What was Veljko Paunovic like, the introverted footballer?

Bruno Marioni remembers Veljko Paunovic as an introvert, but very clear about his objectives, when they were teammates in Tenerife

Bruno Marioni y Veljko Paunovic coincided in the Second Division of Spain in the 2002/2003 season in the Tenerife. Twenty years after that experience, the ‘Barullo’ remembers the Serbian as an introverted person, quiet in the dressing room, but on the pitch he showed himself to be an intelligent, refined footballer with good individual technique.

“I clearly remember that at one point he told me that it was a privilege for him to share the court with me. I tell him, ‘wow, you come from Atlético de Madrid, for me it’s a privilege to share the field with you’, he tells me, ‘no, no, you’re a player of great quality and I love playing with you’. Obviously it was the same for me too, sharing the field with Veljko, a type of extraordinary quality. The truth is that it was a privilege for me to be able to share with him and today, after so many years that he has been directing here in Mexico, it also comforts me a lot”, recalls the current Argentine coach about Paunovic.

“He was much younger, so also because of his personality, he is not an extremely outgoing person, but you could tell that he was a person with clarity about what he wanted, a hard worker, very quiet, but always close. You don’t necessarily have to be outgoing to be close to someone. AND Veljko He is a person who has that personality, who, despite not talking much, does show his affection with actions or words”.

There were 10 parties that Bruno Marioni y Veljko Paunovic they shared the pitch with him Tenerife. When the two were on the field of play, each added four scores.

“He played as a second point, a midfielder, he was not a fixed nine, I played a little more of a center forward and Veljko a bit of the work of creating, of assisting. A quality player, fine, with very good technique, very intelligent, he always saw where the space was, where to assist, but he was also a player who had a goal, a player who had a lot of goals. So I think we complemented each other very well because he liked to attend, I also liked to attend and we both also liked to score goals, so neither of us was selfish. I think he was one of the players I was lucky enough to play with that I really enjoyed sharing the lead ”.

Bruno Marioni y Veljko Paunovic They have not been able to meet since the Serbian arrived in Mexican soccer for the Clausura 2023, but the ‘Barullo’ hopes to invite him to a barbecue after this Sunday, when Chivas will face tigers in the grand finale of the contest.

“I will surely have contact with him these days after the finals are over. I do not want to bother. I don’t think he knows I was here either. Guadalajara. So, nothing, I’ll have contact once the finals are over and we’ll surely see each other. And I will invite him to eat a good barbecue here at my house”.