I was angry with Katanca but I played for Slovenia, not for him

Fans of one of the most traditional German Cologne football clubs are guests of Del’s football podcast VAR Misha Brečko At his reputation, they were classified as legends. In the Rhineland and in the jersey of « goats », the current national team selector under 19, and also an indispensable member of « African », spent seven seasons, and has been captain for the last three years. “He may not have been a great talent, but he was an exceptional professional. Club legend! ”They wrote on social networks. Germany was his first home for the 40-year-old Trbovlje residence in Ljubljana for 15 years, and the strongest « Bundesligs », and the first and second, his favorite « sandbox ».

« Fussball », Cologne, before Hamburg, at the end of Nuremberg, three traditional football environments with rich and famous history, in between smaller Rostock (Hansa) and AUE (Erzgerbirge) are woven into Brečko’s 15-year-old home in Germany, where he wrote down as a Slovenian in the most powerful league. More than Braneta Cloud, Danilo Popuits, Milivoj Novakovic, Alexander Knavs, Zlatko Dedic… more, 170 appearances in the German Second League.

From Hamburg to Cologne because he wanted to play

He spent the most years at Cologne. « Both children, son and daughter were born there, I made friends outside the football circles, the environment was wonderful, open, it was accepting diversity, I still like to come back, » he gladly returned to the most beautiful part of his career, which had a very unusual path. He went to Germany from the then Slovenian first -teamer Šmartno ob Paki.

“It was very fast. There were not many clubs in Slovenia at the time, for which 18, 19 -year -old boys would play. Smartno, otherwise a stable first -team, had a very good team. I was also a national team. I was ‘discovered’ by the Germans, and in November I had already passed a trial in Hamburg. We concluded a contract, but by the end of the season I stayed in Slovenia. The deal with Hamburg was such that I would train with the team, played for the B team. But then everything turned, I was in the A team all the time, I trained, and played a little more. But I got opportunities. He was a coach at the time Klaus Toppmöllerwho had taken Bayer Leverkusen to the Champions League final two years earlier. The B team was led by a former German national team Thomas Doll”He opened a German chapter.

A very tumultuous period in Hamburg, with Bayern and Borussii Dortmund third German winners in the strongest club competition, which is one of the richest in Germany, also marked the replacements of coaches. “It is interesting how he lost the Toppmöller chair, we lost the cup match against Paderborn, then the third team. It was only later that it revealed that the match was adapted. The Chief Justice was Robert Hoyzerthe main actor of the high -profile betting affair. There was no one among the players to participate in the installation, but I remember that the judge donated a penalty to the competitors and another goal. Toppmöller resigned. Then came Doll, who thought I did not play for the B team on purpose. Under his tactics, Hamburg played in the Champions League. At the end of the chapter at Hamburg, I was led by the famous Dutchman Huub Stevens« He described in more detail his » journey « in the VAR podcast, in which he also explained in detail the event that made the cover of the yellow press. When his car ride ended on the tram tracks.

The transfer to Cologne and the implementation of the new team were also very exciting.

“Stevens and I had a conversation, I insisted on playing. He sincerely told me that he could not guarantee this, but he can help me and recommend me to Cologne where he was already waiting for me Milivoje Novakovic. But even there, everything was easy. The coach was Christoph daum. I got the opportunity due to a player injury in my left lateral position. By profile, I was right lateral defender, occasionally left. Right he played Turek Ümit Özat. He suffered a heart attack. A really unhappy part that made me a standard player at Daum. He was a special man, very smart. When I came, he asked me, ‘What would you like to play well, or to play a good team?’ I answered him in style that it would be best for both. But he replied that it was best to play well. If everyone is playing, then the team will play well too. « 

Also, the famous Bayern Frenchman Frank Ribery felt the stubborn and unyieldingness of Bridal Misha Brečko. Photo: Günter Schiffmann/AFP

Euro was lost in Switzerland rather than against Ukraine

Zasavec, who made his first football steps at Rudar, shone at the national team in the first selection term Matjaz Kek. The mundial in South Africa was a highlight, but he concluded the national team in his 77. A match in additional qualifications for the European Championships in France in 2016 against Ukraine in Maribor. This chapter also has a premium that clearly reveals how complex human relationships and relationships in the team are. Even between the selector and the player.

Brečko finished the last game in the national team jersey with an exclusion, a red card after a sharp start. He was an angry competitor, but showed the character of a warrior how a heartfelt and a fighting player he was. Team! “Too bad, we quickly scored a goal, but we couldn’t replace the defeat from the first game. We were bad in the away guests, we were trying at home, but Ukraine was very strong at the time, « he said, explaining how a dispute with coach Srečko Katanec had gone out after a short absence.

“I think it was after the match in Switzerland, where we wasted a ranking on the EP. The next three matches Katanec didn’t call me. I was angry. I didn’t like it, at the time I was Nuremberg’s captain. Then he called me for a duel with Ukrainians and asked me if I was still angry and whether I would play. I said I was angry, but that I did not play for him, but for Slovenia. And I came back, « was the direct stubborn Zasavec, who now successfully combines a pleasant and a little less enjoyable experience in the role of national team coach under 19. About her, talented boys who only face the actual value of their talent with competitors from the strongest countries, missed opportunities, transfer between coaches, roles Alberta Riere and gaming styles, Olympia, too fast retirement, its no. 1 Among the tennis « football veterans » and more, interesting and sparkling in the Var podcast shared the Slovenian record holder « Bundeslige ».