carlyluvsunited
22-11-2007, 07:20 PM
Baptism of fire for Vidic
LITTLE wonder that the bruisers of the Premier League hold few fears for
Nemanja Vidic, after he spent some of his childhood dodging bombs and bullets.
The 26-year-old Manchester United defender has revealed in an interview on the
club's official website that his early years were scarred by the wars which
ravaged the former Yugoslavia for a decade - just as he was trying to build a
career for himself as a professional footballer.
The series of conflicts started in 1991 when Vidic was just nine years old, and
reached their height in 1999 when NATO planes, including some from the Royal
Air Force, bombed his home town of Uzice.
And Vidic says that football played a big part in keeping up morale when the
shrapnel was flying and his town's bridges and official buildings were being
reduced to rubble by the precision bombing campaign.
Scared
"Football was very important," he said. "Even while Serbia was being bombed,
people were still playing football. Red Star Belgrade still had football matches and
people were still going to watch the games, even though there was a war on. It
was amazing!
"I remember when the bombing started and for the first month we were too
scared to go out and play football because we didn't know what was happening.
Nobody knew where the bombs would be.
"But after a month, people relaxed a little more and they realised the targets
were military and government buildings, or bridges.
"So then we thought it was OK to go to the stadiums and play football - we knew
they wouldn't bomb there. People still wanted to lead their lives and watch
football."
And he says that the sport also offered the Serbs - heavily criticised for the war
crimes of some of their leaders - a chance to present a human face to the world:
"In the 90s football was everything. It was the best way to show the world who
we were. At the time, there were a lot of bad things happening in our country -
there were murders, bombings, war - and it was important that Red Star
Belgrade and the national team played well to counteract the negative
propaganda.
"It was the best way to show that Serbians also love football and sporting
events. Today, football is still the No 1 sport in Serbia and everybody wants to
play for Red Star Belgrade or one of the top clubs in Europe.
"Football is a big part of life for the country's young people."
Trouble
Football was blamed for part of the problem - there is even a claim that a strife
-torn match between Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb and Vidic's former club Red
Star Belgrade in 1990 poured fuel on the flames of trouble.
"There was a big fight at the match - fans tore up seats, some got on to the pitch,
even players were involved," said Vidic.
"I remember watching the match on TV and seeing Zvonimir Boban kick a
policeman, which caused a lot of trouble.
"At that time, there was a very, very cold relationship between what is now
Croatia and Serbia - but now I think most of the bad feelings have stopped and
people realise going to war was not the right thing to do.
"I don't have a problem with Croatian people and I don't think they have a
problem with Serbians. The 90s was just a very unstable time and politics went
very, very wrong. I cannot speak for everyone on this, though. These events are
bigger than me and they are bigger than football."
As well as playing football, Vidic and his friends found relief from his country's
troubles by watching the game on the box - and says he can barely believe that
players he watched as a kid, such as Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, now line up
alongside him in a red shirt.
"I used to watch Giggsy and Scholesy and now I play with them every day. It's a
great feeling. But now I realise Giggsy is just another person - a very
professional player, but also just a person and a friend.
"Scholesy's a great player, too. He loves football and he loves having the ball at
his feet. He takes a lot of enjoyment from playing passes, scoring goals and even
making tackles."
Vidic hints, jokingly, that maybe he could teach Scholes a thing or two about
tackling: "He goes in very strong, though, and is always very committed.
Proud
"Players such as Scholesy and Giggs are the kind of people young players need to
watch and learn from. They've played at the very top level for so many years and
won so many trophies. I think that's very admirable and people should learn to
be more like those two. It's great for me to come to the club and learn from them.
Vidic is proud to represent his country, and that could cause United a problem on
Saturday, if Serbia are still in with a chance of qualifying for Euro 2008.
Sir Alex Ferguson will have the final say on whether Vidic will be allowed to play in
the qualifier against Kazakhstan, which was postponed last Saturday due to
heavy snow in Belgrade, as the re-arranged game falls outside the agreed FIFA
calendar window.
Fergie is likely to wait for the outcome of tonight's games between Serbia and
Poland, and Finland and Portugal, before making a decision - a failure to win by
Serbia, or a Portuguese point, would make Saturday's final group game academic
and would see Vidic return.www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Click below to join manutdtalk.com forums to read and
discuss all breaking news on all things United !!! Come talk to us….
