Petar Borota
Encyclopedia
Petar Borota (5 March 1952 – 12 February 2010) was a Serbia
n footballer who played as a goalkeeper, most notably for Partizan
and Chelsea
.
In addition to great goalkeeping ability, Borota is also remembered for his eccentric style of play in goal that occasionally led to him conceding a bizarre goal.
in 1969, recording 8 league appearances for the club by the end of the season. Over the coming years he marked himself out as an able goalkeeper, earning a spot on the Yugoslav u-21 team
and attracting interest from bigger clubs.
across town, leaving OFK after six seasons. However, before joining the crno-beli he went to serve the mandatory army
stint that kept him out of action for the entire 1975–76 season.
.
and new acquisition Slobodan Santrač
(arrived in the winter transfer window, and scored 11 goals in 16 matches during the half-season), but also thanks in no small part to Borota (in addition to rugged central defenders Nenad Stojković
and Jusuf Hatunić
as well as full backs Nikica Klinčarski
and Ivan Golac
) who let in only 19 goals in 34 league matches.
was marked by another one of Borota's bizarre blunders that he was already known for. The return leg on 27 September 1978 had Partizan arriving in Dresden
with a comfortable two-goal advantage from the first leg in Belgrade (2-0). However, in the 8th minute of the second leg match, forgetting that play hasn't been stopped after making a save since neither goal-out nor foul got called, Borota placed the ball onto the 5-meter line and moved far away to take a run and kick it into play. He moved so far away from the ball that Dynamo forward Hans-Jürgen Dörner
had enough time to step in and nudge it into the unguarded net. The strange goal stood, and by the end Dynamo managed to score another one for 0-2 final score and thus take the match into extra-time. Dynamo won 4-5 on penalties thus eliminating Partizan as Borota faced a barage of criticism from the Partizan faithful.
The defending league champions were on a downward spiral in the league, too, as unexpected losses tied them firmly to the bottom half of the table. Only a few months later, Borota would repeat the calamitous mistake from Dresden, this time in December 1978 during the 63rd league edition of the Eternal Derby versus bitter cross-town rivals Red Star Belgrade
. Playing in the snow-covered JNA Stadium, the goalkeeper again collected the ball from a cross in front of opposing forwards while colliding with one of them, and again wrongly assumed that play stoppage had been called, thus placing the ball down unguarded. The referee actually didn't call a foul since Borota firmly held control of the ball during the aerial challenge so Red Star forward Miloš Šestić
snuck in and pushed it into empty net for the match's opening goal. Red Star eventually recorded a 1-3 victory. Various urban legends persist about this event: from the one that Šestić actually mislead Borota on purpose by telling him, while the keeper was down on the ground with the ball in his hands, that the ref had called a foul to the one that Borota was confused by the sound of a whistle that came from a Red Star fan in the stands.
Due to his shaky displays and the team's overall atrocious form, Borota lost the coach's trust, making only 16 appearances between the posts that season. Head coach Mladinić resigned two weeks after the derby in late December during the winter break as Florijan Matekalo
took over from January. In March, before the season's end, with the team battling relegation threat, Borota (who was about to turn 27 years of age) got sold to Chelsea.
. Brought in by manager Danny Blanchflower
as a replacement for legendary goalie Peter Bonetti
, Borota made his debut against champions-elect Liverpool
on 4 March 1979 and impressed in a 0–0 draw. However, the next five league matches all ended in defeat, culminating in a 6-0 thrashing by Nottingham Forest as Borota ultimately could not prevent relegation to the Second Division
. He continued with his flamboyant and somewhat eccentric
style – on occasions, he would dribble up the field and attempt to get past opposition players or throw the ball against the crossbar when taking a goal kick
– which endeared him to the Chelsea fans and helped make him a cult hero at the club.
As the 1979-80 season in Second Division
began, manager Blanchflower resigned in September 1979 and England legend Geoff Hurst
was brought in as replacement. Borota continued as a regular under Hurst as the team finished fourth in the standings, missing the promotion on goal-difference.
Ahead of the 1980-81 season Hurst named Borota to be the squad captain. Borota was voted Chelsea player of the year in 1981 after keeping 16 clean sheets
that season; he made 114 appearances for the club.
However, his erratic behaviour sometimes backfired and led to the team conceding goals, which did not endear him to his managers. After a fall-out with John Neal
he joined Brentford
in 1982 (with Chelsea still in the Second Division) and later Portuguese
sides Boavista
and FC Porto. He made 114 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea and kept 36 clean sheets.
