Radomir Antic
Encyclopedia
Radomir Antić is a Serbia
n former football defender and former football manager for the Serbian national team
.
Following a 17-year playing career he found his true calling in coaching.
He is the only individual who has managed FC Barcelona
, Real Madrid
, and Atlético Madrid
. Additionally, Antić is one of only two men to have managed both FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, long-time bitter rivals (the other one is Enrique Fernández Viola
).
to a Serbian family that settled in the small Banat
town shortly before his birth (his father Jovan is from Janja
village near Bijeljina
, Bosnia and Herzegovina, his mother Milka from Grmeč
region). The family then moved to Titovo Užice when Radomir was six years old. He started his playing career with FK Sloboda Titovo Užice
(1967–1968) and then moved to the club where he would play most of his career, FK Partizan
(1968–1976).
In the summer of 1976, he signed for Fenerbahçe in Turkey. He spent two seasons in Istanbul
before moving to La Liga
where he played for Real Zaragoza
.
In 1980, Antić moved on to Luton Town
, helping them win the Football League Second Division
title in 1982 and staying until 1984. Known in England as Raddy, in May 1983, he scored the goal that saved Luton Town from relegation from the top division
, the goal coming just four minutes from time in the final league match of the season; the game was against Manchester City
, who themselves were relegated as a result, at City's Maine Road
stadium. This prompted a famous scene in which Luton manager David Pleat
ran across the pitch at full-time, hopping and waving his arms wildly in celebration. Already in his thirties when he arrived at Luton, Antić already looked to coaching as a career option once his playing days are finished. While an active player in England, he enrolled in and completed the coaching college in Belgrade (Viša trenerska škola). In that regard he often cites Pleat as an influence on his later coaching style.
After saving Luton's First Division status, Antic spent one more season at Kenilworth Road
before hanging up his boots in his 36th year.
Antić made one appearance for the Yugoslav national team, coming on as a substitute in the 80th minute for injured Franjo Vladić
(who himself came on as a sub for Vladimir Petrović Pižon some eighteen minutes earlier) in a friendly versus Hungary on 26 September 1973 in Belgrade.
(1985–87), working under head coach Nenad Bjeković
. Partizan won the 1985–86 league title amid a huge match-fixing controversy.
In early July 1987, Fahrudin Jusufi
was brought in as the new head coach and initially Antić continued his assistant role. For the pre-season training ahead of the 1987–88 season, the team went abroad where Jusufi and Antić got into a row over player personnel issues that resulted in Antić being essentially demoted to the position of Partizan under-16 youth team (cadet squad) coach.
. In addition to formerly playing for the club, his appointment owed a lot to being recommended for the job by countryman Vujadin Boškov
, who successfully led Sampdoria
at the time, but still enjoyed a lot of clout in Spain having led Zaragoza (coached Antić there for two years) and other La Liga clubs during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The squad was a fairly modest one without any really big names; the most notable players being the aging Spanish international midfielder Juan Señor
and forward Miguel Pardeza who came up through Real Madrid's youth system as part of Quinta del Buitre
. The club also had some young assets: a pair of 22-year-olds Francisco Villarroya
and Juan Vizcaíno
who were well on their way to becoming future Spanish internationals as well as eccentric Paraguayan goalie José Luis Chilavert
who came to the club from Argentina's San Lorenzo
the same summer Antić did. Antić's La Liga coaching debut occurred on 4 September 1988 in a game versus Valencia CF
that ended in a scoreless draw. The initial period was rough with the club hovering in and around relegation zone, followed by a period of slight improvement, but still stuck in the lower half of the table. The sudden and somewhat unexpected breakthrough came during last eight league matches of the season as Antić's Zaragoza started posting win after win in a rapid climb up the table, finishing the season in 5th place, thus qualifying for the UEFA Cup
.
He ended up spending two full seasons (1988–1990) managing a club he also turned out for as a player.
came calling in late March 1991 and Antić took over from club legend Alfredo Di Stéfano
following los Merengues elimination from the European Cup by Oleg Romantsev's Spartak Moscow
at the quarterfinal stage. Di Stéfano had been on thin ice since the 1-0 league defeat in mid-March away to mid-table CD Logroñés
(Real's third league loss in a row), but it was the 1–3 return leg quarter-final European Cup home loss against the Russians at the Bernabéu
on 20 March 1991 that served as the last straw that prompted Di Stefano's removal. In La Liga, at the time, after 26 matches, the club occupied 7th spot in the standings.
Used to winning major trophies, the royal club was in turmoil with Antić coming in as their third head coach of the season after John Toshack
and Di Stéfano.
, Míchel, Fernando Hierro
, Manolo Sanchís, Gheorghe Hagi
, and aging Hugo Sánchez
as the club's established stars, Antić's debut took place at the Bernabéu versus Real Oviedo
on Sunday, 24 March 1991, ending in somewhat disappointing 1–1 draw considering Oviedo played with 10 men since the 68th minute.
Things would get even worse the following week with the 0–1 home loss to mid-table Real Burgos
and downright critical the week after as Real got beaten 3–1 away at Luis Aragonés
' relegation-battling Espanyol
by conceding two late goals, dropping los Merengues to the 10th spot in La Liga. After only three league matches, Antić was feeling the full pressure of the Real hotseat.
Things finally started clicking with the 4–0 home win versus Valencia on 14 April, that led to a five-match winning streak. The 3–3 away draw away at Osasuna ended the streak, but the team quickly put together another 3-match run to end the season. On 8 June, the season ended on a high note with a 1–0 home win against champions-elect FC Barcelona
in El Clásico
. In total, Antić led Real in the last 12 league matches (8 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses) of the 1990–91 season, improving Real's standing to third in the league, and qualifying for the UEFA Cup
.
, prominent member of the Red Star Belgrade
's 1991
European Cup
winning side, as well as promising 21-year-old Luís Enrique
from Sporting de Gijón
. Once the season began, one player especially excelled under Antić: 23-year-old Hierro, normally a defenceman, got moved up further into the midfield and responded by scoring in numbers, eventually ending the season on 21 league goals, the greatest single-season offensive output of his career. Antić's team began the season in furious fashion with 12 wins and one draw in the opening thirteen league matches.
The way Antić got fired mid-season in January 1992, showed the full range of club politics as well as the dog-eat-dog nature of top club coaching. He was enjoying a good run as the club's coach when then Real president Ramón Mendoza
brought Leo Beenhakker
into the organization in a vaguely defined sporting director role. In a matter of weeks Antić was sacked and replaced with Beenhakker. At the time of Antić's firing, Real was holding the top spot in La Liga by a 7-point margin and was also smoothly through to the UEFA Cup
quarterfinals.
Proving perhaps that what goes around comes around, led by Beenhakker, Real squandered the seven-point lead, losing the title to their bitter rivals FC Barcelona
on the last day of the season. They also got eliminated from UEFA Cup by Torino Calcio at the semifinal stage.
when the club's brass fired previous longtime coach Javier Irureta
after week 19 of the 1992/93 season with the club dangerously close to the relegation zone in 16th spot and a one match stint of caretaker Julio Marigil Marín. Antić took over from week 21 and completed the season with the club, managing to avoid relegation by finishing two spots above the drop zone. He remained at the club for two more seasons after that.
During summer 1993 transfer window, he signed Slaviša Jokanović
from FK Partizan
whose midfield presence greatly helped the squad. The expectations at Oviedo were obviously much more modest compared to Real, with mere top league survival being the biggest goal. It was therefore no small surprise that a very low budget Antić-led Oviedo team finished the 1993–94 league season in 9th place.
Antić's most notable signing at Oviedo came before the start of 1994–95 season when he brought often injured Prosinečki from Real Madrid, thus reuniting with a player he signed to Madrid in the first place. Oviedo again finished the La Liga season in respectable 9th position, missing a European spot by a couple of points.
, a club that he ended up coaching during three stints.
His achievements with transforming Oviedo's fortunes led to offers from bigger Spanish clubs. Despite having been in final stages of the negotiations with Valencia CF
with even a pre-contract signed, Antić decided to take the offer by Atlético's president Jesús Gil
, leading to the Serb's first engagement with the club that ended up lasting three seasons (1995–98). The squad he took over during summer 1995 was a talented one featuring the quality core of José Luis Caminero
, Kiko Narváez, and Diego Simeone, but with a reputation of continuous underachievement. In the season prior to his arrival, the club finished one point above relegation zone by earning a 2–2 draw versus Sevilla FC
on the last matchday of the season.
, embattled Colombian striker Adolfo Valencia
, Brazilian Iván Rocha
, Polish striker Roman Kosecki
, Russian winger Igor Dobrovolski
, etc.
First on Antić's wish list was defender Viktor Onopko
whom he coached at Real Oviedo: Atlético and the player agreed terms, however, Oviedo management weren't satisfied and the case ended up before FIFA arbitration commission, which ruled in Oviedo's favour. Antić then tried to get 19-year-old Fernando Morientes
from Albacete
, but the talented striker signed with Real Zaragoza. Out of the players Antić did manage to sign, the biggest find turned out to be unheralded winger Milinko Pantić
whom Antić plucked from obscurity in Panionios for very little money. The move initially raised eyebrows with many questioning the usefulness of a complete unknown who is about to turn 29 years of age, however, over the coming season Pantić would prove himself to be the missing piece this team needed with key goals and assists. Another key acquisition was 29-year-old Bulgarian tall centre forward Luboslav Penev, brought in from Valencia despite questions about his health due to a recent bout with testicular cancer
. Other incoming transfers included goalkeeper José Francisco Molina
and central defender Santi Denia
from Albacete, midfielder Roberto Fresnedoso from Espanyol
, and young Argentine striker Leo Biagini
from Newell's Old Boys
who starred at the 1995 FIFA World Youth Championship
.
Playing in the domestic league that was just expanded from 20 to 22 teams along with a new points system with three points awarded for a win, under Antić's command, the Atletico squad featuring Molina in goal, Delfí Geli
and Santi Denia in central defence, Roberto Solozábal
and Toni
on right and left back respectively, Juan Vizcaíno
(whom Antić previously coached at Zaragoza) and Caminero in centre midfield, Simeone and Pantić on right and left wing respectively, and finally Penev and Kiko upfront gelled together masterfully en route to a historic La Liga
/Copa del Rey
double in 1995–96 season. Other players that didn't start as often, but nevertheless contributed significantly throughout the season were Fresnedoso, Juan Manuel López, Biagini, Pirri Mori, etc.
Antić's Atlético began the league campaign in furious fashion with four impressive wins. Once they took the top league spot after week 2, los Colchoneros gave it up only once (after week 5 scoreless draw at Sevilla), before reclaiming it the very next week and impressively continuing on top until the end with Penev scoring 16 league goals, Simeone 12, Kiko 11, Pantić 10, and Caminero 9. Atlético also featured a stingy defence that allowed 32 goals – less than any other team in the league. Still, the title wasn't secure until the very last match, as Valencia pursued until the end. Going into the last round of matches on Saturday, 25 May 1996, Atlético was on 84 points with Alabacete to play at home while Valencia had 82 and Celta away. The victory was never in doubt as Simeone and Kiko scored in the first half sparking off jubilant scenes at Vicente Calderón Stadium
.
Month and a half earlier Antić already claimed his first trophy of the season, beating Johan Cruyff
's Barça in the Copa del Rey
final
in Zaragoza
after extra time on a goal by Pantić.
Winning the double endeared Antić to Atlético faithful and more importantly to club's controversial president Jesús Gil
. Notorious for quickly and impulsively going through coaches, Gil kept Antić at the helm of his team for two more seasons (three consecutive seasons in total) – a record of sorts considering Gil's trigger-happy nature when it came to gaffers.
