World Soccer - UK (2022-07)

“Iwantedyounger, fasterplayers
asthe teamwasoldand slow.We
startedbuildingupthe defenceas
Koperwereconcedingtoomany
goals.”
Itdidn’ttakelongfor Zeljkovicto
turnthingsaround:“We broughtin 13
newplayersandI realisedweneeded
time.Afterabouttengames,the team
lookedthe wayI wanteditto.”
Koper wonseven consecutive
games,startingwitha winover
then-championsMura,followedby
victories at OlimpijaLjubljana,then
athometoMaribor. Certainsignings
alreadystood out: much-travelled
CroatiandefenderKarloBrucic,
ex-Boston UnitedstrikerLamin
Colleyand,broughtover from Krka,
JamaicanforwardKaheemParris.
AnotherKrkahire,LukaTicic,had
evenfollowedZeljkovicfromIlirijain
2019. Turning 21 duringthe 2 02 1-2 2
campaign,a regularfor Sloveniain
thatagegroup,thedefendercame
infor specialpraisefromhismentor.
“Ticicisfastandtechnicallyavery
goodplayer.I believehehasa bright
futureahead,” saysZeljkovic.
Thesefourplayersallstartedinthe
cupfinalforKoper, Colley hittingtwo
goalsinthe 3 -1win over Bravo,the
club’s first majorsilverware since the
2017 meltdown.
Fewin Koperhaveanyillusions
aboutthe sizeofthe taskaheadto
maintainthismomentum,leastof all
Zeljkovic.“Mygoalwas to stabilisethe
teamandget a Europeanplacein
twoyears.Wemanagedtodothat
inthe first season. I thinkweneedto
strengthenthe playingstaff,because
wehavetocompeteon threefronts.
Thedepth of thesquadisvital.”
Agents lookingtooffloadany
creakingveteransneednotapply.
PeterjonCresswell

F

orthe first timein

theirhistory, Sudtirol

havebeenpromoted

toSerieB, thesecond

level of Italian football,

after toppingSerieC

with 9 0 points from

their 38 matches,fivemore than

second-placedPadova.

Fussball ClubSudtirolisbasedin

thecityofBolzano,inthe South Tyrol

autonomousprovincefromwhichthey

tooktheirname.Together, SouthTyrol

andTrentinoformthe Trentino-Alto

AdigeregionofItaly, an area thatwas

disputedbyAustria andItalyformany

years,whileNorthTyrol liesonthe

othersideof theborder. As aresult,

around 62 percentof thepopulation

speakGermanastheirfirst language,

comparedto 23 percentspeaking

Italian,primarilyin

thetwomajorcities

ofBolzanoand

Merano.

After securing

promotion, Sudtirol

willbe thefirst club

fromTrentino-Alto

Adigetotakepartin

thesecondtiersinceitbecamea

nationalleaguein 1948 , completing

a remarkablejourney.

Theclubwas born in 1 995 as

FootballClubSudtirol-AltoAdige,with

thetraditionalTyrol colourswhiteand

red,andbasedinBressanone.Starting

inthe seventhtier, theGerman-named

clubstartedto climbthelevelsofItalian

football, reachingSerieC2,the lowest

professionaltier, in 2 000 undercoach

GiuseppeSannino.Thatyear, theclub

moved to thecityofBolzano.

LucaLomiisa Sudtirollegend,

havingplayed andcoachedthe club,

andwas part of theside that,forthe

first time,becameprofessional:“I’m

veryhappy,becausethepromotionto

SerieB is thecontinuationofa project

startedover 2 5 yearsagoandofwhich

I waspart.Itwas a well-designed

miracle,asI expected.

“Ithinkthisregionhasthepotential

tobeabletotrytotakeanotherstep

forward.I have good

memories,especially

becauseitwas an

almostfamily-run

clubheadedbya

groupoffriends

withthepresident

LeopoldGollerwho

livedfootball in a

genuineway.Hebuilt

a teambasedonall

localboyswithsome

playersfromoutside:

sincerely, at those

times,wecouldn’t

everthinkofgetting

toSerieB.”

IvanJavorcic

isthe Croatianhead

coach wholedSudtiroltopromotion,

buildinghis teamaroundanalmost

impenetrabledefence,with onlynine

goalsconcededintheleagueall

season.

“ThedirectorPaoloBravo worked

verywell, maintaininga structure and

insertingfewselectedplayers

every year, endingwiththechoice

ofJavorcic”,saysLomi.

Sudtirolhavejustcompleteda

restylingoftheirhomeground,Stadio

Druso,a symboloftheirambitions:

“SerieA wouldbetrulymadness,”

saysLomi, quoting a phraseusedby

JavorcicforthepromotiontoSerie B.

EmanueleGiulianelli

WOLD SOCCE 25

Mastermind...

Sudtirol’s Croatian

coachIvanJavorcic

FCSudtirol

NorthItalianclubwillplayinSerieB for

thefirsttimeafterupsettingtheodds

PPPCSIwS

“I’mveryhappy, becausethe

promotiontoSerieB is the

continuation of aprojectstarted

over 25 yearsago”

LucaLomi,formerSudtirolplayerandcoach

heBonfika stadium...Koper’s homeground
Credit:PeterjonCresswell