The 26-year-old Hajduk Split's keeper Ivan Katalinić
had been the national team's first choice goalie at the time under 3-man head coaching commission (consisting of Marko Valok
, Stevan Vilotić
, and Gojko Zec
) as well as under previous head coach Ivan Toplak
, however, the team's faltering 1978 World Cup qualifying campaign
with two opening losses that led to Toplak's removal prompted a need to look at other options in goal as well.
The coaching triumvirate of Valok, Vilotić and Zec gave 25-year-old Borota a debut as second half substitute for Katalinić on 5 October 1977 in the away friendly versus Hungary.
and a superb 25-meter strike by Dražen Mužinić
, but the momentum shifted again as Anghel Iordănescu
and László Bölöni managed to beat Borota twice more by halftime for 3-2 Romanian lead with poor aerial heading effort and bad positional play of Yugoslav defenders contributing to both goals. Early into the second half young Sušić took over again: first with a great individual move blowing by several defenders before scoring followed ten minutes later by a hard driven low shot off a laid-on free kick, for a 3-4 Yugoslavia lead. Still, Romanians mustered up one more comeback, albeit partial with a headed goal by Dudu Georgescu for 4-4, but Yugoslavs responded right back through Aleksandar Trifunović
and Zoran Filipović
by the end for a 4-6 final score.
Despite a win being recorded, Borota was demoted to the bench as Katalinić went back between the posts for the next must-win qualifier at home versus Spain that Yugoslavia had to win by 2 goals in order to qualify.
Following the failure to beat Spain and qualify for the World Cup, the coaching commission was disbanded with only Vilotić continuing as the head coach for the time being. He led the team in two friendlies and gave Borota a substitute appearance against Italy.
The campaign began at home versus old rivals Spain and Yugoslavia lost again as Borota sat on the bench. For the next qualifier away at Romania on 25 October 1978, Mladinić gave Borota (his goalie at Partizan) a start. The high scoring from the previous qualifying cycle from a year earlier repeated again, but this time Romania won 3-2. Pižon Petrović put Yugoslavia up on a penalty kick for 0-1 at halftime, but Romanians came back in the second half with three unanswered goals (a brace by defender Ştefan Sameş
followed by Iordanescu penalty kick). This was Borota's last national team appearance.
He finished his international career with 4 caps in total, two of which were starts in competitive matches.
during the 1980s.
By the early 1990s he came back to Belgrade. Already devoting much of his time to abstract painting (he had his work displayed in London in 1981 while an active player), Borota put together an exhibition in Srećna nova umetnost gallery in Belgrade's SKC
. In 1994 he was implicated in an art theft
ring of Paja Jovanović
paintings and served a six-month spell in investigative detention.
After getting out of prison, through his friendship with Vujadin Boškov
and Siniša Mihajlović
, Borota moved to Genoa
in Italy
where he made a living by painting.
He died on 12 February 2010 in Genoa
, after a long illness, aged 56. He was laid to rest at the New Cemetery in Belgrade on 25 February 2010 with the sombre ceremony attended by his friends and colleagues such as Moca Vukotić, Slobodan Santrač, Pižon Petrović, Xhevat Prekazi, and Milutin Šoškić
among others.
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n footballer who played as a goalkeeper, most notably for Partizan
FK Partizan
Fudbalski klub Partizan is a professional football club based in Belgrade, Serbia. In its long history, FK Partizan won as many as 37 trophies. The club is the holder of 23 national championships, 12 national cups and 1 national supercup, and has also won the Mitropa Cup in 1978...
and Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
.
In addition to great goalkeeping ability, Borota is also remembered for his eccentric style of play in goal that occasionally led to him conceding a bizarre goal.
Club career
Borota started playing professional football with OFK BeogradOFK Beograd
Omladinski fudbalski klub Beograd, commonly referred to as OFK Beograd , is a football club from Belgrade, Serbia, more precisely from the Karaburma urban neighborhood. It currently is the oldest team playing in the Serbian SuperLiga. The name means "Youth Football Club Belgrade" in Serbian...
in 1969, recording 8 league appearances for the club by the end of the season. Over the coming years he marked himself out as an able goalkeeper, earning a spot on the Yugoslav u-21 team
Yugoslavia national under-21 football team
The Yugoslavia national under-21 football team existed in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. After the state's dissolution in 1992, the following teams were formed:*Bosnia and Herzegovina national under-21 football team...
and attracting interest from bigger clubs.