As replacement for aging Luboslav Penev who was impressive during the double title season despite simultaneously recovering and also as general statement of intent for the coming season, Atlético was in the market for a marquee forward. Antić wanted to bring in promising 19-year-old Brazilian striker Ronaldo
from PSV and pushed hard within the club hierarchy for that to be done. However, he ultimately got overruled by higher instances and Ronaldo signed with FC Barcelona
about a month later. Instead, Atlético acquired 23-year-old Argentine striker Juan Esnáider
from Real Madrid. Another big acquisition was 24-year-old Czech defensive midfielder Radek Bejbl
from Slavia Praha who was coming off a great showing at Euro 96 where Czechs finished runners-up. The arrival of Bejbl meant that 30-year-old Vizcaíno lost his starting spot in defensive midfield.
Simultaneously playing on two difficult fronts proved to be much more demanding and the team quickly started lagging behind Real and Barcelona in La Liga, while in the Champions League they progressed to the quarterfinals on top of the group featuring Borussia Dortmund
, Widzew Łódź, and Steaua Bucureşti. In the second part of league campaign Atlético somewhat steadied its form, but was unable to make up the minus from early part of the season. In Champions League, the quarter-final clash vs Ajax
turned into an epic battle with tensions often spilling outside the pitch like when Jesús Gil publicly referred to Ajax as "FC Congo" due to the large number of black players of African and Surinamese origin on their team. Atlético got a great 1–1 result away as Esnáider scored a header after fine work from Delfí Geli on the right. The return leg in Madrid was a tense affair that saw los Colchoneros go up through Kiko in the first half before Overmars equalized just after halftime. With the score tied at one a piece and the match heading into extra-time, Antić decided to put Biagini on instead of Esnáider who was not pleased about the substitution and got into a vicious shouting match with the coach as he exited the pitch. Ten minutes into the extra period, Ajax's Portuguese forward Dani scored on a beautiful effort for 1–2, which meant that due to away-goals, Atlético would now have to score twice more to go through. Within five minutes they got a penalty, which Pantić converted, but couldn't manage one more goal despite attacking in waves for the remaining fifteen minutes. Due to Atlético's all out attack, Ajax even scored a third goal on the quick counter-attack through Tijani Babangida.
fresh from winning the Serie A
title with Juventus
. He also bought crafty Brazilian Juninho
from Middlesbrough
for ₤
12 million. In order to somewhat offset the costs, inspirational midfielder Diego Simeone was sold to Internazionale
. Naturally the expectations were huge, with spotlight especially focused on expensive new signings. Though both struggled with injuries causing them to miss significant chunk of the season, Vieri still managed to produce excellent form when fit to play with 24 goals in 24 league appearances, while Juninho struggled to make similar impact with only 6 goals in 23 league appearances. When Atletico started sputtering in La Liga, the rumblings about Antić's possible dismissal were heard for the first time. When Atlético got eliminated by Lazio
at the semi-final stage of 1997–98
UEFA Cup
, Gil launched into an obscenity-laced tirade against Spanish television for reporting he has lined up an Italian coach to replace Antić.
In the end, that is exactly what happened as he was let go at season's end during the summer of 1998 to make way for Arrigo Sacchi
.
final
at the freshly opened La Cartuja Stadium in Sevilla where they ended up losing heavily to Claudio Ranieri
's Valencia CF
(0–3).
Antić was again let go at season's end, and eventually replaced with Ranieri.
Antić's third arrival to the club ahead of week 27 did little to change matters as Atlético lost on his return, falling back into the relegation zone and never coming out of it until the end of the season. Despite the goalscoring exploits of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
, they were eliminated from UEFA Cup
at the eight-final stage by RC Lens
, but relegation from La Liga several months later came as the most painful blow of all. Antić was let go after week 37 with Atletico already mathematically relegated with one league match left in the season. For the final match the team was coached by Fernando Zambrano.
Making the Copa del Rey final for the second consecutive season came as one bright spot in an otherwise disastrous season, but even that wasn't to be as they were beaten to the trophy by RCD Espanyol
.
in the summer of 2000.
It turned out to be another unsuccessful stint for him, and at times full of controversy. It is mostly remembered for the mid-season free transfer signing of English football's bad boy Stan Collymore
from Bradford City
on 30 January 2001, against the wishes and advice of many watchers. The move garnered a lot of media interest, but also ended up having a disruptive influence on the rest of the team. It soon became apparent that Collymore is not only out of shape physically, but also not focused on the game mentally. Barely a month after arriving to much fanfare, Collymore left Oviedo without notifying anyone from the club and soon released a statement through a spokesperson announcing his retirement from football.
Following a string of poor results, Oviedo was relegated to Segunda División
at the end of the season.
in late January 2003 on initiative by club president Joan Gaspart
to take over from recently sacked Louis van Gaal
. Caretaker head coach, Antonio de la Cruz, took temporary charge of team affairs until Antić took the reins with the famous team occupying the embarrassing 15th spot in La Liga
standings with only 23 points from 20 league matches (six wins, five draws, and nine losses), but well placed in the Champions League
second phase
with two wins from as many matches. The club's league position was so weak that mere top-flight survival was put forth as Antić's immediate goal. On the other hand, in Champions League, the expectations were substantial. Some press outlets reported that his six month €600,000 contract with Barça was incentive based, stipulating automatic 1-year extension at the end of the season if the club qualifies for the following season's Champions League based on the domestic league finish (top 4).
Inheriting a squad of players he didn't pick himself, Antić immediately wanted some fresh blood by bringing in Juan Pablo Sorín
from Lazio
. He also started giving regular first team appearances to young goalie Víctor Valdés
as well as throwing another youngster Andrés Iniesta
into the first-team mix. Additionally, Antić moved Xavi
further up the field, just behind the line of forwards thus freeing him up from the defensive duties he had under van Gaal, which allowed the diminutive midfielder to fully showcase his creativity. In general, Antić simplified the players' individual tasks, which was in stark contrast with van Gaal's complicated tactical setups.
Antić managed to stabilize the squad and lead it to 6th place La Liga finish, ensuring UEFA Cup spot. His record with the club in the season since taking over was nine wins, six draws, and three losses. In the Champions League, under Antić, Barça dominated its second phase group throughout February and early March, which gave the team a much needed confidence boost for the rest of the season on all fronts. In fact, Antić's only third match in charge of Barça was an important Champions League clash at home versus Inter Milan that the Catalans ended up winning in empathic fashion 3–0, thus marking the coach's return to the Champions League after six years and also extending the team's win streak to 11 consecutive CL matches, thus breaking the old record by AC Milan. However, Antić's Barça lost the hard fought quarter-final
tie to Marcello Lippi
-led Juventus
. After Atlético six years earlier, it was Antić's second opportunity to lead a club in the Champions League, and again it ended in heartbreak after extra time. Barça got a great result in the first leg away in Turin after scoring the away goal through Javier Saviola
roughly ten minutes from time to tie the score at 1–1, and looked to be in great shape heading back to Camp Nou. The second leg turned into another tough battle with very little separating the sides: Juve scored the opening goal midway through the second half, but Barça responded almost immediately and furthermore received a huge boost when Edgar Davids
got sent off for second bookable offense ten minutes from the end. With momentum on their side, Barcelona mounted wave after wave of attack. Antić put Juan Riquelme
on instead of Marc Overmars
, and then early into the extra period threw on Gerard López for Michael Reiziger
, but still couldn't make the man advantage count mostly due to some brilliant defending from Lilian Thuram
. Towards the end of extra time, following full back Alessandro Birindelli
's right-side run and cross, Marcelo Zalayeta
scored on Juve's only shot of the period thus knocking Barça out of the competition.
On 20 April 2003, as part of the league season's 30th round, Antić's team managed a respectable 1–1 draw in El Clásico
away at the Bernabéu
to league leaders Real Madrid.
Despite all his success in difficult circumstances, Antić was replaced with Frank Rijkaard
during the offseason. The coaching change came as part of the general team overhaul initiated by the newly arrived club president Joan Laporta
.
to hire him mid-season 2003/04 in difficult circumstances similar to Barça's one year earlier. The team lost 2–5 at home to Real Sociedad
, dropping to just one point above relegation zone, all of which prompted coach Miguel Ángel Lotina
's resignation. Antić took over just three days later. In another similarity to Barça, Celta was also in good shape in UEFA Champions League
where it awaited the round-of-16 tie versus Arsenal
.
Following his arrival on 29 January 2004, Antić's debut at Celta's bench took place away at Real Betis
where the losing continued with final score being 1–0. Following this match in which he felt Celta deserved a more positive result, Antić identified overturning the loss of self-confidence among some of his players due to club's weak league position as his biggest challenge. He also mentioned that important squad members Aleksandr Mostovoi, Edu
, and Jesuli
were experiencing trouble hitting their usual form following injury layoffs. Antić's first move on the transfer front was bringing Saša Ilić
from FK Partizan
. Unfortunately, Antić couldn't pull the trick this time around. The squad never gelled together and he eventually resigned on 29 March 2004 following a 0–2 home loss to Real Zaragoza
that dropped the team to second-last league position. He was in charge of the team in just nine league games, managing to get only seven points. They were also easily eliminated from the Champions League
by Arsenal (5–2 on aggregate).
Antić's resignation hardly changed matters as Celta got relegated at the end of the season.
He later admitted joining Celta in such circumstances was a mistake and vowed never to accept coaching jobs in mid-season again.
(FSS) to take over his native country's national team. On 25 August he was officially unveiled as the new head coach. The appointment came in somewhat controversial circumstances as previous head coach Miroslav Đukić was being fired following a disastrous 2008 Olympic campaign and Đukić's public feuding with FA president Tomislav Karadžić
. Throughout the previous decade, Antić's name had been mentioned anytime the national team job was available and many times he turned it down so many found it surprising that he finally said yes.
The appointment also marked 59-year-old Antić's return to coaching after four years. According to both Antić and Karadžić, the negotiations between the coach and the Serbian FA were very short and the agreement was reached quickly after Antić's only conditions that he brings in his own support staff and that his second in command is his long time collaborator Rešad Kunovac
were accepted. Antić's initial salary was reportedly somewhere in the range of €305,000 to €325,000 per year, along with a €500,000 bonus incentive if the team manages to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. Antić's annual earnings from the job were thus less than Javier Clemente
's €360,000 per year salary when the Basque
was the Serbian team's head coach from 2006 until 2007.
, Antić had precious little time to acquaint himself with the players and prepare. His bench debut took place on 6 September 2008 in a qualifier versus the Faroe Islands
in front of less than 10,000 spectators at the almost empty Marakana stadium. And although the 2–0 win was far from convincing, Antić and his team got passing marks as all eyes were on the match away at powerhouse France
in Saint Denis four days later. Looking at the team he fielded on his debut, Antić introduced some fresh talent from the domestic league such as midfielders Nenad Milijaš
and Zoran Tošić
as well as defender Ivan Obradović. Furthermore, he brought back skillful attacking midfielder Miloš Krasić
who was completely ignored by Đukić. Taking on France in the next match Antić returned to the tried and tested players, however he still caused a surprise by starting 19-year-old Miralem Sulejmani
on the left wing thus continuing his long-standing practice of throwing in-form youngsters into the fire. Also surprising was leaving tall striker Nikola Žigić
on the bench and starting with only on attacker, Marko Pantelić
, upfront in 4–5–1 formation. And while Serbia lost 2–1 to somewhat wounded France that just days earlier shockingly lost to Austria, many positives were taken from the match at Stade de France
such as a brave attacking approach with a lot of running from the wings. Next up in October was in-form Lithuania
that was on a roll after beating Romania and Austria without allowing a goal. Contrary to expectations, Antić's team made easy work of the Lithuanians in front of some 20,000 home fans by scoring twice early, and adding one more towards the end for a 3–0 final score. Four days later, the team was in Vienna to face Austria and again it put in a dominating performance: scoring three goals within a 10-minute span during first half as shellshocked Austrians never managed to recover.
As the winter break arrived, Serbia clearly made a statement of intent by sitting atop the group, tied on points with Lithuania, but with better goal difference. Simultaneously on the player personnel front, Antić was involved in a battle to secure the national team loyalty of two young, up-and-coming players who grew up outside of the country, 20-year-old defender Neven Subotić
and 18-year-old striker Bojan Krkić
. With Subotić he was successful as the player choose Serbia over United States and Bosnia-Herzegovina in December 2008, while Krkić choose Spain despite Antić's numerous attempts to get him to come to Serbian national team.
