Vojvodina cadets won the prestigious “Soccer Friends” tournament in Foča for the first time, after defeating Borac from Banja Luka in the final with a score of 4:2.
Source: Srna/Aleksandar Janković
In one of the best finals in the history of this tournament, the people of Banja Luka had the advantage on two occasions, 1:0 and 2:1, but coach Marko Jović’s team managed to equalize twice with patient play, and in the very end to turn things around, so in won their first “friendship title” in their second final.
What the previous generations of “old ladies”, for whom the famous footballers Sergej Milinković-Savić and Mijat Gaćinović did not succeed, was succeeded by the selection of cadets led by captain Lazar Pavlović and the excellent Đorđe Petrović, officially the best player of the tournament.
“It is a great honor for me and my teammates to win this trophy for the first time in the club’s history. In the 17 years of the existence of ‘Football Friends’, we are the first generation in Vojvodina who managed to achieve this and that is a big deal for us,” Petrović said.
Source: Srna/Aleksandar Janković
Voša coach Marko Jović is also proud of his team’s success.
“Our boys really deserved all this, both the standing ovation and the cup, to be the first generation of Vojvodina in the history of the tournament to win it, so we only have good memories from Foča. We hope that among these kids there will be those who will play in the near future for the first team of Vojvodina,” said Jović, as reported by the official website of the Novi Sad team.
The captain of Borca, Pavle Đajić, said that they played well from the beginning of the tournament, and that their concentration faltered at the end of the final match.
Banja Luka goalkeeper Marko Bojanić was declared the best goalkeeper of the 17th tournament in Foča, and the award for fair play went to the Pandev Academy team.
Along with Vojvodina and Borac, Sarajevo’s Željezničar also left an excellent impression, winning third place by defeating Rijeka 2:1.
The president of the “Football Friends” Association, Zoran Avramović, said that this year’s tournament took place in an even game.
“It hasn’t been such an even game for a long time, and I noticed that the clubs care a lot about having a good result. As much as we talk about the importance of a sense of camaraderie, we obviously cannot underestimate that football is more than a game, that everyone cares about playing as well as possible.” , Avramović said, and was reported by “Srna”.
He announced that for the next year, with the help of large and important institutions, they will try to provide as attractive participants as possible.
“I hope that we will be able to impose a story about the importance of the football academy, how important it is to recognize that young players are the most important element in the entire chain of football. What we are doing in little Foča gives me the right to believe that Foča is a pioneer in some things and I hope that we are going to spread the message that football is dramatically more than a game,” Avramović said.
Source: Srna/Aleksandar Janković
By winning the cup in Foca, Vojvodina joined the champions of football friendship – three-time winners Rijeka, Crvena Zvezda, Newcastle and Budućnost, who have two titles each, and Vardar, Groclin, Dinamo, Swansea, Olimpija, Maribor and Borc, who have won one each. Football friends”.
The final ranking of the 17th “Football Friends”:
1. Vojvodina
2. Fighter
3. Railwayman
4. River
5. Red Star
6. Sutjeska Foča
7. Sutjeska Nikšić
8. Pandev Academy