FK Partizan
Eventually in 1975, he agreed terms with FK PartizanFK Partizan
Fudbalski klub Partizan is a professional football club based in Belgrade, Serbia. In its long history, FK Partizan won as many as 37 trophies. The club is the holder of 23 national championships, 12 national cups and 1 national supercup, and has also won the Mitropa Cup in 1978...
across town, leaving OFK after six seasons. However, before joining the crno-beli he went to serve the mandatory army
Yugoslav People's Army
The Yugoslav People's Army , also referred to as the Yugoslav National Army , was the military of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.-Origins:The origins of the JNA can...
stint that kept him out of action for the entire 1975–76 season.
1976-77 season
Borota finally joined the reigning league champion Partizan in late 1976 with the season already in progress. The 23-year-old claimed a place between the goal posts right away, making 27 league appearances until the end of the season under also newly arrived head coach Biće MladinićAnte Mladinic
Ante "Biće" Mladinić was a Croatian football manager.The Croat had a modest playing career turning out for Hajduk Split and Lokomotiva Zagreb. Later as coach he had spells at NK Zagreb, Hajduk, FK Partizan, and the Yugoslavia national football team in the mid-1970s...
.
1977-78 season
For the following 1977–78 season, Borota was an established squad member. With head coach Mladinić behind the bench, Partizan claimed the domestic title in dominating fashion behind the goalscoring efforts of club legend Moca VukotićMomcilo Vukotic
Momčilo "Moca" Vukotić is a Serbian football manager and a former player.He played 14 times for his national team, Yugoslavia, between 1969 and 1974 scoring four goals. In his club career in FK Partizan, he appeared in a total of 752 games in all competitions and all age levels, scoring 306 goals...
and new acquisition Slobodan Santrač
Slobodan Santrac
Slobodan Santrač is a retired Serbian football player and currently manager of Chinese Super League side Shaanxi Renhe Commercial Chanba F.C.....
(arrived in the winter transfer window, and scored 11 goals in 16 matches during the half-season), but also thanks in no small part to Borota (in addition to rugged central defenders Nenad Stojković
Nenad Stojkovic
Nenad Stojković is a Serbian defender who played at FIFA World Cup 1982 for SFR Yugoslavia.Following his playing career, Stojković had a brief spell as the manager of AS Cannes....
and Jusuf Hatunić
Jusuf Hatunić
Jusuf Hatunić was a Bosnian, SFR Yugoslavia international football player.-Club career:He was a player of Yugoslav First League clubs Sloboda Tuzla and FK Partizan , with short spells in Turkish club Galatasaray and Second Yugoslav League club FK Rad where he ended his playing...
as well as full backs Nikica Klinčarski
Nikica Klincarski
Nikica Klinčarski is a former Macedonian football player, SFR Yugoslavia international. He was the assistant coach at FK Partizan until 2010.-Club career:...
and Ivan Golac
Ivan Golac
Ivan Golac is a former Yugoslav football player and manager.A Yugoslav international right back, he is best known as a player and manager of FK Partizan, of Belgrade...
) who let in only 19 goals in 34 league matches.
1978-79 season
The 1978-79 season saw Partizan defend the domestic title in addition to competing in the Europen Champions Cup. The first round tie versus East German champions Dynamo DresdenDynamo Dresden
SG Dynamo Dresden are a German association football club, based in Dresden, Saxony. They were founded in 1950, as a club affiliated with the East German police, and became one of the most popular and successful clubs in East German football, winning eight league titles...
was marked by another one of Borota's bizarre blunders that he was already known for. The return leg on 27 September 1978 had Partizan arriving in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
with a comfortable two-goal advantage from the first leg in Belgrade (2-0). However, in the 8th minute of the second leg match, forgetting that play hasn't been stopped after making a save since neither goal-out nor foul got called, Borota placed the ball onto the 5-meter line and moved far away to take a run and kick it into play. He moved so far away from the ball that Dynamo forward Hans-Jürgen Dörner
Hans-Jürgen Dörner
Hans-Jürgen „Dixie“ Dörner is a former German football player and who now coaches. He distinguished himself during his career by being named East Germany's player of the year three times - the only East German player to do this besides goalkeeper Jürgen Croy.Dörner's playing career began in 1960...
had enough time to step in and nudge it into the unguarded net. The strange goal stood, and by the end Dynamo managed to score another one for 0-2 final score and thus take the match into extra-time. Dynamo won 4-5 on penalties thus eliminating Partizan as Borota faced a barage of criticism from the Partizan faithful.