Next match came during late March 2009, facing Romania
in chilly conditions on hard surface at Constanţa
. In what was probably its toughest test of the entire qualifications, Serbia came through again by defeating Romanians 2–3. Antić's resolve to continue playing attacking football (with two strikers Žigić and Pantelić up front, and two offensively minded wingers Krasić and Milan Jovanović
just behind them) paid off again as Serbia all but eliminated Romania from the running for top two spots.
In his first qualifying campaign managing Serbia, Antić led Serbia to first in their group in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. After successful qualification, it was reported in November 2009 (amid reports of icy relations between Antić and FA president Karadžić) that Antić and FSS agreed a new contract during friendly trips to Belfast and London where Serbia played Northern Ireland
and South Korea, respectively. This temporarily put the feud reports to rest. Over the coming weeks, Antić's new base salary became the subject of rife press speculation putting the new sum anywhere from €528,000 per year to astronomical €1.2 million per year. Since the contract wasn't formally signed and announced by mid December, despite assurances, even by Antić's agent, that it will happen any day now, the reports of Antić-Karadžić feud reignited, especially when irritated Antić himself flippantly claimed that he doesn't know anything about a new contract. Eventually, on 18 December 2009 Antić's new contract was announced, extending his term to 2012.
Early in the 2010, in addition to his regular assistants, Antić added experienced globetrotting Serbian coach Bora Milutinović in the adviser role. Milutinović in turn brought along his longtime assistant Chilean Julio César Moreno
. Antić mostly relied on them for opponent scouting.
In the runup to the World Cup, out of the group of players Antić used in qualifying and subsequent friendlies, only the aging defender Ivica Dragutinović
and midfielder Boško Janković
were ruled out through injury. Antić announced his 24-man squad in mid-May with no major surprises. The squad featured one extra player with an understanding that one would be cut on 1 June.
on 24 May 2010 with all but one player showing up – captain Stanković wasn't present due to playing the Champions League final
two days earlier, and he joined the team later in Austria. After one light training session on the day of the gathering, the team left for Leogang
the very next morning. Žigić wasn't on a plane to Austria due to being allowed to stay behind in order to deal with personal matters of singing the transfer deal with Birmingham City that required him to fly out to England on 26 May. The absence of two starters weren't the only issues at the start of the camp for Antić as Luković missed the first training session in Austria due to high fever and Krasić had to train separately due to muscle pain (primicac). During the training in Austria another player was allowed to leave the squad shortly – Bane Ivanović had a private reason as he was a best man at a wedding.
The first preparation friendly was played in Klagenfurt
against minnows New Zealand on 29 May. Despite the fact Serbia was missing some of its regulars such as Bane Ivanović and captain Dejan Stanković, the 0–1 loss was still shocking. Antić started in 4–4–2 formation with each of the 20 outfield players except Stanković and Ivanović getting a chance to play. The best scoring chances for Serbia fell to Subotić and Žigić, but both mised them inexplicably.
The next friendly against Poland in Kufstein
in terrible weather conditions also resulted in a surprising 0–0 scoreline with Serbia missing a host of scoring chances (especially striker Pantelić). In terms of determining the form of individual players and trying out various tactical formations, the contest turned out to be fairly useless for Antić since due to torrential rain that kept falling throughout the match, most of the protagonists were only concerned with not getting injured.
The dress rehearsal took place at home in Belgrade versus Cameroon and although the 4–3 win was finally recorded, it came in nervous fashion as the Africans took the lead twice following lax Serbian defending. Throughout the three friendlies, Antić often rotated the squad giving everyone decent minutes.
The second half began in much the same fashion. Hoping to inject some energy, Antić soon took out invisible Milijaš, replacing him with Zdravko Kuzmanović. While some openings were finally created (Žigić latching onto Pantelić's cross and somehow managing to mishit the ball away from goal with his heel in 59th minute), the match was still mostly a sedated and disjointed affair. Swapping forward for forward, Antić took off misfiring Žigić and inserted Danko Lazović. But then, just when the proceedings seemed headed for a drab goalless draw, central defender Luković (probably Serbia's best performer in the match up to that point) pulled down a Ghana player in the 74th minute and got sent off for a second bookable offense. As a result of going down to ten men, Antić was forced to patch a hole in central defense by bringing on Subotić – while the man he took off was largely ineffective Jovanović. Surprisingly, Serbia started playing much better, creating two excellent scoring opportunities in quick succession. First one involving Lazović winning the ball on the left in the 79th minute and squaring it for Pantelić who heeled it on to onrushing Krasić who in turn had his hard left-footed shot down the middle from 12 meters out saved by Richard Kingson
, followed by Vidić's free header from the resulting corner that ended up just over the bar. However, more bad luck soon struck Serbia as Kuzmanović needlessly handled in his own penalty area following a Ghana cross in the 85th minute, gifting Ghanaians the penalty and a 1–0 lead (interestingly the penalty call was not made by the main referee Héctor Baldassi
, but by the fourth official Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh
from the sidelines). Forced to chase the result for the remaining 5+ minutes, 10-man Serbia pushed forward in numbers in a desperate attempt of coming up with an equalizer thus leaving itself vulnerable to counter attack from quick Ghanaians and was extremely lucky not to go 0–2 down as Ghana hit the post in one-on-one situation with goalkeeper Stojković.
daily, Antić took issue with the views expressed by Tertsch. Considering Tertsch's political views to be anti-Serbian, Antić called him a "Nazi". Tertsch in turn sued Antić for libel and got a court ruling in his favour in the amount of ESP
2 million. Following appeals, the case even went before the Spanish Supreme Court that confirmed in mid-November 2003 the original ruling in Tertsch's favour, thus ordering Antić to pay the euro (€) equivalent of the originally awarded amount (€12,000).
and Marbella
. He is married to Vera. Serbian basketball player Nikola Lončar
is his son in law, having married his daughter Ana.
Antić also has a son Dušan who acts as his business manager and is involved in his father's affairs such as contract negotiations.
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 former football defender and former football manager for the Serbian national team
Serbia national football team
The Serbia national football team represents Serbia in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Serbia, the governing body for football in Serbia. Serbia's home ground is Stadion Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade and their last head coach was Vladimir Petrović...
.
Following a 17-year playing career he found his true calling in coaching.
He is the only individual who has managed FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
, Real Madrid
Real Madrid C.F.
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
, and Atlético Madrid
Atlético de Madrid
Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D., commonly known as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish football club based in Madrid who play in La Liga. Atlético have won both La Liga and the Copa del Rey on nine occasions, including a double in 1996; in Europe, they won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1962, were...
. Additionally, Antić is one of only two men to have managed both FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, long-time bitter rivals (the other one is Enrique Fernández Viola
Enrique Fernández Viola
Enrique Fernández Viola, commonly referred to as Enrique Fernández, was a Uruguayan footballer and manager who played for Nacional, FC Barcelona, Uruguay and the Catalan XI. As a manager he won two Uruguayan championships with Nacional and La Liga titles with both FC Barcelona and Real Madrid...
).
Playing career
Antić was born in ŽitišteŽitište
Žitište is a town and municipality in Central Banat District of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a population of 3,236, while Žitište municipality has 20,144 inhabitants.-Name:...
to a Serbian family that settled in the small Banat
Banat
The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania , the western part in northeastern Serbia , and a small...
town shortly before his birth (his father Jovan is from Janja
Janja
Janja is a town in the Bijeljina municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, administratively part of the Republika Srpska entity. Janja is located in Podrinje region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Janja is famous for the rivers Janja and Drina. Many people from Janja who now live in different countries...
village near Bijeljina
Bijeljina
Bijeljina is a city and municipality in northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. The city is the second largest in the Republika Srpska entity after Banja Luka and fifth largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is situated on the flat rich plains of Semberija...
, Bosnia and Herzegovina, his mother Milka from Grmeč
Grmeč
Grmeč is a mountain in the municipality of Bosanski Petrovac, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has an altitude of ....
region). The family then moved to Titovo Užice when Radomir was six years old. He started his playing career with FK Sloboda Titovo Užice
FK Sloboda Užice
FK Sloboda Užice is a football club from Užice, Serbia. In 2010 Sloboda merged with Sevojno Point, which had just been promoted to the Super Liga, and from then the club plays in the Super Liga, under the new name FK Sloboda Point Sevojno, until the name "Sloboda Užice" was restored as the club's...
(1967–1968) and then moved to the club where he would play most of his career, FK 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...
(1968–1976).
In the summer of 1976, he signed for Fenerbahçe in Turkey. He spent two seasons in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
before moving to La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
where he played for Real Zaragoza
Real Zaragoza
Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. is a Spanish association football team from Zaragoza in Spain. Founded on 18 March 1932, Real Zaragoza have spent the majority of their 78 year history in the Spanish top-flight. Real Zaragoza are Spain's 9th highest ranked team in overall league points...
.
In 1980, Antić moved on to Luton Town
Luton Town F.C.
Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...
, helping them win the Football League 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...
title in 1982 and staying until 1984. Known in England as Raddy, in May 1983, he scored the goal that saved Luton Town from relegation from the top division
Football 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....
, the goal coming just four minutes from time in the final league match of the season; the game was against Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
, who themselves were relegated as a result, at City's Maine Road
Maine Road
Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England that was home to Manchester City F.C. from its construction in 1923 until 2003...
stadium. This prompted a famous scene in which Luton manager David Pleat
David Pleat
David John Pleat is an English football player turned manager and sports commentator.He is remembered by his contemporaries primarily for his career as manager of Tottenham Hotspur and Luton Town football clubs, and for an oft-televised clip of him running onto the pitch in 1983 to celebrate after...
ran across the pitch at full-time, hopping and waving his arms wildly in celebration. Already in his thirties when he arrived at Luton, Antić already looked to coaching as a career option once his playing days are finished. While an active player in England, he enrolled in and completed the coaching college in Belgrade (Viša trenerska škola). In that regard he often cites Pleat as an influence on his later coaching style.
After saving Luton's First Division status, Antic spent one more season at Kenilworth Road
Kenilworth Road
Kenilworth Road Stadium is a football stadium in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. It has been home to Luton Town Football Club since 1905, when financial complications forced the club to leave its previous location at Dunstable Road...
before hanging up his boots in his 36th year.
Antić made one appearance for the Yugoslav national team, coming on as a substitute in the 80th minute for injured Franjo Vladić
Franjo Vladic
Franjo Vladić was a Bosnian Croat footballer who played for Yugoslavia national football team.-Career:He began his club career with the then largest regional side in Herzegovina, Velež Mostar...
(who himself came on as a sub for Vladimir Petrović Pižon some eighteen minutes earlier) in a friendly versus Hungary on 26 September 1973 in Belgrade.
Managerial career
After finishing his playing career at the age of 36, Antić started a career in coaching as an assistant 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...
(1985–87), working under head coach Nenad Bjeković
Nenad Bjekovic
Nenad Bjeković is a Serbian footballer of the late 1960s, 1970s who was very successful with OGC Nice in French Division 1...
. Partizan won the 1985–86 league title amid a huge match-fixing controversy.
In early July 1987, Fahrudin Jusufi
Fahrudin Jusufi
Fahrudin Jusufi is a former Yugoslav football defender of Gorani origin.-Career:...
was brought in as the new head coach and initially Antić continued his assistant role. For the pre-season training ahead of the 1987–88 season, the team went abroad where Jusufi and Antić got into a row over player personnel issues that resulted in Antić being essentially demoted to the position of Partizan under-16 youth team (cadet squad) coach.
Real Zaragoza
Antić's first head coaching position was with Real ZaragozaReal Zaragoza
Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. is a Spanish association football team from Zaragoza in Spain. Founded on 18 March 1932, Real Zaragoza have spent the majority of their 78 year history in the Spanish top-flight. Real Zaragoza are Spain's 9th highest ranked team in overall league points...
