| Montenegro making noise in world football |
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| Thursday, 15 May 2008 21:23 | ||||
 Media reports that 18 year old Montenegrin football phenomenon Stevan Jovetić had signed a 10 M euro transfer deal that would see him leaving Partizan Belgrade for Italy’s Fiorentina are spurious, according to the footballer’s agent. Fali Ramadani told the Montenegro Times that several Italian clubs are interested in Jovetić but so are a number of English and Spanish sides. Ramadani was, in fact, on his way to a meeting with an undisclosed Spanish club when the Montenegro Times reached him on his mobile phone. Asked if Jovetić would prefer to play in one country more than the others, Ramadani replied, “He wants to play in Spain.”However, perennial powerhouse Manchester United has been interested in signing Jovetić for more than a year. United Manager Sir Alex Ferguson believes the wunderkind would make a fine fit with his squad, which is a finalist in this year’s Champions League. Last year, the UK’s best selling daily tabloid, The Sun, reported that Ferguson had offered 10 M euros for him prior to his signing with Partizan. The idea that Jovetić, a striker, would be able to knock Wayne Rooney or Christian Ronaldo out of a starting spot at United is a dubious proposition, at best, but the kid, who is touted by many as the best young footballer in Europe, is capable of greatness on any stage. Jovetić scored a hat trick for Partizan in a UEFA Cup qualifying match last August. He was 17 years old at the time. This year he was named captain of Partizan despite his age. In 54 matches with the Serbian side he scored 18 goals. He was named captain of Montenegro’s U-21 national team when he as 17 and he earned his first cap on the senior national squad against Hungary in March of 2007. Jovetić has one year left in his Partizan contract. When asked what kind of money it would take for Partizan to let him go before his contract expires, Ramadani replied, “We do not talk about money with the media.” Jovetić is Montenegro’s rising football star but the country already has a bona fide superstar in Mirko Vucinic. The 24-year-old striker, who currently suits up for Italy’s Roma, is rumoured to be on the move after another impressive season in the Italian capital. Media reports from the UK state that Ferguson is willing to offer as much as 15 M pounds to Roma to lure Vučinić to Old Trafford. Roma has a well earned reputation as a club with deep pockets and short arms and its fans are despondent at the prospect of losing one of their top players. With Jovetić and Vucinic leading the attack, Montenegro looks to be in a good position to continue to climb the FIFA rankings. Currently ranked 150, Montenegro hopes to move up the charts by month’s end. The national squad will play host to Kazakhstan in a May 27 friendly in Podgorica. Four days later the team will travel to Bucharest to provide a tune up for the Romanian side that is on its way to the European Championships, which will be contested in Switzerland and Austria between June 7 – 29. While there are no easy games in the European Championships, Romania, currently ranked 12th in the world, find themselves in the proverbial ‘group of death’ with Italy (#3 in the world), France (#7) and the Netherlands (#10). The fact that Romania chose Montenegro as its last warm up before facing such strong competition is no small salute to the little Balkan mouse that may yet roar loudly. Are you a footie fanatic? Would you like to become the world’s leading authority on Montenegrin football? Be called upon by Sky Sports, The Sun and the BBC for your inside information, expert analysis and commentary? If so, The Montenegro Times would like to make you the paper’s footie reporter (if you have what it takes). The national squad starts World Cup 2010 qualifiers this summer. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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