Rain washed the city of Belgrade on that June 21st, when Crvena zvezda won the 22nd Champion’s star. In spite of the weather, it was very nice at Marakana, and Delije fans celebrated in a spectacular way (as only they know how) yet another success of our most victorious club. The path towards the title began with the very first round of the Championship, and Crvena zvezda lost the lead for only a few rounds, when they were pushed to the second position towards the half of the Championship. The Champion’s Crown was secured in the round before last, with a victory away, in Železnik, as the main rival, Partizan came to a draw against Hajduk in Kula.
In the last 34th round, Crvena zvezda hosted Milicionar, and as many as 25.000 red and white fans came to greet the Champion. Delije fans from Benkovac, Knin, Kotor, Aranđelovac, Zemun, Konjarnik, Zvezdara, and so on came to our biggest stadium. Crvena zvezda’s victory was crushing 4:1, and the scorer of the fourth goal, Saša Zorić, kept his promise and after performing a successful penalty kick, 80 minutes into the game, he poured a bucket full of water all over himself, which was just an opening for the big celebration that started as soon as the referee Dušan Mrakić indicated the end of the game. In the end, Crvena zvezda had 88 points, two more than Partizan, while the other clubs were lagging behind a lot.
-Anyone who was born has to go away eventually. There is only one thing that was born and will never go away – Crvena zvezda – stated the Crvena zvezda general manager Vladimir Cvetković.
Siniša Đorđević, a fan from Karavukovo, rode his bicycle for 170 km to see the unforgettable fireworks in the North of Marakana and celebrate the title.
- Only Crvena zvezda can do this. I would’ve walked to see this spectacle! – stated Đorđević.
Crvena zvezda managed to defend the title under the leadership of coach Slavoljub Muslin, and the players who played most games (33 each) were Goran Bunjčević and the goalkeeper Aleksandar Kocić. The best striker was Mihajlo Pjanović (23 goals), who stated:
- We deserve this title, but our fans deserve it as well. They have supported us throughout the season, and stood by us during ups and downs. But all together, we gave our best when it mattered most.
Roster:
Milenko Aćimović 28-14, Srđan Bajčetić 13-2, Branko Bošković 32-9, Goran Bunjevčević 33, Milivoje Vitakić 20, Ivan Vukomanović 13, Blaže Georgioski 2, Stevo Glogovac 24-3, Ivan Gvozdenović 31-3, Goran Drulić 23-16, Petar Đenić 3, Saša Zorić 22-1, Dejan Ilić 26-2, Branko Jelić 14-6, Aleksandar Kocić 33-19 received goals, Nenad Lalatović 24-4, Leo Lerinc 28-4, Jovan Markoski 5, Marjan Marković 29-1, Vladimir Matijašević 9, Vladislav Mirković 9-3, Dejan Pešić 1-1, Mihajlo Pjanović 29-23, Dragan Stevanović 10-2.
Coach:
Slavoljub Muslin