. In addition to formerly playing for the club, his appointment owed a lot to being recommended for the job by countryman 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...
, who successfully led Sampdoria
U.C. Sampdoria
Unione Calcio Sampdoria is an Italian association football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria...
at the time, but still enjoyed a lot of clout in Spain having led Zaragoza (coached Antić there for two years) and other La Liga clubs during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The squad was a fairly modest one without any really big names; the most notable players being the aging Spanish international midfielder Juan Señor
Juan Antonio Señor
Juan Antonio Señor Gómez is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a central midfielder.During his professional career, he played mainly for Zaragoza, amassing nearly 400 official appearances in nine years...
and forward Miguel Pardeza who came up through Real Madrid's youth system as part of Quinta del Buitre
Quinta del Buitre
La Quinta del Buitre is the moniker given by Spanish sport journalist Julio César Iglesias to the five homegrown Real Madrid players who were at the core of the team that dominated Spanish football in the 1980s. The name was derived from Emilio Butragueño's nickname El Buitre, the most charismatic...
. The club also had some young assets: a pair of 22-year-olds Francisco Villarroya
Francisco Villarroya
Francisco Javier Pérez Villarroya is a retired Spanish footballer who played mostly as a left midfielder.-Club career:...
and Juan Vizcaíno
Juan Vizcaíno
Juan Vizcaíno Morcillo is a retired Spanish footballer who played mainly as a defensive midfielder....
who were well on their way to becoming future Spanish internationals as well as eccentric Paraguayan goalie José Luis Chilavert
José Luis Chilavert
José Luis Félix Chilavert González is a Paraguayan former football player who played as a goalkeeper. He was a three-time IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper award winner....
who came to the club from Argentina's San Lorenzo
Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro
Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro is an Argentine sports club based in Boedo neighbourhood, Buenos Aires, mostly known because of its football team....
the same summer Antić did. Antić's La Liga coaching debut occurred on 4 September 1988 in a game versus Valencia CF
Valencia CF
Valencia Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football club based in Valencia, Spain. They play in La Liga and are one of the most successful and biggest clubs in Spanish Football and European Football. Valencia have won six La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey trophies, two Fairs Cups which was the...
that ended in a scoreless draw. The initial period was rough with the club hovering in and around relegation zone, followed by a period of slight improvement, but still stuck in the lower half of the table. The sudden and somewhat unexpected breakthrough came during last eight league matches of the season as Antić's Zaragoza started posting win after win in a rapid climb up the table, finishing the season in 5th place, thus qualifying for the UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
.
He ended up spending two full seasons (1988–1990) managing a club he also turned out for as a player.
Real Madrid
Real MadridReal Madrid C.F.
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
came calling in late March 1991 and Antić took over from club legend Alfredo Di Stéfano
Alfredo Di Stéfano
Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano Laulhé, born into a family of Italian immigrants from Capri, is a former Argentinian footballer and coach, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time...
following los Merengues elimination from the European Cup by Oleg Romantsev's Spartak Moscow
Spartak Moscow
Spartak Moscow may refer to the following teams based in Moscow, Russia:* FC Spartak Moscow, an association football club* HC Spartak Moscow, a professional ice hockey team* WBC Spartak Moscow, a women's basketball team...
at the quarterfinal stage. Di Stéfano had been on thin ice since the 1-0 league defeat in mid-March away to mid-table CD Logroñés
CD Logroñés
Club Deportivo Logroñés, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Logroño, in the autonomous community of La Rioja. Founded in 1940, it last played in Regional Preferente de La Rioja....
(Real's third league loss in a row), but it was the 1–3 return leg quarter-final European Cup home loss against the Russians at the Bernabéu
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium
The Estadio Santiago Bernabéu is an all-seater football stadium in Madrid, Spain. It was inaugurated on 14 December 1947 and is owned by Real Madrid Club de Fútbol. It has a current capacity of 85,454 spectators....
on 20 March 1991 that served as the last straw that prompted Di Stefano's removal. In La Liga, at the time, after 26 matches, the club occupied 7th spot in the standings.
Used to winning major trophies, the royal club was in turmoil with Antić coming in as their third head coach of the season after John Toshack
John Toshack
John Benjamin Toshack OBE is a Welsh former footballer and manager. He is currently the manager of Macedonia. He has also managed several others clubs including Swansea City, who he took from the Fourth Division to the First in four seasons.As a player, he is remembered for being part of the...
and Di Stéfano.
1990–91: Stopping the bleeding
With Emilio ButragueñoEmilio Butragueño
Emilio Butragueño Santos is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a striker.He was best known for his spell with Real Madrid...
, Míchel, Fernando Hierro
Fernando Hierro
Fernando Ruiz Hierro is a retired Spanish footballer. He is mostly known for his spells with Real Madrid and Spain, appearing in more than 500 official games with the former and representing the latter on nearly 100 occasions, whilst appearing in four World Cups and two European...
, Manolo Sanchís, Gheorghe Hagi
Gheorghe Hagi
Gheorghe Hagi is a former Romanian footballer. He was famous for his passing, close control, long shots and was regarded as one of the best attacking midfielders in Europe during the 1980s and 1990s and is considered the greatest Romanian footballer of all time...
, and aging Hugo Sánchez
Hugo Sánchez
Hugo Sánchez Márquez , popularly nicknamed Pentapichichi, or Hugol, is a Mexican football coach and former striker. He played for four European clubs, including Real Madrid. Sanchez is considered the first highly talented Mexican player. He was also a member of the Mexico national team, and...
as the club's established stars, Antić's debut took place at the Bernabéu versus Real Oviedo
Real Oviedo
Real Oviedo is a Spanish football club based in Oviedo, in the autonomous community of Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926, it currently plays in Segunda División B - Group 2....
on Sunday, 24 March 1991, ending in somewhat disappointing 1–1 draw considering Oviedo played with 10 men since the 68th minute.
Things would get even worse the following week with the 0–1 home loss to mid-table Real Burgos
Real Burgos CF
Real Burgos Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded in 1973, it ceased to compete in 1996 and returned in 2011, holding home games at Estadio El Plantío, with a 14,000-seat capacity.-History:Burgos CF was founded in 1936,...
and downright critical the week after as Real got beaten 3–1 away at Luis Aragonés
Luis Aragonés
José Luis Aragonés Suárez , usually referred to as Luis Aragonés and sometimes simply as Luis, is a former Spanish footballer and national coach....
' relegation-battling Espanyol
RCD Espanyol
Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona is a sports club based in Barcelona, Spain. It is best known for its football team. Espanyol currently play in the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat with seats for 40,500 spectators. It was inaugurated on 2 August 2009...
by conceding two late goals, dropping los Merengues to the 10th spot in La Liga. After only three league matches, Antić was feeling the full pressure of the Real hotseat.
Things finally started clicking with the 4–0 home win versus Valencia on 14 April, that led to a five-match winning streak. The 3–3 away draw away at Osasuna ended the streak, but the team quickly put together another 3-match run to end the season. On 8 June, the season ended on a high note with a 1–0 home win against champions-elect FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
in El Clásico
El Clásico
El Clásico , also known as El derbi Español, is the name given in football to a match between Real Madrid and Barcelona. It is contested twice a year in the Spanish La Liga competition, and more often if the clubs meet in other competitions...
. In total, Antić led Real in the last 12 league matches (8 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses) of the 1990–91 season, improving Real's standing to third in the league, and qualifying for the UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
.
1991–92: Success and sacking
Antić also spent the first half of the 1991/92 season (19 league matches) coaching the Spanish giants. During the 1991 summer transfer window, Antić brought in Robert ProsinečkiRobert Prosinecki
Robert Prosinečki is a Croatian football manager and former football midfielder. Prosinečki is regarded by many as the player with best technique that ever played in and for Croatia. Former national squad teammate Zvonimir Boban, humbly, also agreed with this. His dribbling is considered...
, prominent member of the 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...
's 1991
European Cup 1990-91
The 1990–91 season of the European Cup football club tournament was won for the first time by Red Star Belgrade on penalties in the final against Marseille. This was only the second time that an Eastern European side had won the competition, after Steaua Bucureşti of Romania...
European Cup
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
winning side, as well as promising 21-year-old Luís Enrique
Luís Enrique Martínez García
Luis Enrique Martínez García , known as Luis Enrique, is a retired Spanish footballer, and the current head coach of Serie A club A.S. Roma...
from Sporting de Gijón
Sporting de Gijón
Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club from Gijón, Asturias. Founded in 1 June 1905, it currently plays in Spanish first division....
. Once the season began, one player especially excelled under Antić: 23-year-old Hierro, normally a defenceman, got moved up further into the midfield and responded by scoring in numbers, eventually ending the season on 21 league goals, the greatest single-season offensive output of his career. Antić's team began the season in furious fashion with 12 wins and one draw in the opening thirteen league matches.
The way Antić got fired mid-season in January 1992, showed the full range of club politics as well as the dog-eat-dog nature of top club coaching. He was enjoying a good run as the club's coach when then Real president Ramón Mendoza
Ramón Mendoza
Ramón Mendoza was a Spanish lawyer and business man, most famous for his stint as football chairman of Real Madrid from 1985 until 1995. He was born in Madrid, Spain....
brought Leo Beenhakker
Leo Beenhakker
Leo Beenhakker is an international Dutch football coach, who is the current Sports Director of Újpest FC.- Coaching career :...
into the organization in a vaguely defined sporting director role. In a matter of weeks Antić was sacked and replaced with Beenhakker. At the time of Antić's firing, Real was holding the top spot in La Liga by a 7-point margin and was also smoothly through to the UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup 1991-92
The UEFA Cup 1991–92 was won by Ajax on away goals over Torino.Although this was the second season since the ban on English clubs in European competitions was lifted, only one English club was entered into the 1991–92 UEFA Cup...
quarterfinals.
Proving perhaps that what goes around comes around, led by Beenhakker, Real squandered the seven-point lead, losing the title to their bitter rivals FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
on the last day of the season. They also got eliminated from UEFA Cup by Torino Calcio at the semifinal stage.
Real Oviedo
Antić was hired to coach Real OviedoReal Oviedo
Real Oviedo is a Spanish football club based in Oviedo, in the autonomous community of Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926, it currently plays in Segunda División B - Group 2....
when the club's brass fired previous longtime coach Javier Irureta
Javier Irureta
Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano , Irureta for short, is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a forward, and a current manager....
after week 19 of the 1992/93 season with the club dangerously close to the relegation zone in 16th spot and a one match stint of caretaker Julio Marigil Marín. Antić took over from week 21 and completed the season with the club, managing to avoid relegation by finishing two spots above the drop zone. He remained at the club for two more seasons after that.
During summer 1993 transfer window, he signed Slaviša Jokanović
Slaviša Jokanovic
Slaviša Jokanović is a retired Serbian professional footballer who played in the 1990s and early 2000s....
from FK 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...
whose midfield presence greatly helped the squad. The expectations at Oviedo were obviously much more modest compared to Real, with mere top league survival being the biggest goal. It was therefore no small surprise that a very low budget Antić-led Oviedo team finished the 1993–94 league season in 9th place.
Antić's most notable signing at Oviedo came before the start of 1994–95 season when he brought often injured Prosinečki from Real Madrid, thus reuniting with a player he signed to Madrid in the first place. Oviedo again finished the La Liga season in respectable 9th position, missing a European spot by a couple of points.
Atlético Madrid
Antić's greatest coaching successes are undoubtedly tied to Atlético de MadridAtlético de Madrid
Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D., commonly known as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish football club based in Madrid who play in La Liga. Atlético have won both La Liga and the Copa del Rey on nine occasions, including a double in 1996; in Europe, they won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1962, were...
, a club that he ended up coaching during three stints.
His achievements with transforming Oviedo's fortunes led to offers from bigger Spanish clubs. Despite having been in final stages of the negotiations with Valencia CF
Valencia CF
Valencia Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football club based in Valencia, Spain. They play in La Liga and are one of the most successful and biggest clubs in Spanish Football and European Football. Valencia have won six La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey trophies, two Fairs Cups which was the...
with even a pre-contract signed, Antić decided to take the offer by Atlético's president Jesús Gil
Jesús Gil
Gregorio Jesús Gil y Gil was a Spanish businessman and politician. He served as Mayor of Marbella, between 1996 and 2002, and was also known for his 16-year stint as president of Spanish football club Atlético Madrid....
