‘Stimac came out with Miss Chile, and Boban with him. The menu wanted to drive them away, but I prevented him ‘
Milan Pavlovic (57)a legendary player Railwayman From the late 1980s and captain of the young SFRY national team that became the 1987 U-20 Champion in Chile, for Podcast (IN) Direct Oslobodjenje portal He remembered a rich career, road to a gold medal and a dramatic situation that could significantly reduce the chances of these talented generations to win the world title.
– We left without much expectations. We had a fantastic welcome in Chile, our people allowed us to feel home. And after the first few games, we were also stars, the girls were screaming when Zvonimir Boban went out in front of the hotel, Igor Stimac was with Miss Chile. They were like the Beatles … Zvone was my roommate and one night we went to the pharmacy to get vitamins. When we came out, the girls were waiting and one kissed him on the cheek. We were chasing back to the hotel – Pavlovic recalled the exciting days of ‘golden’ generation. After the introductory wins and fantastic games, however, the situation escalated a little.
– It was after the victory against Brazil. Zvone and Igor Stimac ‘strayed’ one night, went out. Believe me, and I would go out if Miss Chile was waiting for me. The yellow (December) came to my room and wanted to burn, but out of respect for me, he still went to his room. But somewhere around half past twelve, someone knocks on my door: the selector Mirko Jozic And a coach Mirsad Fazlagic And they ask where the bells and Igor are. I said I didn’t know, they sat with me for an hour and waited for them, and then they said we were coffee at eight in the morning. In the morning, they visited me as a captain and said that they decided to take Boban and Stimac to take their passports and go back to Yugoslavia. I replied that if they were going, I go too. They were upset, and then I asked for the paper to sign that we would be the champions of the world if the two remain. I was so sure about that, they were important links. That’s right, so the media called me a prophet – Pavlovic recounted.
The ‘Chileans’ came to the world championship titles by winnings in the group of host Chile 4: 2 (Boban, Stimac, Suker 2), Australia 4: 0 (Suker 2, Brnovic, Boban), Togo 4: 1 (Mijatovic 2, Zirojevic, Suker). In the quarterfinals, they dropped Brazil 2: 1 (Mijatovic, Prosinecki), in the semifinals of East Germany 2: 1 (Stimac, Suker), and in the West Germany final. After 1: 1 in regular time (Boban scorer), Yugoslavia was better on a penalty of 5: 4 (Pavlicic, Suker, Brnovic, Zirojevic, Boban).
Croatian players won a gold medal to win Tomislav Piplica, Dubravko Pavlicic, Robert JarniIgor Stimac, Zvonimir Boban, Robert Prosinecki and Davor Suker and menu Mirko Jozic. Beside them there were Dragoje Lekovic, Branko Brnovic, Slavoljub Jankovic, Zoran Mijusic, Milan Pavlovic (captain), Predrag Mijatovic, Gordan Petric, Pero Skoric, Dejan Antonic, Slavisa Djurkovic, Ranko Zirojevic.
After a football career he ended up in Greece, Milan Pavlovic accepted the coaching job, working with young people and also worked as a FIFA instructor. You can listen to the whole subcast HERE.
