FRANCE 98 – General Media News Template

With several major titles already under his belt, Vladimir Jugovic couldn’t be better prepared for his first World Cup finals with Yugoslavia this summer.

Jugovic, who has a CV that reads like every schoolboy’s dream, will be the only man at France ‘98 to have done the European Cup/Intercontinental Cup double with two different clubs. Now a member of the best Lazio side in nearly 25 years, the skilful allround midfielder has been through Red Star Belgrade, Sampdoria and Juventus since seeing his dad play for fun.

“I used to watch my father play amateur football and imagine that one day I’d be able to play like him,” he recalled. “He loved the game even more than me he used to watch it as well but I only I liked to play. “ My dream at that time was to become a member of the first team squad of Red Star and I was thrilled when I joined their junior side at the age of 14.

“But I also had a fixed idea about what I wanted to do. I put everything I had into it and at the age of 19, I reached that first team squad. “By this stage, there was no stopping him. “In my first full season (1990-91) I won the league title and the European Cup with Red Star and in my second year we won the Intercontinental Cup. “After which, the next stop could only be Italy and the Serie A. “After playing just two years with Red Star, I’d already won almost everything there is to win, and I wanted to move forward,” he said.

“I wanted to give myself a new challenge and I accepted the offer from Sampdoria because in that year (1992) they had got to the European Cup final, and for me that was something wonderful. “It was also a more fashionable team at that time, with players like Gianluca Vialli and Roberto Mancini. The only thing is my mind was to work hard and to be a serious professional.”

Jugovic spent three seasons with the Genoa club, winning the Italian Cup in 1994, before joining Juventus in the summer of 1995. Juventus had just been crowned Italian champions but there were better things to come in the 1995-96 season, culminating in a European Cup final triumph over Ajax Amsterdam in Rome. The match went to penalties after finishing 1-1, and Juventus were leading 3-2 when Jugovic stepped up to take the last spot-kick of the night. The Olympic stadium, packed to its 80,000 capcity, erupted as the Yugoslav blasted his shot into the net “That penalty was a fantastic moment in my life,” he said, although it was followed six months later by another memorable victory in Tokyo in the Intercontinental Cup.

Jugovic hopes to feel that familiar sensation again in France this summer, although he is wary of making any predictions. “We’ve already achieved one objective by qualifying, after having been kept out for four years for political reasons,” he said.

“Hopefully, we’ll be a match for the other sides and go as far as we can by playing good football and by entertaining people.” And with Jugovic in the side, Yugoslvia have every chance of doing just that.