, leading to the Serb's first engagement with the club that ended up lasting three seasons (1995–98). The squad he took over during summer 1995 was a talented one featuring the quality core of José Luis Caminero
José Luis Caminero
José Luis Pérez Caminero is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a midfielder.Arguably one of the best Spanish footballers of the 1990s, Caminero was able to play in any midfield position, in the middle or in the wings...
, Kiko Narváez, and Diego Simeone, but with a reputation of continuous underachievement. In the season prior to his arrival, the club finished one point above relegation zone by earning a 2–2 draw versus Sevilla FC
Sevilla FC
Sevilla Fútbol Club S.A.D. is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, Spain that plays in the Spanish La Liga championship.They are one of the most successful clubs in Spanish football having won a 1 La Liga title, 5 Spanish "Copa del Rey" Cups, 1 Spanish Super Cup and 2 UEFA...
on the last matchday of the season.
1995–96: Double title
Out of the 35-player squad he inherited, Antić quickly identified 20 players he was counting on for the following season before setting about adding 5 to 6 more players during the transfer window. That meant the end of Atlético days for a slew of players including aging goalie Abel ResinoAbel Resino
Abel Resino Gómez , sometimes just Abel, is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and a current coach....
, embattled Colombian striker Adolfo Valencia
Adolfo Valencia
Adolfo José Valencia Mosquera is a retired Colombian footballer who played as a striker....
, Brazilian Iván Rocha
Iván Rocha
Iván Rocha Lima , known as Rocha, is a retired Brazilian professional footballer, who played as a central defender.-Football career:Rocha was born in São Paulo...
, Polish striker Roman Kosecki
Roman Kosecki
Roman Kosecki is a former Polish soccer striker.In his club career, Kosecki played for RKS URSUS, Gwardia Warsaw, Legia Warsaw, Galatasaray, CA Osasuna, Atlético Madrid, Nantes, Montpellier, and the Chicago Fire...
, Russian winger Igor Dobrovolski
Igor Dobrovolski
Igor Ivanovich Dobrovolski is retired footballer in the wide attacking midfielder role. He is currently the manager of Dacia Chişinău.He started his career at Moldavian SSR, then played in Russian SFSR, Spain, Italy, France, Germany before retired in Moldova...
, etc.
First on Antić's wish list was defender Viktor Onopko
Viktor Onopko
Viktor Savelyevich Onopko is an association football coach and a former defender and holds the record for most international appearances for the Russian national team...
whom he coached at Real Oviedo: Atlético and the player agreed terms, however, Oviedo management weren't satisfied and the case ended up before FIFA arbitration commission, which ruled in Oviedo's favour. Antić then tried to get 19-year-old Fernando Morientes
Fernando Morientes
Fernando Morientes Sánchez is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a striker.His main asset was his aerial and strong goalscoring abilities. He played for a number of clubs throughout his career, including Real Madrid, Monaco, Liverpool, and Valencia...
from Albacete
Albacete Balompié
Albacete Balompié, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. Founded on August 2, 1940, it currently plays in Segunda División B, holding home matches at Estadio Carlos Belmonte, with a 17,300-seat capacity.-History:The club was founded...
, but the talented striker signed with Real Zaragoza. Out of the players Antić did manage to sign, the biggest find turned out to be unheralded winger Milinko Pantić
Milinko Pantic
Milinko Pantić is a former Serbian footballer.Pantić spent the first six seasons of his professional career with FK Partizan between 1985 and 1991....
whom Antić plucked from obscurity in Panionios for very little money. The move initially raised eyebrows with many questioning the usefulness of a complete unknown who is about to turn 29 years of age, however, over the coming season Pantić would prove himself to be the missing piece this team needed with key goals and assists. Another key acquisition was 29-year-old Bulgarian tall centre forward Luboslav Penev, brought in from Valencia despite questions about his health due to a recent bout with testicular cancer
Testicular cancer
Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system.In the United States, between 7,500 and 8,000 diagnoses of testicular cancer are made each year. In the UK, approximately 2,000 men are diagnosed each year. Over his lifetime, a man's risk of...
. Other incoming transfers included goalkeeper José Francisco Molina
José Francisco Molina
José Francisco Molina Jiménez is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a goalkeeper.11 years of his extensive professional career were spent at Atlético Madrid and Deportivo de La Coruña, where he won a total of five titles combined...
and central defender Santi Denia
Santiago Denia
Santiago Denia Sánchez , aka Santi, is a retired Spanish footballer, who played as a central defender...
from Albacete, midfielder Roberto Fresnedoso from Espanyol
RCD Espanyol
Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona is a sports club based in Barcelona, Spain. It is best known for its football team. Espanyol currently play in the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat with seats for 40,500 spectators. It was inaugurated on 2 August 2009...
, and young Argentine striker Leo Biagini
Leonardo Biagini
Leonardo Ángel Biagini is a retired Argentine professional footballer who played as a striker.Most of his professional career was spent in Spain, where he arrived at the age of 18, going on to represent six clubs in more than one decade, with totals of 244 games and 43 goals, 145/18 in La Liga.He...
from Newell's Old Boys
Newell's Old Boys
Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario. The club was founded on November 3, 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell, one of the pioneers of Argentine football...
who starred at the 1995 FIFA World Youth Championship
1995 FIFA World Youth Championship
The 10th FIFA World Youth Championship was held in Qatar from April 13 to April 28, 1995. The tournament took place in three venues in one city: Doha.-Qualification:-Group A:-------------------------Group B:--------------------...
.
Playing in the domestic league that was just expanded from 20 to 22 teams along with a new points system with three points awarded for a win, under Antić's command, the Atletico squad featuring Molina in goal, Delfí Geli
Delfí Geli
Delfí Geli i Roura is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a right defender.-Club career:...
and Santi Denia in central defence, Roberto Solozábal
Roberto Solozábal
Roberto Solozábal Villanueva is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a central defender.-Club career:...
and Toni
Antonio Muñoz Gómez
Antonio Muñoz Gómez , aka Toni, is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a left defender....
on right and left back respectively, Juan Vizcaíno
Juan Vizcaíno
Juan Vizcaíno Morcillo is a retired Spanish footballer who played mainly as a defensive midfielder....
(whom Antić previously coached at Zaragoza) and Caminero in centre midfield, Simeone and Pantić on right and left wing respectively, and finally Penev and Kiko upfront gelled together masterfully en route to a historic La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
/Copa del Rey
Copa del Rey
The Copa del Rey is an annual football cup competition for Spanish football teams. Its full name is Campeonato de España – Copa de Su Majestad el Rey de Fútbol ....
double in 1995–96 season. Other players that didn't start as often, but nevertheless contributed significantly throughout the season were Fresnedoso, Juan Manuel López, Biagini, Pirri Mori, etc.
Antić's Atlético began the league campaign in furious fashion with four impressive wins. Once they took the top league spot after week 2, los Colchoneros gave it up only once (after week 5 scoreless draw at Sevilla), before reclaiming it the very next week and impressively continuing on top until the end with Penev scoring 16 league goals, Simeone 12, Kiko 11, Pantić 10, and Caminero 9. Atlético also featured a stingy defence that allowed 32 goals – less than any other team in the league. Still, the title wasn't secure until the very last match, as Valencia pursued until the end. Going into the last round of matches on Saturday, 25 May 1996, Atlético was on 84 points with Alabacete to play at home while Valencia had 82 and Celta away. The victory was never in doubt as Simeone and Kiko scored in the first half sparking off jubilant scenes at Vicente Calderón Stadium
Vicente Calderón Stadium
The Vicente Calderón Stadium is the home stadium of La Liga football club Atlético Madrid and is located in the Arganzuela district of Spanish capital Madrid. The stadium was originally called the Manzanares Stadium, but this was later changed to the Vicente Calderón Stadium, after the famous...
.
Month and a half earlier Antić already claimed his first trophy of the season, beating Johan Cruyff
Johan Cruyff
Hendrik Johannes Cruijff OON , known as Johan Cruyff, is a retired Dutch footballer and is currently the manager of the Catalan national team as well as a member of the AFC Ajax board of directors. He won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974, which is a record jointly held with...
's Barça in the Copa del Rey
Copa del Rey
The Copa del Rey is an annual football cup competition for Spanish football teams. Its full name is Campeonato de España – Copa de Su Majestad el Rey de Fútbol ....
final
1996 Copa del Rey Final
-References:...
in Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
after extra time on a goal by Pantić.
Winning the double endeared Antić to Atlético faithful and more importantly to club's controversial president Jesús Gil
Jesús Gil
Gregorio Jesús Gil y Gil was a Spanish businessman and politician. He served as Mayor of Marbella, between 1996 and 2002, and was also known for his 16-year stint as president of Spanish football club Atlético Madrid....
. Notorious for quickly and impulsively going through coaches, Gil kept Antić at the helm of his team for two more seasons (three consecutive seasons in total) – a record of sorts considering Gil's trigger-happy nature when it came to gaffers.
1996–97: Champions League participation
During summer 1996 transfer window, the squad upgrade was in order ahead of the 1996–97 season that saw Atlético compete in the Champions League in addition to defending the La Liga title.As replacement for aging Luboslav Penev who was impressive during the double title season despite simultaneously recovering and also as general statement of intent for the coming season, Atlético was in the market for a marquee forward. Antić wanted to bring in promising 19-year-old Brazilian striker Ronaldo
Ronaldo
Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima , commonly known as Ronaldo, is a retired Brazilian footballer who last played for Corinthians. Ronaldo is widely considered to be the greatest 'pure' striker in the history of the modern game, and by some accounts, in the history of football. Ronaldo was one of the...
from PSV and pushed hard within the club hierarchy for that to be done. However, he ultimately got overruled by higher instances and Ronaldo signed with FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
about a month later. Instead, Atlético acquired 23-year-old Argentine striker Juan Esnáider
Juan Esnáider
Juan Eduardo Esnáider is a retired Argentine footballer who played as a striker. His surname is a Spanish spelling reform of the German Schneider, which means "tailor"...
from Real Madrid. Another big acquisition was 24-year-old Czech defensive midfielder Radek Bejbl
Radek Bejbl
Radek Bejbl is a retired Czech footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.-Club career:Bejbl made his professional debuts with SK Slavia Prague, being a first-team regular since the age of 18...
from Slavia Praha who was coming off a great showing at Euro 96 where Czechs finished runners-up. The arrival of Bejbl meant that 30-year-old Vizcaíno lost his starting spot in defensive midfield.
Simultaneously playing on two difficult fronts proved to be much more demanding and the team quickly started lagging behind Real and Barcelona in La Liga, while in the Champions League they progressed to the quarterfinals on top of the group featuring Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia Dortmund, commonly BVB, are a German sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. Dortmund are one of the most successful clubs in German football history. Borussia Dortmund play in the Bundesliga, the top league of German football...
, Widzew Łódź, and Steaua Bucureşti. In the second part of league campaign Atlético somewhat steadied its form, but was unable to make up the minus from early part of the season. In Champions League, the quarter-final clash vs Ajax
Ajax Amsterdam
Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax , also referred to as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam or simply Ajax , is a professional football club from Amsterdam, Netherlands...
turned into an epic battle with tensions often spilling outside the pitch like when Jesús Gil publicly referred to Ajax as "FC Congo" due to the large number of black players of African and Surinamese origin on their team. Atlético got a great 1–1 result away as Esnáider scored a header after fine work from Delfí Geli on the right. The return leg in Madrid was a tense affair that saw los Colchoneros go up through Kiko in the first half before Overmars equalized just after halftime. With the score tied at one a piece and the match heading into extra-time, Antić decided to put Biagini on instead of Esnáider who was not pleased about the substitution and got into a vicious shouting match with the coach as he exited the pitch. Ten minutes into the extra period, Ajax's Portuguese forward Dani scored on a beautiful effort for 1–2, which meant that due to away-goals, Atlético would now have to score twice more to go through. Within five minutes they got a penalty, which Pantić converted, but couldn't manage one more goal despite attacking in waves for the remaining fifteen minutes. Due to Atlético's all out attack, Ajax even scored a third goal on the quick counter-attack through Tijani Babangida.