The defending league champions were on a downward spiral in the league, too, as unexpected losses tied them firmly to the bottom half of the table. Only a few months later, Borota would repeat the calamitous mistake from Dresden, this time in December 1978 during the 63rd league edition of the Eternal Derby versus bitter cross-town rivals Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade is a football club from Belgrade, Serbia. The club is a part of the Red Star Sports Society.Red Star Belgrade is the most successful Serbian club, with a record of 25 national championships and 23 national cups in both Serbian and ex-Yugoslav competitions...
. Playing in the snow-covered JNA Stadium, the goalkeeper again collected the ball from a cross in front of opposing forwards while colliding with one of them, and again wrongly assumed that play stoppage had been called, thus placing the ball down unguarded. The referee actually didn't call a foul since Borota firmly held control of the ball during the aerial challenge so Red Star forward Miloš Šestić
Miloš Šestic
Miloš Šestić is a Serbian retired footballer who spent most of his career at Red Star Belgrade during the 1970s and early 1980s. He also played for Olympiacos, FK Vojvodina, FK Zemun, OFK Beograd and FK Voždovac as well as the Yugoslavia national football team.- References :...
snuck in and pushed it into empty net for the match's opening goal. Red Star eventually recorded a 1-3 victory. Various urban legends persist about this event: from the one that Šestić actually mislead Borota on purpose by telling him, while the keeper was down on the ground with the ball in his hands, that the ref had called a foul to the one that Borota was confused by the sound of a whistle that came from a Red Star fan in the stands.
Due to his shaky displays and the team's overall atrocious form, Borota lost the coach's trust, making only 16 appearances between the posts that season. Head coach Mladinić resigned two weeks after the derby in late December during the winter break as Florijan Matekalo
Florijan Matekalo
Florijan Matekalo was a Croatian and Yugoslav footballer and manager. He played for both the Kingdom of Yugoslavia's national team and the Banovina of Croatia's national team.Matekalo started his career with local side Elektrobosna Jajce before moving to Slavija Sarajevo...
took over from January. In March, before the season's end, with the team battling relegation threat, Borota (who was about to turn 27 years of age) got sold to Chelsea.
Chelsea
Borota signed for Chelsea in March 1979 for a transfer fee of £70,000 with the club on the verge of relegation from the First DivisionFootball League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
. Brought in by manager Danny Blanchflower
Danny Blanchflower
Robert Dennis "Danny" Blanchflower was a former Northern Ireland international footballer and football manager, and journalist who captained Tottenham Hotspur F.C. during its double-winning season of 1961. He was ranked as the greatest player in Spurs history by The Times in 2009...
as a replacement for legendary goalie Peter Bonetti
Peter Bonetti
Peter Phillip Bonetti is a former football goalkeeper for Chelsea, the St. Louis Stars, Dundee United and England. Bonetti was known for his safe handling, lightning reflexes and his graceful style, for which he was given the nickname, "The Cat"...
, Borota made his debut against champions-elect Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
on 4 March 1979 and impressed in a 0–0 draw. However, the next five league matches all ended in defeat, culminating in a 6-0 thrashing by Nottingham Forest as Borota ultimately could not prevent relegation to the Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
. He continued with his flamboyant and somewhat eccentric
Eccentricity (behavior)
In popular usage, eccentricity refers to unusual or odd behavior on the part of an individual. This behavior would typically be perceived as unusual or unnecessary, without being demonstrably maladaptive...
style – on occasions, he would dribble up the field and attempt to get past opposition players or throw the ball against the crossbar when taking a goal kick
Goal kick
A goal kick, called a goalie kick in some regions,is a method of restarting play in a game of association football.-Award:A goal kick is awarded to the defending team when the ball goes out of the field of play by crossing the goal line when the last person to touch the ball was from the attacking...
– which endeared him to the Chelsea fans and helped make him a cult hero at the club.
As the 1979-80 season in Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
began, manager Blanchflower resigned in September 1979 and England legend Geoff Hurst
Geoff Hurst
Sir Geoffrey Charles Hurst MBE is a retired England footballer best remembered for his years with West Ham. He made his mark in World Cup history as the only player to have scored a hat-trick in a World Cup final. His three goals came in the 1966 final for England in their 4–2 win over West...
was brought in as replacement. Borota continued as a regular under Hurst as the team finished fourth in the standings, missing the promotion on goal-difference.
