Tereza Kesovija also played for Ćira
- I told you, woman's head, where to break! - I exclaimed, then immediately eased the situation: - but, well, kudos to you! –
Ćiro was a true coaching showmaker. He could convince anyone to become a part of one of his schemes. On his Facebook profile, he shared an anecdote where he managed to persuade our biggest singing diva, Tereza Kesovia, to be the first to kick the ball on the field during a match in Priština. This is how the great coach described the event:
"That season, this will give you an idea of the situation in that city, Pristina had the most spectators at home matches in Yugoslavia. Yes, you read that right, mostly! I found information that, on average, home matches were watched by about a thousand more people than Crvena zvezda. Three more than Hajduk, and even five more than Dinamo... And that tells us something about the euphoria that reigned there.
Before a match, I was preparing the team, I was giving them a dangerous speech about the historical importance of that match for their people, when the Kosovo politician Azem Vllasi ran up to me and said: - Boss, they are breaking into the stadium. There are 35,000 people in front, everyone wants to get in. –
No one could reconcile them, I say that responsibly, and the situation was becoming more and more dangerous. I quickly ran towards them, climbed onto the stand and waved to the people to calm down. They all sat down at the same second, I swear to mother Kata. They loved and respected me so much, and these feelings, I assure you, were mutual. If it had been different, we would never have been able to make the result that we made in the end...
When we secured our stay in the league, Tereza Kesovia came to Pristina as a special surprise. At that time, I don't even have to tell you, she was a planetary star. Even a pin could not fit in the stadium, which was packed to the brim that day. I asked Teresa to take the kickoff in the game and she said she didn't know.
- How come, you don't know? -, I asked her, but immediately added: - I will show you everything, because raja came only to see that! –
I found some kind of boots for her, the most shabby ones, which, in order to make them look decent, I smeared them with shoe cream and painted them black. The crowd in the stands roared, and she stood next to the ball and kicked it - but in the wrong direction!
Everyone was suddenly speechless!
- I told you, woman's head, where to break! - I exclaimed, then immediately eased the situation: - but, well, kudos to you! –
After that, I took her in my hands and carried her across the field, she was delighted with the atmosphere, and she experienced the real shock only after the game.
Down in front of the Grand Hotel, the fans were throwing me so high in the air that I reached the second floor. Tereza Kesovia had a room on that floor, and when she came to the window and saw me flying in front of her window, she had a flash of lightning. Not even her, she admitted it to me many years later, such a thing had never happened. - You see, it's better to be a Pristina star... - I told her: - than a planetary one! - But that's just one of the details I experienced there. At every corner, in the haustor, on the street, I experienced such similar expressions of love. The chefs baked my chevaps and took them to the stadium, the women rolled me pies, and all the goldsmiths in Kosovo, after our result, brought me gold and ducats...
Those were incredible times that I fondly remember and, here, after more than thirty-five years.
My fans are still grateful to me today for what I did for them then, I can see it from everything you write to me here under my memories - not only from the free ice creams, coffees and chocolates I get from your grandchildren, whom you raised well - and I have a strong need to tell you all that Pristina, that city and that people, will forever remain my beautiful memory."
