Opinion
It’s rare for a modern-day footballer to walk to training. Often they’re driven in or drive themselves, skipping fans to quickly get into the ground. Unless their name is Milos Degenek.
Australian centreback Degenek walks to training at European glamour club Crvena Zvezda, Red Star Belgrade, stopping along the way to talk to fans, signing autographs and taking photos.
He’ll visit his favourite restaurant and coffee place and still have people coming up to him. He is gracious for the support he has received and the fame that comes with being a footballer. He’s incredibly down to earth and respectful of the regular Joe in the street. That’s why he’s loved so much in the Serbian capital.
Red Star completed a historic double, beating bitter cross-town rival FK Partizan in the Serbian Cup final on penalties 4-3 in a match that saw the usual violence on and off the field in the fiercest derby in Europe.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Winning the cup and winning the league over Partizan capped off an amazing week for Degenek.
It was a history-making season, with an absurd 35 wins, three draws and no losses, including 114 goals scored and only 20 conceded during the entire campaign.
Degenek ranks near the top for games played by an Australian player anywhere in the world this season, with 46 in total
Stoke City’s Harry Souttar is the only Australian player to have racked up more minutes of club football this season, 3867 compared to Degenek’s 3704.
Winning two European trophies makes this the most successful season in over a decade by any Australian player. This is Degenek’s fifth career trophy, but it’s Red Star’s first domestic double in more than a decade.
While Degenek experienced success at home, the promising Red Star team has had their issues in European competitions.
They were unexpectedly knocked out of the Champions League on penalties at the third qualifying stage before having to win a play-off round to get to the Europa League.
They redeemed themselves with a fairytale run to the Round of 32 before being knocked out on aggregate by AC Milan.
Coached by Inter Milan and Serbia legend Dejan Stankovic, this Crvena Zvezda team blends experience with youth.
Degenek’s fellow stalwarts in defence, Milan Gajic, Radovan Pankov, Nemanja Milunovic and Milan Rodic, besides providing solidity, all contributed multiple goals this season. But the real find in the backline could be 20-year-old Strahinja Erakovic, who has a slew of clubs sniffing around him.
The midfield was propped by up by 20 goal maestro Mirko Ivanic and 18 goals from the returning Aleksandar Katai. While young midfielders Njegos Petrovic, Veljko Nikolic, Zeljko Gavric and 18-year-old Manchester City-bound Andrija Radulovic have had scouts keeping a close eye on their progress.
Perhaps the only disappointing thing in such a historic season was that the Red Stars forwards didn’t score as many goals as you would expect. Comoros international El Fardou Ben was the best of the attackers, with 18 goals, followed by Radovan Pankov on 15. Bologna loanee Diego Falcinelli isn’t far behind on 13 goals. Young Montenegrin forward Nikola Krstovic is a name on many recruitment lists at the moment.
The problem for Crvena Zvezda is the lack of money. Every season they are forced to sell their best players to make ends meet. Even mainstays like Degenek have previously been sold to the highest bidder. This season alone they jettisoned over 20 players through sales or loans and barely replaced half of them with new singings.
That might pose a problem for a lot of clubs, but Crvena Zvezda has always relied on one of the best youth systems in Europe to bring through several kids into the first team each year.
This off-season will see more players leave once again. Degenek has already had two multimillion-dollar transfer fees agreed by the club from the Middle East, though he declined both.
Whether he stays or goes, Milos Degenek’s season has been amazing, and his stats alone should see him as a permanent fixture in defence for the Socceroos.
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