Behind the south Maracana - Young pioneers to the trophy through Aston Villa and Juventus

In the competition of 16 teams, the red and white boys defeated the English Aston Villa in the quarter-finals with 2:0, and then in the semi-final match they triumphed against the giants from Italy - Juventus. In the direct fight for the trophy of the tournament in Međimurec, the younger pioneers of Zvezda celebrated with 5:6 after a penalty against Legia from Warsaw, while before that the match ended with a score of 0:0. In addition to the excellent approach and presentation of our club on the international stage, the young coach's team achieved an impressive goal difference of 13:1, and talented goalkeeper Danilo Koljčević won the title of the best goalkeeper of the tournament.

- Winning the tournament in Međimurec, more precisely in Croatia, gave us a big dose of positive self-confidence before the start of the championship. It is no small thing to win a competition against teams such as Dinamo Zagreb, Sparta Prague, Ferencvaros, Aston Villa, Juventus, as well as numerous other European giants. The style of play that we demonstrated is a roadmap for how we should perform in the domestic championship and we will stick to that plan - began Vučić.

Three rounds have passed in the League of Young Pioneers of Group A, while Red Star played two duels and defeated first Voždovac (2:0) and then Radnički (10:0), and the match against FK 011 was postponed.

- The preparatory period behind us passed according to the work plan and program, and we achieved everything we imagined during the previous months. We played a total of nine games, including the matches in the tournament, and we are very satisfied with the performance on the field. Also, several players arrived at our club in positions where we were in deficit. Ognjen Matanović from Čukarički, Mihajlo Radović from Atina Novi Sad, as well as Petar Mijušković from Gaučosi football school arrived. Each of the lads has brought a certain quality that they will no doubt show. The main goal during the season is to develop young players through training processes and prepare them for greater distances - concluded the coach of the younger pioneers of Crvena zvezda.

The Young Pioneers of our team will perform during the season: Maksim Živojinović, Nikša Papović, Andrej Arsenijević, Mateja Masev, Lazar Jevtić, Aleksa Rajić, Dušan Vasiljević, Ognjen Matanović, Lav Radojević, Mihajlo Radović, Vuk Jugović, Petar Mijušković, Aljoša Vajić, Uroš Đorđević, Strahinja Lazić and Filip Obradinović.

Professional staff: Vladimir Vučić (head coach), Marko Jovanović (assistant coach).