Former Partizan skipper Antonio Rukavina attended latest edition of Partizan Podcast. The 40-year-old stated he was far from regular at Humska Road but recently felt desire to be with his club once again.
“I didn`t come to Partizan Stadium for two or three years upon ending my career, I just didn`t feel the right emotion. Game against Cukaricki was the one we all wanted to see finally. It`s not about wins or titles, that`s irrelevant at the moment. It`s important to get the emotion back, the feel. It was truly nice against both Cukaricki and Radnicki”, Rukavina said.
Undoubtedly, Partizan is going through tough times currently but fans have an opportunity to help now. Rukavina played for Borussia Dortmund whose fans are regarded one of the most loyal of all, with over 55 thousand season ticket sales.
“I felt it myself when I was in Germany. It`s like a feast when you club plays, as it was a Flag Day. If the game is played at 4pm, we all go, everything else gets cancelled. You do it for the love of it. Of course, Partizan can reach Borussia in season ticket numbers, fans only need to recognize the moment”.
It`s up to supporters now but it`s also important for all the club`s structures to be renovated and it`s an ongoing process. Rukavina remembers it was kind of a similar during his team captain days at Partizan.
‘We had a restart in 2007 too, although it wasn`t like it is now but there are similarities. Fans returned to the stands back then, started supporting us as they recognized the moment the club was in. Miroslav Djukic was by the dugout, Ivan Tomic was Sports Director, Gordan Petric on General Director duties…It was all about sport, they were all young, former athletes as Danko Lazovic and Predrag MIjatovic are now. We didn`t won the title that year but we set foundations for domination we had afterwards”, said Antonio Rukavina.
