojvodina clubs, for even thinking of doing something like that, and especially to the fans for doing a wonderful thing.

Thanks to the club (Red Star) for naming a part of the stands after him. However, he is someone who was not in Red Star for long, but he left a deep mark, along with all his teammates of that famous generation, a deep and indelible mark, a mark that is much deeper than all those Red Star stars who were there. So, thank you once again to the club and the management of the club for deciding and coming up with the idea to do that, to show him respect for everything he did for the club."

"While we are talking about him, Sinisa is with us"

"Every day is difficult, but he is there, we do not accept that he is not there, while we mention him, while we talk about him, while some things happen, he is present with us and will be like that as long as we are alive, me and my children and their children."

Hall of Fame for Serbian athletes?

I don't know if there is an initiative, but it would be very nice. Not to make a museum dedicated to him, we are a sporting nation overall, when I look, wherever I went abroad, I saw that they have 'halls of fame', I don't think anyone has yet thought of making a sports museum or a Hall of Fame (in Serbia) where all our deserving athletes, not only football players, there are basketballers, volleyball, water polo, tennis players, Nole, there's athletics, martial arts, so we are truly a sporting nation and I'm sorry that someone hasn't come up with the idea to do it yet, but it could be done, of course."

National Stadium or House of Football named after Sinisa Mihajlovic

"I don't know if there is that idea, something has been mentioned. When that happened to him, a story was launched and in the end that story remained just a story, no one took any initiative. As far as I'm concerned, it would be a great honor for us to have such an edifice bear his name. Someone should kick off that initiative and let's see how far it will go. Or the stadium, that national or sports center in Stara Pazova, which also does not bear anyone's name, and we know that in the world many stadiums and some facilities bear the names of some great, important athletes.

Here we have SC Vojvodina in Novi Sad named after Vujadin Boskov, in Uzice a stadium is named after Radomir Antic, the stadium in Ub is named after Dragan Dzajic, Marakana (Red Star stadium) is no longer Marakana but Rajko Mitic Stadium. It's not up to me, it would be an extremely great honor, not only for me, but for our whole family, as far as I gather, construction of that (national) stadium should start soon so there's a reason to talk about it."

Unfulfilled desire to be coach of Red Star or SS Lazio

"That is another one of his wishes that was not fulfilled, to be the coach of Red Star and to be the coach of Lazio. To be the national team head coach, that he accomplished, even though he took over the national team let's say,with his heart, he didn't go with his head then, it's not like today when people go with their head and not with their heart. He took over the national team at the worst moment and he enabled for a change of generations, he created back then in 2012 the foundation of a national team that went to the World Cup in Russia, the one that went to Qatar and the European Championship in Germany."

One word to describe him

"Now I can describe him as an angel. An angel, a man with a good soul and a big heart..."

(Telegraf.rs)