1997–98: Heavy spending
Ahead of the 1997–98 season, Gil invested heavily into the team, bringing 24-year-old Italian superstar Christian VieriChristian Vieri
Christian Vieri is a retired Italian footballer who played as a centre forward.Vieri was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé as a part of FIFA's centenary celebrations...
fresh from winning the Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
title with Juventus
Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...
. He also bought crafty Brazilian Juninho
Juninho Paulista
Osvaldo Giroldo Júnior , better known as Juninho Paulista or simply Juninho, is a former Brazilian footballer...
from Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...
for ₤
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
12 million. In order to somewhat offset the costs, inspirational midfielder Diego Simeone was sold to Internazionale
F.C. Internazionale Milano
Football Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always...
. Naturally the expectations were huge, with spotlight especially focused on expensive new signings. Though both struggled with injuries causing them to miss significant chunk of the season, Vieri still managed to produce excellent form when fit to play with 24 goals in 24 league appearances, while Juninho struggled to make similar impact with only 6 goals in 23 league appearances. When Atletico started sputtering in La Liga, the rumblings about Antić's possible dismissal were heard for the first time. When Atlético got eliminated by Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...
at the semi-final stage of 1997–98
UEFA Cup 1997-98
The UEFA Cup 1997–98 was won by Internazionale comfortably in an all-Italian final against Lazio. It was their third title in eight years in the competition....
UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
, Gil launched into an obscenity-laced tirade against Spanish television for reporting he has lined up an Italian coach to replace Antić.
In the end, that is exactly what happened as he was let go at season's end during the summer of 1998 to make way for Arrigo Sacchi
Arrigo Sacchi
Arrigo Sacchi is an Italian football coach. He is best known for his success coaching Italian teams, particularly with Milan where he won back to back European Cups as coach in the late eighties where he was head coach of the Italy national football team . He was twice manager of A.C...
.
Second time at Atlético
However, Antić wouldn't be away from Atlético for long as Sacchi got sacked mid-season 1998–99 after week 22 and following a 5-match stint of caretaker coach Carlos Sánchez Aguiar, the Serb returned for a second spell that lasted from week 28 until the end of the season (11 league matches). With Atlético clinging to lowly 13th spot in league standings when Antić returned, the repeat of league success proved elusive as the team recorded 3 wins, 4 losses, and 4 draws under his command to finish the season in the same 13th place. However, Antić managed to inspire the team all the way to Copa del ReyCopa del Rey 1998–99
The Copa del Rey 1998–99 is the 95th staging of the Copa del Rey.The competition started on September 1, 1998 and concluded on May 26, 1999 with the Final, held at the Estadio La Cartuja in Sevilla.-2nd Round:Second Round [Sep 24; Oct 7]...
final
1999 Copa del Rey Final
The 1999 Copa del Rey Final was the 95th final of the Spanish cup competition, the Copa del Rey. The final was played at Estadio Olímpico de Sevilla in Sevilla on 26 June 1999. The match was won by Valencia CF, who beat Atlético de Madrid 3 – 0. Valencia won the cup for the sixth time.-Road...
at the freshly opened La Cartuja Stadium in Sevilla where they ended up losing heavily to Claudio Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri, is an Italian football manager, currently in charge as head coach of Internazionale.He has also managed many other well-known clubs in Europe, including Cagliari, Napoli, Fiorentina, Valencia, Atlético Madrid, Chelsea, Parma, Juventus and Roma.-Early life:Ranieri attended St...
's Valencia CF
Valencia CF
Valencia Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football club based in Valencia, Spain. They play in La Liga and are one of the most successful and biggest clubs in Spanish Football and European Football. Valencia have won six La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey trophies, two Fairs Cups which was the...
(0–3).
Antić was again let go at season's end, and eventually replaced with Ranieri.
Third time at Atlético
Antić's third stint at the club, which came during the second part of 1999–2000 season (started in February 2000) turned out to be the most difficult. Following Ranieri's dismissal after week 26 with the club in administration due to accumulated debts, Antić took over a squad that was already in a tailspin, sitting in 17th league spot barely hovering above relegation zone.Antić's third arrival to the club ahead of week 27 did little to change matters as Atlético lost on his return, falling back into the relegation zone and never coming out of it until the end of the season. Despite the goalscoring exploits of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Jerrel Hasselbaink usually known as Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is a Dutch former football striker who played for various clubs in the Netherlands, Portugal, England, and Spain, as well as the Dutch national team. He scored more than 200 career goals...
, they were eliminated from UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup 1999-00
The UEFA Cup 1999-2000 season was won by Galatasaray of Turkey, who defeated Arsenal of England in the final. The game was scoreless through the first ninety minutes and stayed that way through thirty minutes of extra time. The game went on to penalty kicks in which Gheorghe Popescu, the Romanian...
at the eight-final stage by RC Lens
RC Lens
Racing Club de Lens is a French association football club based in the northern city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department. Its nickname, sang et or , comes from its traditional colours of red and gold. Their primary rivals are their northern neighbors Lille OSC, whom they contest the Derby du...
, but relegation from La Liga several months later came as the most painful blow of all. Antić was let go after week 37 with Atletico already mathematically relegated with one league match left in the season. For the final match the team was coached by Fernando Zambrano.
Making the Copa del Rey final for the second consecutive season came as one bright spot in an otherwise disastrous season, but even that wasn't to be as they were beaten to the trophy by RCD Espanyol
RCD Espanyol
Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona is a sports club based in Barcelona, Spain. It is best known for its football team. Espanyol currently play in the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat with seats for 40,500 spectators. It was inaugurated on 2 August 2009...
.
Return to Real Oviedo
After his failure to keep Atlético afloat, Antić came back to coach Real OviedoReal Oviedo
Real Oviedo is a Spanish football club based in Oviedo, in the autonomous community of Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926, it currently plays in Segunda División B - Group 2....
in the summer of 2000.
It turned out to be another unsuccessful stint for him, and at times full of controversy. It is mostly remembered for the mid-season free transfer signing of English football's bad boy Stan Collymore
Stan Collymore
Stanley Victor "Stan" Collymore is an English football pundit and former footballer, who played from 1990 until 2001. He held the British transfer record when he moved from Nottingham Forest to Liverpool for £8.5 million in 1995 and was capped three times at senior level by the England...
from Bradford City
Bradford City A.F.C.
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, playing in League Two....
on 30 January 2001, against the wishes and advice of many watchers. The move garnered a lot of media interest, but also ended up having a disruptive influence on the rest of the team. It soon became apparent that Collymore is not only out of shape physically, but also not focused on the game mentally. Barely a month after arriving to much fanfare, Collymore left Oviedo without notifying anyone from the club and soon released a statement through a spokesperson announcing his retirement from football.
Following a string of poor results, Oviedo was relegated to Segunda División
Segunda División
The Segunda División is the lower tier of the two professional football leagues in Spain. From the season 2008-09 onwards, the name of the league is Liga Adelante.-History:...
at the end of the season.
FC Barcelona
After taking a year and a half long break from coaching, Antić joined FC BarcelonaFC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
in late January 2003 on initiative by club president Joan Gaspart
Joan Gaspart
Joan Gaspart i Solves is a Spanish businessman and a former FC Barcelona president between July 2000 and February 2003. He was born in Barcelona. He is known as one of the best vice presidents of the club but one of the worst presidents...
to take over from recently sacked Louis van Gaal
Louis van Gaal
Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal OON is a Dutch football manager formerly in charge of Ajax, Netherlands, Barcelona, AZ and Bayern Munich...
. Caretaker head coach, Antonio de la Cruz, took temporary charge of team affairs until Antić took the reins with the famous team occupying the embarrassing 15th spot in La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
standings with only 23 points from 20 league matches (six wins, five draws, and nine losses), but well placed in the Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
second phase
2002–03 UEFA Champions League second group stage
The 2002–03 UEFA Champions League second group stage matches took place between 26 November 2002 and 19 March 2003. The second group stage featured the eight group winners and eight group runners-up from the group stage. Each team was drawn into one of four groups, each of which featured three...
with two wins from as many matches. The club's league position was so weak that mere top-flight survival was put forth as Antić's immediate goal. On the other hand, in Champions League, the expectations were substantial. Some press outlets reported that his six month €600,000 contract with Barça was incentive based, stipulating automatic 1-year extension at the end of the season if the club qualifies for the following season's Champions League based on the domestic league finish (top 4).
Inheriting a squad of players he didn't pick himself, Antić immediately wanted some fresh blood by bringing in Juan Pablo Sorín
Juan Pablo Sorín
Juan Pablo Sorín is a former Argentine footballer. He was born in Buenos Aires. He is a much-travelled player, having spent time in Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Italy, France and Germany. He was captain of the Argentine team in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.He is a versatile left wing-back who can play...
from Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...
. He also started giving regular first team appearances to young goalie Víctor Valdés
Víctor Valdés
Víctor Valdés i Arribas is a Spanish football goalkeeper who currently plays for FC Barcelona in the Spanish La Liga.He is the most successful goalkeeper in Barcelona's history and is widely considered to be one of the best goalkeepers in the world, having won a total of 17 titles including five...
as well as throwing another youngster Andrés Iniesta
Andrés Iniesta
Andrés Iniesta Luján is a Spanish football player. He currently plays as a central midfielder for La Liga club FC Barcelona, and the Spanish national team....
into the first-team mix. Additionally, Antić moved Xavi
Xavi
Xavier Hernández i Creus , commonly known as Xavi Hernández or simply Xavi , is a Spanish footballer who plays as a central midfielder for La Liga club FC Barcelona, where he has spent his entire 14-year career....
further up the field, just behind the line of forwards thus freeing him up from the defensive duties he had under van Gaal, which allowed the diminutive midfielder to fully showcase his creativity. In general, Antić simplified the players' individual tasks, which was in stark contrast with van Gaal's complicated tactical setups.
Antić managed to stabilize the squad and lead it to 6th place La Liga finish, ensuring UEFA Cup spot. His record with the club in the season since taking over was nine wins, six draws, and three losses. In the Champions League, under Antić, Barça dominated its second phase group throughout February and early March, which gave the team a much needed confidence boost for the rest of the season on all fronts. In fact, Antić's only third match in charge of Barça was an important Champions League clash at home versus Inter Milan that the Catalans ended up winning in empathic fashion 3–0, thus marking the coach's return to the Champions League after six years and also extending the team's win streak to 11 consecutive CL matches, thus breaking the old record by AC Milan. However, Antić's Barça lost the hard fought quarter-final
2002–03 UEFA Champions League knockout stage
The knockout stage of the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League ran from 8 April 2003 until the final at the Old Trafford in Manchester, England on 28 May 2003...
tie to Marcello Lippi
Marcello Lippi
Marcello Lippi, Commendatore OMRI is a former Italian World Cup-winning football manager and former player. He served as Italian national team head coach from 16 July 2004 to 12 July 2006 and led Italy to win the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was re-appointed as Italian head coach in the summer of 2008...
-led Juventus
Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...
