Ivan
14 years ago Ivan was already one of the leading players of Lube Banca Marche MACERATA as Italy’s heavyweight topped the podium of the CEV Volleyball Champions League in Opole. Today he will be trying to help that same club to edge TRENTINO Diatec in the semis and get the right to play again for the crown of Europe’s elite club competition.
“Yes, it has been 14 years now since we won the Champions League in Opole,” he recounts. “Well, if you ask me what I remember of that Final Four, there are a few things that come to my mind. Our fans travelled by bus for about 22-23 hours to come to Opole and cheer us on and that was the very first time they embarked on such long trip,” Miljkovic says.
“I also remember that even though we won the cup, I did not perform that well. And yes, I think we played two teams from Greece in the semis and in the final (Iraklis THESSALONIKI and Olympiacos PIRAEUS, respectively).”
14 years have passed and today Miljkovic will be playing at the iconic TAURON Arena in Krakow hoping to repeat that same feat. “As I said at press conference, I see that the venues are getting bigger and bigger. However, this is not yet the biggest one you can get in Europe. Kombank Arena in Belgrade can host even more fans. It would be cool to have a Final Four there one day, hoping to repeat the same success of the World League Finals [in 2009] when almost 23,000 people were there to watch us. Who knows, maybe in 15 years I could be the one organising such an event and working behind the scenes,” Miljkovic says picturing himself in a different role and position.
Ivan said a lot more interesting, read the whole interview here.
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