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LITTLE wonder that the bruisers of the Premier League hold few fears for
Nemanja Vidic, after he spent some of his childhood dodging bombs and bullets.
The 26-year-old Manchester United defender has revealed in an interview on the
club's official website that his early years were scarred by the wars which
ravaged the former Yugoslavia for a decade - just as he was trying to build a
career for himself as a professional footballer.
The series of conflicts started in 1991 when Vidic was just nine years old, and
reached their height in 1999 when NATO planes, including some from the Royal
Air Force, bombed his home town of Uzice.
And Vidic says that football played a big part in keeping up morale when the
shrapnel was flying and his town's bridges and official buildings were being
reduced to rubble by the precision bombing campaign.
Scared
"Football was very important," he said. "Even while Serbia was being bombed,
people were still playing football. Red Star Belgrade still had football matches and
people were still going to watch the games, even though there was a war on. It
was amazing!
"I remember when the bombing started and for the first month we were too
scared to go out and play football because we didn't know what was happening.
Nobody knew where the bombs would be.
"But after a month, people relaxed a little more and they realised the targets
were military and government buildings, or bridges.
"So then we thought it was OK to go to the stadiums and play football - we knew
they wouldn't bomb there. People still wanted to lead their lives and watch
football."
And he says that the sport also offered the Serbs - heavily criticised for the war
crimes of some of their leaders - a chance to present a human face to the world:
"In the 90s football was everything. It was the best way to show the world who
we were. At the time, there were a lot of bad things happening in our country -
there were murders, bombings, war - and it was important that Red Star
Belgrade and the national team played well to counteract the negative
propaganda.
"It was the best way to show that Serbians also love football and sporting
events. Today, football is still the No 1 sport in Serbia and everybody wants to
play for Red Star Belgrade or one of the top clubs in Europe.
"Football is a big part of life for the country's young people."
Trouble
Football was blamed for part of the problem - there is even a claim that a strife
-torn match between Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb and Vidic's former club Red
Star Belgrade in 1990 poured fuel on the flames of trouble.
"There was a big fight at the match - fans tore up seats, some got on to the pitch,
even players were involved," said Vidic.
"I remember watching the match on TV and seeing Zvonimir Boban kick a
policeman, which caused a lot of trouble.
"At that time, there was a very, very cold relationship between what is now
Croatia and Serbia - but now I think most of the bad feelings have stopped and
people realise going to war was not the right thing to do.
"I don't have a problem with Croatian people and I don't think they have a
problem with Serbians. The 90s was just a very unstable time and politics went
very, very wrong. I cannot speak for everyone on this, though. These events are
bigger than me and they are bigger than football."
As well as playing football, Vidic and his friends found relief from his country's
troubles by watching the game on the box - and says he can barely believe that
players he watched as a kid, such as Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, now line up
alongside him in a red shirt.
"I used to watch Giggsy and Scholesy and now I play with them every day. It's a
great feeling. But now I realise Giggsy is just another person - a very
professional player, but also just a person and a friend.
"Scholesy's a great player, too. He loves football and he loves having the ball at
his feet. He takes a lot of enjoyment from playing passes, scoring goals and even
making tackles."
Vidic hints, jokingly, that maybe he could teach Scholes a thing or two about
tackling: "He goes in very strong, though, and is always very committed.
Proud
"Players such as Scholesy and Giggs are the kind of people young players need to
watch and learn from. They've played at the very top level for so many years and
won so many trophies. I think that's very admirable and people should learn to
be more like those two. It's great for me to come to the club and learn from them.
Vidic is proud to represent his country, and that could cause United a problem on
Saturday, if Serbia are still in with a chance of qualifying for Euro 2008.
Sir Alex Ferguson will have the final say on whether Vidic will be allowed to play in
the qualifier against Kazakhstan, which was postponed last Saturday due to
heavy snow in Belgrade, as the re-arranged game falls outside the agreed FIFA
calendar window.
Fergie is likely to wait for the outcome of tonight's games between Serbia and
Poland, and Finland and Portugal, before making a decision - a failure to win by
Serbia, or a Portuguese point, would make Saturday's final group game academic
and would see Vidic return.www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Click below to join manutdtalk.com forums to read and
discuss all breaking news on all things United !!! Come talk to us….
http://manutdtalk.com/forums/register.php