. After Atlético six years earlier, it was Antić's second opportunity to lead a club in the Champions League, and again it ended in heartbreak after extra time. Barça got a great result in the first leg away in Turin after scoring the away goal through Javier Saviola
Javier Saviola
Javier Pedro Saviola Fernández is an Argentine professional footballer who plays for S.L. Benfica in Portugal, as a striker....
roughly ten minutes from time to tie the score at 1–1, and looked to be in great shape heading back to Camp Nou. The second leg turned into another tough battle with very little separating the sides: Juve scored the opening goal midway through the second half, but Barça responded almost immediately and furthermore received a huge boost when Edgar Davids
Edgar Davids
Edgar Steven Davids is a retired Dutch footballer and current member of the supervisory board of Ajax. After beginning his career with the Amsterdam club, he subsequently played in Italy for Milan and Juventus before a loan spell with Barcelona. He went on to play for Internazionale and Tottenham...
got sent off for second bookable offense ten minutes from the end. With momentum on their side, Barcelona mounted wave after wave of attack. Antić put Juan Riquelme
Juan Román Riquelme
Juan Román Riquelme is an Argentine footballer who plays for Boca Juniors. A longtime Argentine international, Riquelme is best known for his spells with Boca Juniors and Villarreal...
on instead of Marc Overmars
Marc Overmars
Marc Overmars is a retired Dutch footballer. He is best known as a right-footed left winger, although he is able to use both his feet with equal precision and power...
, and then early into the extra period threw on Gerard López for Michael Reiziger
Michael Reiziger
Michael John Reiziger is a retired Dutch footballer who played mainly as a right defender.After making a name for himself at Ajax, with whom he won one Champions League, he went on to represent three teams in three different countries, namely appearing for FC Barcelona, for which he played in...
, but still couldn't make the man advantage count mostly due to some brilliant defending from Lilian Thuram
Lilian Thuram
Lilian Thuram is a retired professional football defender and is the most capped player in the history of the France national team, and one of the twenty most capped players of all time.He played at the top flight in France, Italy and Spain for over 15 seasons, including ten in the Serie A with both...
. Towards the end of extra time, following full back Alessandro Birindelli
Alessandro Birindelli
Alessandro Birindelli is a retired Italian footballer. Equally at ease as right or left defender, he is best known for his 11-year spell with Juventus, winning several accolades and appearing in nearly 300 official games.-Early years:...
's right-side run and cross, Marcelo Zalayeta
Marcelo Zalayeta
Marcelo Danubio Zalayeta is an Uruguayan football striker, who currently plays for Peñarol.-Club career:...
scored on Juve's only shot of the period thus knocking Barça out of the competition.
On 20 April 2003, as part of the league season's 30th round, Antić's team managed a respectable 1–1 draw in El Clásico
El Clásico
El Clásico , also known as El derbi Español, is the name given in football to a match between Real Madrid and Barcelona. It is contested twice a year in the Spanish La Liga competition, and more often if the clubs meet in other competitions...
away at the Bernabéu
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium
The Estadio Santiago Bernabéu is an all-seater football stadium in Madrid, Spain. It was inaugurated on 14 December 1947 and is owned by Real Madrid Club de Fútbol. It has a current capacity of 85,454 spectators....
to league leaders Real Madrid.
Despite all his success in difficult circumstances, Antić was replaced with Frank Rijkaard
Frank Rijkaard
Franklin Edmundo Rijkaard is a Dutch football manager of Dutch and Surinamese descent and former player. Rijkaard has played for Ajax, Real Zaragoza and Milan, and represented his national side 73 times, scoring 10 goals. In his coaching career, he has been at the helm of the Dutch national side,...
during the offseason. The coaching change came as part of the general team overhaul initiated by the newly arrived club president Joan Laporta
Joan Laporta
Joan Laporta i Estruch is a Spanish politician and former president of Futbol Club Barcelona between 2003 and 2010.Laporta is a lawyer with his own firm, Laporta & Arbós, which has important firms as clients. Laporta was married to Constanza Echevarría and has three sons, Pol, Guillem and Jan...
.
Celta de Vigo
Due to Antić's widely publicised success with Barça, he developed somewhat of a reputation as a crisis coach. It was probably this kind of thinking that led Celta de VigoCelta de Vigo
Real Club Celta de Vigo , simply referred to as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, currently playing in the Segunda División. It was founded on March 28, 1923 following the merger of Real Vigo Sporting and Real Fortuna Foot-ball Club.Nicknamed Los Celestes ,...
to hire him mid-season 2003/04 in difficult circumstances similar to Barça's one year earlier. The team lost 2–5 at home to Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 September 1909...
, dropping to just one point above relegation zone, all of which prompted coach Miguel Ángel Lotina
Miguel Ángel Lotina
Miguel Ángel Lotina Oruechebarría is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a striker, and a current manager.-Playing career:...
's resignation. Antić took over just three days later. In another similarity to Barça, Celta was also in good shape in UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
where it awaited the round-of-16 tie versus Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
.
Following his arrival on 29 January 2004, Antić's debut at Celta's bench took place away at Real Betis
Real Betis
Real Betis Balompié S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Seville, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 12 September 1907, it currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at Estadio Benito Villamarín....
where the losing continued with final score being 1–0. Following this match in which he felt Celta deserved a more positive result, Antić identified overturning the loss of self-confidence among some of his players due to club's weak league position as his biggest challenge. He also mentioned that important squad members Aleksandr Mostovoi, Edu
Luís Eduardo Schmidt
Luís Eduardo Schmidt, aka Edu , is a Brazilian footballer.A versatile midfielder and forward, he played most of his professional career in Spain - helping both Celta and Betis to their first-ever UEFA Champions League participation, amassing La Liga totals of 253 matches and 63 goals in nine years...
, and Jesuli
Jesuli
Jesús Antonio Mora Nieto , aka Jesuli, is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a winger.-Football career:...
were experiencing trouble hitting their usual form following injury layoffs. Antić's first move on the transfer front was bringing Saša Ilić
Saša Ilic (midfielder)
Saša Ilić is a Serbian footballer who plays as a midfielder and is the captain of FK Partizan.-Partizan:...
from FK 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...
. Unfortunately, Antić couldn't pull the trick this time around. The squad never gelled together and he eventually resigned on 29 March 2004 following a 0–2 home loss to Real Zaragoza
Real Zaragoza
Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. is a Spanish association football team from Zaragoza in Spain. Founded on 18 March 1932, Real Zaragoza have spent the majority of their 78 year history in the Spanish top-flight. Real Zaragoza are Spain's 9th highest ranked team in overall league points...
that dropped the team to second-last league position. He was in charge of the team in just nine league games, managing to get only seven points. They were also easily eliminated from the Champions League
UEFA Champions League 2003-04
The 2003–04 UEFA Champions League was the 12th season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, the UEFA Champions League, since its rebranding from the European Cup in 1992, and the 49th tournament overall...
by Arsenal (5–2 on aggregate).
Antić's resignation hardly changed matters as Celta got relegated at the end of the season.
He later admitted joining Celta in such circumstances was a mistake and vowed never to accept coaching jobs in mid-season again.
Serbian national team
On 19 August 2008, it was reported in the Serbian media that Antić agreed terms with the Serbian Football AssociationFootball Association of Serbia
The Football Association of Serbia is the governing body of football in Serbia, based in Belgrade. It organizes Serbian football leagues, namely the Serbian Superliga, the Serbia national football team, as well as the Second Leagues....
(FSS) to take over his native country's national team. On 25 August he was officially unveiled as the new head coach. The appointment came in somewhat controversial circumstances as previous head coach Miroslav Đukić was being fired following a disastrous 2008 Olympic campaign and Đukić's public feuding with FA president Tomislav Karadžić
Tomislav Karadžić
TOLE LOPOVE JEBEMO TI SVE TOLE LOPOVEEE TOLE LOPOVEEE JEBEMO TI SVEEE is a Serbian businessman and football administrator of Montenegrin origin. Since 2008 he is in his second stint as the president of Serbian Football Association...
. Throughout the previous decade, Antić's name had been mentioned anytime the national team job was available and many times he turned it down so many found it surprising that he finally said yes.
The appointment also marked 59-year-old Antić's return to coaching after four years. According to both Antić and Karadžić, the negotiations between the coach and the Serbian FA were very short and the agreement was reached quickly after Antić's only conditions that he brings in his own support staff and that his second in command is his long time collaborator Rešad Kunovac
Rešad Kunovac
Rešad Kunovac is a Bosnian former football player and current coach. He was the assistant to Radomir Antić, the head coach of the Serbian national team until 2010....
were accepted. Antić's initial salary was reportedly somewhere in the range of €305,000 to €325,000 per year, along with a €500,000 bonus incentive if the team manages to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. Antić's annual earnings from the job were thus less than Javier Clemente
Javier Clemente
Javier Clemente Lázaro, is a Spanish football manager. The veteran La Liga manager has spent most of his career at two clubs: Athletic Bilbao and RCD Espanyol. Between 1992 and 1998, he managed Spain and went 31 games unbeaten. He was also the the first foreign manager of Serbia. His most recent...
's €360,000 per year salary when the Basque
Basque people
The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...
was the Serbian team's head coach from 2006 until 2007.
2010 World Cup qualifying
Hired barely two weeks before the start of 2010 World Cup qualifying2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 7
The 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group 7 was a UEFA qualifying group for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The group comprised France, Romania, Serbia, Lithuania, Austria and Faroe Islands....
, Antić had precious little time to acquaint himself with the players and prepare. His bench debut took place on 6 September 2008 in a qualifier versus the Faroe Islands
Faroe Islands national football team
The Faroe Islands national football team represents the Faroe Islands in association football and is controlled by the Faroe Islands Football Association, the governing body for football in the Faroe Islands. The Faroe Islands became a member of FIFA in 1988 and UEFA in 1990 and are the third...
in front of less than 10,000 spectators at the almost empty Marakana stadium. And although the 2–0 win was far from convincing, Antić and his team got passing marks as all eyes were on the match away at powerhouse France
France national football team
The France national football team represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation , the governing body of football in France, and competes as a member of UEFA, which encompasses the countries of Europe...
in Saint Denis four days later. Looking at the team he fielded on his debut, Antić introduced some fresh talent from the domestic league such as midfielders Nenad Milijaš
Nenad Milijaš
Nenad Milijaš is a Serbian international footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers....
and Zoran Tošić
Zoran Tošic
Zoran Tošić is a Serbian footballer who plays as a left winger for CSKA Moscow. Born in Zrenjanin, Tošić began his career with his local side Proleter Zrenjanin. He then joined Budućnost Banatski Dvor, who then merged with Proleter to form Banat Zrenjanin...
as well as defender Ivan Obradović. Furthermore, he brought back skillful attacking midfielder Miloš Krasić
Miloš Krasic
Miloš Krasić is a Serbian professional footballer who plays for Juventus and the Serbian national team.-Playing style:...
who was completely ignored by Đukić. Taking on France in the next match Antić returned to the tried and tested players, however he still caused a surprise by starting 19-year-old Miralem Sulejmani
Miralem Sulejmani
Miralem Sulejmani is a Serbian football player of Gorani origin who plays for Ajax.-Early career:...
on the left wing thus continuing his long-standing practice of throwing in-form youngsters into the fire. Also surprising was leaving tall striker Nikola Žigić
Nikola Žigic
Nikola Žigić is a Serbian footballer who plays for English club Birmingham City as a centre forward.At , Žigić is among the tallest professional players in the world...
on the bench and starting with only on attacker, Marko Pantelić
Marko Pantelic
Marko Pantelić is a Serbian footballer, who plays for Olympiacos.-Early years:...
, upfront in 4–5–1 formation. And while Serbia lost 2–1 to somewhat wounded France that just days earlier shockingly lost to Austria, many positives were taken from the match at Stade de France
Stade de France
The Stade de France is the national stadium of France, situated just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. It has an all-seater capacity of 80,000, making it the fifth largest stadium in Europe, and is used by both the France national football team and French rugby union team for...
such as a brave attacking approach with a lot of running from the wings. Next up in October was in-form Lithuania
Lithuania national football team
The national football team of Lithuania is under the auspices of the Lithuanian Football Federation. It played its first match in 1923. In 1940, Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union; the country regained its independence in 1990 and played their first match as a new nation against Georgia on...
that was on a roll after beating Romania and Austria without allowing a goal. Contrary to expectations, Antić's team made easy work of the Lithuanians in front of some 20,000 home fans by scoring twice early, and adding one more towards the end for a 3–0 final score. Four days later, the team was in Vienna to face Austria and again it put in a dominating performance: scoring three goals within a 10-minute span during first half as shellshocked Austrians never managed to recover.
