Saturday, November 18, 2017
Vujovic To Leave Persib But Will Remain Club Legend
Persib Bandung were trailing 1-0 against Arema in the Indonesia Super League semi final at the Jakabaring Stadium in Palembang. The only goal of the game had come in the first minute of the second half. Persib’s Montegran defender Vladimir Vujovic failed to anticpate the bounce of a ball lofted into the penalty area.
Arema’s Brazilian striker Alberto Goncalves took full advantage of the slip, driving the ball across the keeper I Made Wirawan and into the far post. The East Java side, ISL champions back in 2009/2010, had one foot in the final.
With seven minutes remaining, however, Vujovic redeemed for his earlier error. This time it was the Arema defence that failed to clear and the tall defender stooped to sweep the ball home from close range. The goal took the game to injury time and further goals from Atep and Konate Makan set Persib up for their first ever ISL final appearance.
As this paper goes to press, thousands of Persib supporters, known as Bobotoh (a Sundanese word meaning follower) are looking at how they can get to Palembang in time for Friday’s final against Persipura Jayapura. The city in South Sumatra will slowly but surely turn blue as the Persib hoardes take over the place in a bid to win the ISL for the first time in their history.
That the West Java are in the final at all is in no small part down to Vujovic. The goal against Arema was his sixth in 11 games; no mean feat for a striker let alone a player bought to the club for his height at the back.
And in the manner of great goalscorers the world over, when Vujovic scores it usually means something. It was his injury time penalty against Mitra Kukar in the play off round that earned Persib a 2-1 victory while his team were struggling to break down a resolute Persik Kediri towards the end of the season before Vujovic nroke the deadlock halfway through the second half. Persib went on to win that game 3-0.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. While Persib have looked to more traditional outlets for their goals this season, think Atep, Makan, Fedinand Sinaga, Djibril Coulibaly, it is the journeyman defender who has come up trumps at the business end of the campaign time and time again.
Yet Vujovic would be the first to admit he makes an unlikely hero. Persib are his 13th team in a 14 year career that also includes three spells with his hometown club Mogren Budva. He was played football for a living in Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, Hungary, Kazakhstan and Lebanon; a resume that would leave career diplomats gasping for breath, let alone a professional footballer!
It is unlikely though that Vujovic will have engraved his name so indelibly within a club’s psyche as he has at Persib. His goals during their run to the ISL final will have given him a special place in the hearts of Bobotoh everywhere and as his compatriot and one time Persib player himself Miljan Radovic can tell him, once a Bobotoh, always a Bobotoh.
NOTE - this was written ahead of Persib's game against Persipura when they were crowned Indonesia Super League champions in 2014. The defender has just announced he will be leaving the football club. The story also appeared in the Jakarta Globe at the time where for a few memorable hours it was the most read article.
# posted by Me @ 4:59 PM 