Ahead of the 1980-81 season Hurst named Borota to be the squad captain. Borota was voted Chelsea player of the year in 1981 after keeping 16 clean sheets
Shutout
In team sports, a shutout refers to a game in which one team prevents the opposing team from scoring. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball....
that season; he made 114 appearances for the club.
However, his erratic behaviour sometimes backfired and led to the team conceding goals, which did not endear him to his managers. After a fall-out with John Neal
John Neal (footballer)
John Neal is a former English football player and manager.Neal was a full-back whose playing career included numerous clubs, including Hull City, Southend United and Swindon Town...
he joined Brentford
Brentford F.C.
Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....
in 1982 (with Chelsea still in the Second Division) and later Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
sides Boavista
Boavista
Circuito da Boavista was a street circuit in Oporto , Portugal used twice for the Formula One Portuguese Grand Prix.The course began at the harbor-front "Esplanada do Rio de Janeiro", continued on "Avenida da Boavista" , and then twisted its way through small neighborhoods back to the start-finish...
and FC Porto. He made 114 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea and kept 36 clean sheets.
International
As he came into his own with FK Partizan during league-winning the 1977-78 season, Borota started getting national team callups as well.The 26-year-old Hajduk Split's keeper Ivan Katalinić
Ivan Katalinic
Ivan Katalinić is a Croatian football manager and former Hajduk Split and Southampton goalkeeper. As a member of Hajduk's famous "golden generation" of the seventies, he won four Yugoslav championships and five consecutive cups.At the beginning of 1980 came a move to Southampton where he stayed...
had been the national team's first choice goalie at the time under 3-man head coaching commission (consisting of Marko Valok
Marko Valok
Marko Valok is a former footballer who represented Yugoslavia. He played club football in Yugoslavia with FK Partizan.He coached Burma, FK Partizan, Budućnost Titograd, Philadelphia Fury, FK Vojvodina, Adana Demirspor, Borac Banja Luka, Teteks Tetovo, Galenika Zemun and FK Rad.-External links: at...
, Stevan Vilotić
Stevan Vilotić
Stevan "Ćele" Vilotić was a former Yugoslav football manager, who managed both international and club squads.-Club:Vilotić was head manager of several clubs during the 1960s.-International:...
, and Gojko Zec
Gojko Zec
Gojko Zec was a famous Serbian football manager. He coached OFK Beograd, FK Partizan, FK Borac Banja Luka, NK Rijeka, Red Star Belgrade, Aris, Yugoslavia FK Borac Čačak....
) as well as under previous head coach Ivan Toplak
Ivan Toplak
Ivan Toplak is a former Serbian football player and manager. He got 1 cap for Yugoslavia.-External links:*...
, however, the team's faltering 1978 World Cup qualifying campaign
1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
Listed below are the dates and results for the 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the European zone . For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification....
with two opening losses that led to Toplak's removal prompted a need to look at other options in goal as well.
The coaching triumvirate of Valok, Vilotić and Zec gave 25-year-old Borota a debut as second half substitute for Katalinić on 5 October 1977 in the away friendly versus Hungary.
1978 World Cup qualifying
One month after his debut, Borota got a surprise opportunity to start in the crucial qualifier away versus Romania that was a must-win for Yugoslavia. The contest turned into a furious and epic scoring affair with Borota amateurishly conceding a long-range lob effort by Iosif Vigu only 4 minutes in. Plavi overturned the score to 1-2 by the 18th minute on a goal from Safet SušićSafet Sušic
Safet "Pape" Sušić is a Bosnian former footballer and current manager of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team. In his playing days, he operated as playmaking attacking midfielder...
and a superb 25-meter strike by Dražen Mužinić
Dražen Mužinic
Dražen Mužinić is a former Croatian professional footballer. He was a midfielder.Mužinić spent most of his career in his native Yugoslavia...
, but the momentum shifted again as Anghel Iordănescu
Anghel Iordanescu
Anghel Iordănescu is a Major General and former Romanian football striker, currently a politician. In 2007 Iordănescu retired from football, and the following February, after his predecessor resigned, he became a member of the Romanian Senate, sitting on the Social Democratic Party benches.-Career...
and László Bölöni managed to beat Borota twice more by halftime for 3-2 Romanian lead with poor aerial heading effort and bad positional play of Yugoslav defenders contributing to both goals. Early into the second half young Sušić took over again: first with a great individual move blowing by several defenders before scoring followed ten minutes later by a hard driven low shot off a laid-on free kick, for a 3-4 Yugoslavia lead. Still, Romanians mustered up one more comeback, albeit partial with a headed goal by Dudu Georgescu for 4-4, but Yugoslavs responded right back through Aleksandar Trifunović
Aleksandar Trifunovic (footballer)
Aleksandar Trifunović is a Serbian former midfielder who played for SFR Yugoslavia....
and Zoran Filipović
Zoran Filipovic
Zoran Filipović was a player of great success in the 1970s and 1980s for Red Star Belgrade and SL Benfica...
by the end for a 4-6 final score.