As the winter break arrived, Serbia clearly made a statement of intent by sitting atop the group, tied on points with Lithuania, but with better goal difference. Simultaneously on the player personnel front, Antić was involved in a battle to secure the national team loyalty of two young, up-and-coming players who grew up outside of the country, 20-year-old defender Neven Subotić
Neven Subotic
Neven Subotić is a Serbian football defender, who plays for Borussia Dortmund of the German Bundesliga. He made his first-team debut in the 2006–07 season for 1. FSV Mainz 05. In 2008, he signed with Dortmund...
and 18-year-old striker Bojan Krkić
Bojan Krkic
Bojan Krkić Pérez known as just Bojan, is a Spanish footballer who currently plays as a forward or winger for Italian Serie A club Roma.- Early years :...
. With Subotić he was successful as the player choose Serbia over United States and Bosnia-Herzegovina in December 2008, while Krkić choose Spain despite Antić's numerous attempts to get him to come to Serbian national team.
Next match came during late March 2009, facing Romania
Romania national football team
The Romania national football team is the national football team of Romania and is controlled by the Romanian Football Federation.Romania is one of only four national teams, the other three being Brazil, France, and Belgium, that took part in the first three World Cups.However, after that...
in chilly conditions on hard surface at Constanţa
Constanta
Constanța is the oldest extant city in Romania, founded around 600 BC. The city is located in the Dobruja region of Romania, on the Black Sea coast. It is the capital of Constanța County and the largest city in the region....
. In what was probably its toughest test of the entire qualifications, Serbia came through again by defeating Romanians 2–3. Antić's resolve to continue playing attacking football (with two strikers Žigić and Pantelić up front, and two offensively minded wingers Krasić and Milan Jovanović
Milan Jovanovic (footballer born 1981)
Milan Jovanović is a Serbian footballer who plays for Anderlecht and the Serbia national team.-Early life:...
just behind them) paid off again as Serbia all but eliminated Romania from the running for top two spots.
In his first qualifying campaign managing Serbia, Antić led Serbia to first in their group in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. After successful qualification, it was reported in November 2009 (amid reports of icy relations between Antić and FA president Karadžić) that Antić and FSS agreed a new contract during friendly trips to Belfast and London where Serbia played Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland national football team
The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...
and South Korea, respectively. This temporarily put the feud reports to rest. Over the coming weeks, Antić's new base salary became the subject of rife press speculation putting the new sum anywhere from €528,000 per year to astronomical €1.2 million per year. Since the contract wasn't formally signed and announced by mid December, despite assurances, even by Antić's agent, that it will happen any day now, the reports of Antić-Karadžić feud reignited, especially when irritated Antić himself flippantly claimed that he doesn't know anything about a new contract. Eventually, on 18 December 2009 Antić's new contract was announced, extending his term to 2012.
Early in the 2010, in addition to his regular assistants, Antić added experienced globetrotting Serbian coach Bora Milutinović in the adviser role. Milutinović in turn brought along his longtime assistant Chilean Julio César Moreno
Julio César Moreno
Julio César Moreno Yáñez is a football coach. He is the former assistant coach of Iraq national football team, previously he was the head coach of Hong Kong First Division League side Kitchee....
. Antić mostly relied on them for opponent scouting.
In the runup to the World Cup, out of the group of players Antić used in qualifying and subsequent friendlies, only the aging defender Ivica Dragutinović
Ivica Dragutinovic
Ivica Dragutinović , sometimes just Drago, is a Serbian footballer.Mainly a central defender, he can also operate as a defensive left back...
and midfielder Boško Janković
Boško Jankovic
Boško Janković is a Serbian football player currently a free agent playing for the Serbia national football team. He is at his best going forward and is equally at home playing in the centre or either wing...
were ruled out through injury. Antić announced his 24-man squad in mid-May with no major surprises. The squad featured one extra player with an understanding that one would be cut on 1 June.
Training camp and friendlies
The training camp for World Cup began with a gathering in KovilovoKovilovo
Kovilovo is a suburban settlement of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in the Belgrade's municipality of Palilula.- Location :...
on 24 May 2010 with all but one player showing up – captain Stanković wasn't present due to playing the Champions League final
2010 UEFA Champions League Final
The 2010 UEFA Champions League Final was a football match played at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, home of Real Madrid, on Saturday, 22 May 2010, to determine the winners of the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League. It was the first Champions League final to be played on a Saturday, rather than the...
two days earlier, and he joined the team later in Austria. After one light training session on the day of the gathering, the team left for Leogang
Leogang
Leogang is a municipality in the district of Zell am See , in the state of Salzburg in Austria. It is a famous winter sports and Summer mountain biking resort....
the very next morning. Žigić wasn't on a plane to Austria due to being allowed to stay behind in order to deal with personal matters of singing the transfer deal with Birmingham City that required him to fly out to England on 26 May. The absence of two starters weren't the only issues at the start of the camp for Antić as Luković missed the first training session in Austria due to high fever and Krasić had to train separately due to muscle pain (primicac). During the training in Austria another player was allowed to leave the squad shortly – Bane Ivanović had a private reason as he was a best man at a wedding.
The first preparation friendly was played in Klagenfurt
Klagenfurt
-Name:Carinthia's eminent linguists Primus Lessiak and Eberhard Kranzmayer assumed that the city's name, which literally translates as "ford of lament" or "ford of complaints", had something to do with the superstitious thought that fateful fairies or demons tend to live around treacherous waters...
against minnows New Zealand on 29 May. Despite the fact Serbia was missing some of its regulars such as Bane Ivanović and captain Dejan Stanković, the 0–1 loss was still shocking. Antić started in 4–4–2 formation with each of the 20 outfield players except Stanković and Ivanović getting a chance to play. The best scoring chances for Serbia fell to Subotić and Žigić, but both mised them inexplicably.
The next friendly against Poland in Kufstein
Kufstein
Kufstein is a city in Tyrol, Austria, located along the river Inn, in the lower Inn valley, near the border with Bavaria, Germany, and is the site of a post World War II French sector United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration Displaced Persons camp.Kufstein is the second largest city...
in terrible weather conditions also resulted in a surprising 0–0 scoreline with Serbia missing a host of scoring chances (especially striker Pantelić). In terms of determining the form of individual players and trying out various tactical formations, the contest turned out to be fairly useless for Antić since due to torrential rain that kept falling throughout the match, most of the protagonists were only concerned with not getting injured.
The dress rehearsal took place at home in Belgrade versus Cameroon and although the 4–3 win was finally recorded, it came in nervous fashion as the Africans took the lead twice following lax Serbian defending. Throughout the three friendlies, Antić often rotated the squad giving everyone decent minutes.
2010 World Cup
For the first group match versus Ghana, Antić came out with more-or-less classic 4–4–2 formation that he often used in qualifying. The 4-man defensive line featured Vidić and Luković in central defense with Kolarov and Ivanović at left and right back, respectively, (meaning that young Subotić lost his starting spot in central defense after some poor outings in the friendlies). Midfield had standard wingers Krasić (right) and Jovanović (left) with Milijaš and captain Stanković in the middle while the forward duo consisted of Žigić and Pantelić. In the lackluster first half neither team was able to create much – the lack of creation and enterprise was especially noticeable in the play of Antić's team with midfield motor Krasić, as well as Jovanović, completely taken out of the match by the Ghanaian pressure tactics of double teaming the Serbian wingers in order to cut off the supply from the flanks. Since Milijaš and Stanković also achieved little through the middle, Serbia was quickly reduced to launching long balls from the back thus bypassing its own midfield that was completely disrupted by quick and physical Ghanaians playing in the 3–6–1 formation set up by their Serbian head coach Milovan Rajevac. Also noticeable and hugely disappointing was a seeming sluggishness of Antić's players who were unconvincing in one-on-one challenges and often a step slow running after through balls.The second half began in much the same fashion. Hoping to inject some energy, Antić soon took out invisible Milijaš, replacing him with Zdravko Kuzmanović. While some openings were finally created (Žigić latching onto Pantelić's cross and somehow managing to mishit the ball away from goal with his heel in 59th minute), the match was still mostly a sedated and disjointed affair. Swapping forward for forward, Antić took off misfiring Žigić and inserted Danko Lazović. But then, just when the proceedings seemed headed for a drab goalless draw, central defender Luković (probably Serbia's best performer in the match up to that point) pulled down a Ghana player in the 74th minute and got sent off for a second bookable offense. As a result of going down to ten men, Antić was forced to patch a hole in central defense by bringing on Subotić – while the man he took off was largely ineffective Jovanović. Surprisingly, Serbia started playing much better, creating two excellent scoring opportunities in quick succession. First one involving Lazović winning the ball on the left in the 79th minute and squaring it for Pantelić who heeled it on to onrushing Krasić who in turn had his hard left-footed shot down the middle from 12 meters out saved by Richard Kingson
Richard Kingson
Richard Paul Franck Kingson is a Ghanaian professional football goalkeeper, who is currently a free agent. He is also known as Faruk Gürsoy and is frequently misnamed Kingston due to "irregularity on his identity documents"...
, followed by Vidić's free header from the resulting corner that ended up just over the bar. However, more bad luck soon struck Serbia as Kuzmanović needlessly handled in his own penalty area following a Ghana cross in the 85th minute, gifting Ghanaians the penalty and a 1–0 lead (interestingly the penalty call was not made by the main referee Héctor Baldassi
Héctor Baldassi
Héctor Walter Baldassi is an Argentine football referee. His first Argentine first division was in 1998 and only two years later he debuted internationally...
, but by the fourth official Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh
Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh
Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh is a Malaysian football referee who currently resides in Parit Buntar. He has been refereeing in the Super League Malaysia since 1995. He has been a full international referee for FIFA since 2000. In 2008, Subkhiddin became a AFC Elite referee...
from the sidelines). Forced to chase the result for the remaining 5+ minutes, 10-man Serbia pushed forward in numbers in a desperate attempt of coming up with an equalizer thus leaving itself vulnerable to counter attack from quick Ghanaians and was extremely lucky not to go 0–2 down as Ghana hit the post in one-on-one situation with goalkeeper Stojković.
Controversy
During the 1995–1996 double title season in Spain, Antić had a notable public spat with Spanish political columnist Hermann Tertsch of the El País daily. In an interview with journalist Carmen Rigalt that was published on 10 September 1995 in El MundoEl Mundo (Spain)
El Mundo is the second largest printed and the largest digital daily newspaper in Spain and one of the newspapers of record in that country, with a daily circulation topping 300,000 readers for the printed edition and 24 million unique web visitors per month for the...
daily, Antić took issue with the views expressed by Tertsch. Considering Tertsch's political views to be anti-Serbian, Antić called him a "Nazi". Tertsch in turn sued Antić for libel and got a court ruling in his favour in the amount of ESP
Spanish peseta
The peseta was the currency of Spain between 1869 and 2002. Along with the French franc, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra .- Etymology :...
2 million. Following appeals, the case even went before the Spanish Supreme Court that confirmed in mid-November 2003 the original ruling in Tertsch's favour, thus ordering Antić to pay the euro (€) equivalent of the originally awarded amount (€12,000).
Personal
Antić's primary residence is in Spain where he owns property in MadridMadrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
and Marbella
Marbella
Marbella is a town in Andalusia, Spain. It is situated on the Mediterranean Sea, in the province of Málaga, beneath the La Concha mountain. In 2000 the city had 98,823 inhabitants, in 2004, 116,234, in 2010 approximately 135,000....
. He is married to Vera. Serbian basketball player Nikola Lončar
Nikola Lončar
Nikola Lončar is a retired Serbian professional basketball player.He played for KK Partizan , Real Madrid Baloncesto, Pallacanestro Varese, Paris Basket Racing, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Joventut Badalona, CB Breogán, CB Estudiantes and Armani Jeans Milano.Playing for KK Partizan, Lončar won the 1992...
is his son in law, having married his daughter Ana.
Antić also has a son Dušan who acts as his business manager and is involved in his father's affairs such as contract negotiations.