A legend of Slavic football has died. Sinisa Mihajlovic, 53, has died after three years of battling leukemia, his family has announced. Coach of Bologna (Italy) until the beginning of September 2022, the Serb had declared his illness in July 2019. Despite several round trips to the hospital, one of the best free kick takers in history, has so off this Friday. His wife Arianna and their five children deplore in a press release addressed to the Italian agency Ansa, the “unjust and premature death” of the father of the family.
Much of the former Yugoslavia mourns one of its most famous players. Son of a Serbo-Croatian couple, Sinisa Mihajlovic opted for his father and the Serbian nationality at the time of the division, at the beginning of the 2000s. Central defender, he had revealed himself in the eyes of Europe thanks to his career with the Red Star of Belgrade, winner of the Champions League in 1991 against Olympique de Marseille. Recruited by AS Roma in 1992, Mihajlovic continued his career in Serie A and brought happiness to Sampdoria Genoa, Lazio Rome and Inter Milan.
Winner of several Italian championships (2000, 2006), of a new European Cup (the C2 in 1999), he shines above all thanks to his power on set pieces. With Frenchman Michel Platini, he thus holds the record for goals scored (3) from a free kick in the same match. In total, he will have scored more than 60 throughout his career, just like Juninho, David Beckham or Lionel Messi.
But Sinisa Mihajlovic also has her dark side. Endowed with a volcanic character, he was excluded on numerous occasions for bloodshed. He was also guilty of racist insults towards Frenchman Patrick Vieira during a meeting between Lazio and Arsenal in the year 2000. After his playing career, Mihajlovic also showed his support to the extreme right, standing for example alongside Matteo Salvini in Italy.
Became a coach at the end of his playing career, the fifty-year-old passed on the bench of Inter Milan as an assistant, where he attended Zlatan Ibrahimovic, then managed clubs like Bologna, Catania, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, AC Milan or even the Serbian selection. Without ever knowing the expected success.
