Apoel Nicosia v Real Madrid:THE PATH of Ivan Jovanovic's career was determined by a fight in a low-key competition in East Germany in 1988. He wasn't even on the pitch, having been substituted 10 minutes from time of an Intertoto Cup tie between his side, Rad Belgrade, and Carl Zeiss Jena. He played no part in the brawl but when Uefa handed out punishments his role as captain was taken into account and he was banned from European competition for two years.
It was a costly penalty. Jovanovic had a move to Metz lined up but the French club pulled out when they heard about the suspension. So Jovanovic instead went to the Greek side Iraklis. Three times they made it to the Uefa Cup. The first two times, Jovanovic could not play. The third time, in 1996-’97, he did but Iraklis were eliminated in the second qualifying round by Apoel. Fifteen seasons on, Jovanovic leads Apoel against Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Jovanovic describes the tie as “an honour” but it’s not a game he’s overly happy about. “After a long and extremely difficult effort since the second qualifying round till today, we all expected something better, more luck in the draw,” he says.
That perhaps hints at the seriousness of the man: for him a quarter-final against Madrid is not a fitting end to an astonishing season, it’s a major obstacle to reaching the last four.
After a season with the Greek second-flight side Niki Volou, he took charge of Iraklis in 2002 and, in November 2003, he moved to Apoel for the first time, winning the championship in his debut season.
The next year, fans and players turned against him and, on March 5th, he was sacked after the first defeat of the season left Apoel two points behind Apollon. He returned in January 2008. He has won two league titles since and, in 2009-’10, took Apoel into the group stages of the Champions League, making them only the second Cypriot side to reach that stage (after Anorthosis Famagusta in 2008-’09). This year, he broke new ground by guiding them into the knockout phase.
“This season is no accident,” he says. “Remember 2009 when Apoel first played in the group stage and performed admirably against Chelsea, Porto and Atletico Madrid, missing out on the Europa League spot only on goal difference? The year after we were unlucky to go out of the Europa League to Getafe. For three years we’ve been building a good and reliable squad. I don’t think people have realised what we’ve achieved. For us, for a club from Cyprus, to play in the group stage is like Real Madrid winning the competition.
“Everything is based on a good spirit inside the squad, on good, constant and daily work and on a healthy football mentality,” Jovanovic says.
Hard work and organisation may not be enough to overcome Madrid, particularly with the Brazilian forward Gustavo Manduca, who scored twice against Porto and against Lyon, suspended for the first leg. But in a sense it doesn’t matter; Apoel have struck a blow for the little man, and offered a model for smaller clubs.
“This is the only solution,” says Jovanovic. “Building a reliable team with little money is not easy, but success isn’t certain even if you spend a lot of money.”
Guardian Service
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