Stevanović for WoV – „What’s Messi in football that’s Ngapeth in volleyball“

Milos-Stevanovic-2

—————————————————————————————————————

Miloš Stevanović is a 29-year-old Serbian-born setter who competes in Qatar for 7 years, of which 6 years in El Jaish and one year in Al Rayyan. Before moving to play in Qatar, he played in Mladi radnik Požarevac and Smederevo Carina in his home country, Lebanese side Al Anwar, and Bulgarian Neftochimic 2010 Burgas. While playing in Qatar, Stevanović changed his nation of origin and gained the right to defend colors of Qatar national team in 2014. Last year, he competed in the FIVB World League. As for individual awards, Stevanović was named MVP of the 2013/14 Qatari national championship and Best Setter of the 2017 and  2018 Arab Clubs Championship.

—————————————————————————————————————-

How long have you been playing in Qatar?

„I’ve been playing since 2011 when my manager Krasić called me to ask if I would like to play Military World Games. The tournament lasted for a month and was played in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Since it was summer time and I was offered a good money, it seemed to me like a great opportunity. The season before that I played in Bulgaria and made a verbal agreement with the club to renew my contract for next season. But, the club for which I competed in the Military Games, El Jaish, offered me a five-year contract after the tournament which I couldn’t refuse. That club shut down later and we were all free to find ourselves new clubs. That’s how I ended up in Al Rayyan.“

Which successes have you accomplished in Qatar in the 2017/18?

„I won six trophies! At the beginning of the season, we won the national Super cup. After that, we conquered Arab Clubs Championship which is considered one of the biggest successes of Qatari volleyball ever. Then, we won Federation cup which is the tournament in which only local players are allowed to compete. Since I have their citizenship, I was able to play. It was followed with the national championship which we finished without suffering a single loss. We made a 32-game winning streak. In the meantime, we won the national cup and finally, Emir cup.“

Which famous volleyball stars you had as your teammates in Qatar?

„First, I would like to stress how much one player meant to us last season. It was my compatriot Ivan Borovnjak who joined us only seven days before the beginning of the season. But he quickly adapted and contributed a lot to all these successes last season. In the national cup semifinals, he was replaced in the squad with a Cuban player and that’s when we suffered the only defeat last season. After that, Borovnjak was returned for Game 2 of the semifinals and we won the cup. Later, he was replaced with Earvin Ngapeth for the Emir cup. Ngapeth is one of the famous stars I played with in Qatar. There were also Georg Grozer, Leonel Marshall, Robertlandy Simón, Facundo Conte, Oreol Camejo…“

Milos-Stevanovic-1

Which one of these made the strongest impression on you?

„I would single out Ngapeth because of the way he treats volleyball. Although I played with him in only four games it is incredible with what easiness he plays. What’s Messi in football that’s Ngapeth in volleyball. Since he came as a big star, we kind of thought he will not make much effort in the training. But no. He gave example how to treat volleyball to all of us. After all, he is more experienced than me despite I’m older. He simply makes you feel confident on the court.“

What are your plans regarding the continuation of your career?

„I’ve been in Doha for seven year now and it starts to become very dear to my heart. They gave me a lot. They respect me a lot, especially because I decided to play for their national team. I would really like to thank everyone here in Doha. I signed a multi-year contract with Al Rayyan. I will soon play Asian Club Championship with the club and Asian Games with Qatar national team.“

In general, what is it like to live and play volleyball in Doha?

„As a country, Qatar invests a lot in sports which was visible in handball when their national team won a silver medal in the World Championship in 2015. When it comes to investing in sports, Qatar is 20 years ahead of many countries, including my home country. Life is relaxed here, conditions for training and recovery are amazing. They take care of athletes here. Here in Doha, there’s famous sports medicine hospital ’Aspetar’ to which world-famous athletes come to treat and heal their injuries.“ 

Check out more Interviews.

SUBSCRIBE to have full access to WoV PROFILES, STATS, and WoVVIDEO.

Discover what’s new in the volleyball world.