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VLADIMIR BALIC


Around 9 PM four Hajduk supporters went to have a drink in front of Bona. In front of the parked car drinking their drinks they talked about Hajduk. It was all the same as any other night, it just that this time sharing the conversation was one Hajduk player.

Tell us where to do you come from and who are you fans of?
I'm from Nustar, it is probably most known for the banner "Tocida Nustar", white banner, blue letters. It was on a lot of Croatia and Hajduk games. 

Your family as supporters? Do they follow soccer?
They do, they are all Hajduk fans. One of my brothers played soccer, the other handball. We're all for Hajduk, because our roots are here.

Introduce yourself to us as a supporter of Hajduk, not a goalkeeper...
I'm one of the rare supporters that had that luck of becoming a player of Hajduk.

Maybe Pralija too?
I'm not sure how many of them use to be ultras before they became players. I use to come with the guys from Nustra to watch Hajduk. Even when I use to goalkeeper for Vukovar I use to come here for Hajduk's games. 

Vukovar and Osijek - any incidents with the supporters...
Well I'm at good terms with all of them, we had a fair conduct.

Did the rest of the players in Osijek knew that you were following Hajduk?
They did, but they didn't care too much about it, and well I didn't preach too much about it, it was my personal thing. The only thing that they didn't know was that I was going to Hajduk games sometimes.

How did you feel when you first got in front of Hajduk's footpath? 
How did I feel? I was confused, nothing was clear to me. I was there, went through half of Dalmatia and Slavonia as a goalkeeper and then finally ended up in Hajduk. It is unbelievable, just as if one of you's here became a player. 

Are you sad that here in Hajduk, you are second goalkeeper on the list, but in some other clubs you would be first? 
It is more important to be second goalkeeper in Hajduk, then first in any other club.

What do you think about Torcida?
What can I say? What can I say about myself? My head is always turned to Torcida.

What about the other players in the club, do they get Torcida and the whole ultras thing?
I think that they get it, but sometimes act differently, because everyone of us have our own problems. But when you see how many long some people travel to be at the game, how much energy they put into it, no one can look at them wrong. 

What do you think about the banner "Balic is my idol"?
Well, I think that its the best banner that I have ever seen in my life, especially because it is made in my name and because it was made by a group of honest and big Hajduk supporters.

What about the rest of the banner "Balic likes alcohol? Ha,ha...
Well thats a part of all of us, everyone has their own thing.

Do you players celebrate after a win with a drink?
Of course we do, everybody in their own way. I would feel redicilous if there was no drink and we didn't celebrate. The same thing after a lost game, you go to your home to cover yourself up.

A couple of years in Zagreb, Hajduk players walk around in Hajduk's jersey's and are being attacked by Bad Blue Boys... Last year Bule and some other players chased down Boys. What do you think about that and are you disappointed that you were not there?
Bule and myself where standing there and those Boys were yelling something as they were passing by. That happened after, our guys bashed them. We need to gather around and kick their asses a bit in the city, ha , ha... 

Is there any particular game that you will always remember?
The best moment for me was when Milan Rapajic got in and scored against Dinamo (4-2). I was at the game with my now wife, we were on east side of the stadium, and when Miki scored the goal I jumped like crazy. Against Fiorentina it was really good too. And with Schalke it was really intense, especially last 20 minutes when it was all over, when we all knew that we're out of the tournament, the support was the loudest. That was truly a great moment, we lost, but we still sang as if we won. That was when Jozinovic got the red card, and I had his jersey on, ha, ha.

Flares, smoke bombs, how do they reflect on players, do you like it or...
That brings out a positive energy, at least to me. Like against Dinamo, I was sitting with the reserves - and I was watching it, it was crazy. It is all really great - maybe to someone it might not be that good, but they are not in Hajduk then.

And when you go to away games?
There is nothing better than when you travel to play in some other city and see the fans of your club there.

And when you hear supporters from other clubs?
No one hears them. When they yell out, throw stuff and cause troubles thats more like it to me. In Vienna everything was thrown on me, from the apples, lighters, toilet paper, cheeseburger...

What about the penalty you saved to Savicevic, when Rapid played against Osijek?
Same shit. If there was a gunshot, if it was fired by my neighbor for example. If I was thinking about it, I would shit my pants and would never save that penalty, this way it was all normal.

Who is your idol?
My soccer idol is Milan Rapajic. He is the king of all Kings! And Mato Neretljak, of course the real axe of Hajduk. He proved himself to be a real swan.

Would you give 'Hajduks Heart' to him if you had the chance?
Well he is my best friend and I would give him my heart, but Hajduk's Heart should be given to Pletikosa. He got Hajduk millions of points. And Srna is a great player too.

When you were the goalkeeper for Osijek, when Hajduk played against Osijek in Zadar, with your saves you could have taken Hajduk away from the thropy, how did you feel then?
I will answer this honestly. I prayed to god that Hajduk wins but to let someone score a goal is something that I could not do. I wouldn't be Balic if I let the game be played like that. Even then I was good with Vulic and he said to me: "If you let Hajduk win I would be disappointed" and I answered with: "I wish that you win, but I will not let any goals..." I did my job professionally, first half I was really good, the goals I couldn't save. What can I do? At the end I was happy, everybody was happy...

What do you say about supporters going to Parma for a friendly game, really unimportant game?
For the first time between the players there was a talk about it. They were all shocked when they saw you. They all realized that all of those present had to put in a lot of effort into traveling there for a friendly game. And after the game it was talked about, about flares and everything. A couple of days ago Vulic said something about that when he was asked why Hajduk travels that much and plays a lot of friendly games. He said that for the supporters we should travel to all those places and play all those games, you've seen how many fans were there in Parma. So for the supporters we must play those friendly games, it doesn't matter if we need them or not.

At the end all we can say is: "Balic we'll see you!", on the field or on the stands next to us...
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