Despite a win being recorded, Borota was demoted to the bench as Katalinić went back between the posts for the next must-win qualifier at home versus Spain that Yugoslavia had to win by 2 goals in order to qualify.
Following the failure to beat Spain and qualify for the World Cup, the coaching commission was disbanded with only Vilotić continuing as the head coach for the time being. He led the team in two friendlies and gave Borota a substitute appearance against Italy.
Euro 80 qualifying
For the start of Euro 80 qualifying in fall 1978 FSJ brought back Biće Mladinić, who at the time also led FK Partizan, to be the next national team head coach.The campaign began at home versus old rivals Spain and Yugoslavia lost again as Borota sat on the bench. For the next qualifier away at Romania on 25 October 1978, Mladinić gave Borota (his goalie at Partizan) a start. The high scoring from the previous qualifying cycle from a year earlier repeated again, but this time Romania won 3-2. Pižon Petrović put Yugoslavia up on a penalty kick for 0-1 at halftime, but Romanians came back in the second half with three unanswered goals (a brace by defender Ştefan Sameş
Stefan Sames
Ştefan Sameş was a Romanian professional football player and manager.-Career:Born in Dobroiești, Sameş began playing football for the youth side of FC Steaua Bucureşti. He made his Romanian first division debut at age 19, playing for FC Universitatea Craiova while on loan from Steaua during 1971...
followed by Iordanescu penalty kick). This was Borota's last national team appearance.
He finished his international career with 4 caps in total, two of which were starts in competitive matches.
Post-playing
Borota tried his hand at coaching, but didn't get further than several low-profile appointments in South AfricaSouth Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
during the 1980s.
By the early 1990s he came back to Belgrade. Already devoting much of his time to abstract painting (he had his work displayed in London in 1981 while an active player), Borota put together an exhibition in Srećna nova umetnost gallery in Belgrade's SKC
Studentski kulturni centar
Studentski Kulturni Centar , abbreviated as "SKC", is a cultural centre in Belgrade, Serbia.The center opened in 1971 in the building that had up to that point been used by state security agency UDBA. The opening of SKC was seen by many as the communist regime's concession to the youth of Belgrade...
. In 1994 he was implicated in an art theft
Art theft
Art theft is usually for the purpose of resale or for ransom . Stolen art is sometimes used by criminals to secure loans.. One must realize that only a small percentage of stolen art is recovered. Estimates range from 5 to 10%. This means that little is known about the scope and characteristics of...
ring of Paja Jovanović
Paja Jovanovic
Pavle "Paja" Jovanović was the most prominent Serbian Realist painter alongside Uroš Predić. He is considered one of Serbia's greatest academic painters. His most famous and recognizable paintings include Serbian Migrations, Crowning of Stefan Dušan, Takovo Uprising, Cockfighting, Decorating of...
paintings and served a six-month spell in investigative detention.
After getting out of prison, through his friendship with Vujadin Boškov
Vujadin Boškov
Vujadin Boškov is a retired Serbian football player and coach.Boškov was born in the village of Begeč near Novi Sad, Danube Banovina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia). He played with FK Vojvodina for most of his career...
and Siniša Mihajlović
Siniša Mihajlovic
Siniša Mihajlović is a Serbian football manager and former player. He was in charge of Serie A club Fiorentina since June 2010 to November 2011....
, Borota moved to Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
where he made a living by painting.
He died on 12 February 2010 in Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
, after a long illness, aged 56. He was laid to rest at the New Cemetery in Belgrade on 25 February 2010 with the sombre ceremony attended by his friends and colleagues such as Moca Vukotić, Slobodan Santrač, Pižon Petrović, Xhevat Prekazi, and Milutin Šoškić
Milutin Šoškic
Milutin Šoškić is a Serbian former goalkeeper who is one of FK Partizan's biggest legends.- References :**...
among others.
External links
- Profile at Reprezentacija
- Petar Borota 1952–2010, chelseaFC, 13 Feb 2010
- Preminuo legendarni golman Petar Borota, MTS Mondo, 12 February 2010