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NEMANJA VIDIĆ
It has taken less than two years for Nemanja Vidic to be transformed from a little known Serb to a cult figure at Manchester United, a Premiership and Champions league winner and a man who is not only one of the first names down on the team sheet, but also a favourite son of Sir Alex Ferguson.
In 2006, when he left Spartak Moscow for United for a fee of around ?7.2 million, the Old Trafford faithful were asking just who was this man, and how could he possibly fill the void left by the likes of Steve Bruce and Jaap Stam.
There was, to put it lightly, a heap of pressure placed on the young man’s broad shoulders, but if others saw Vidic’s task to be one that would test him to the limit, the man himself knew that having lived and breathed pressure for much of his life, playing for United really would not be the big deal that others assumed.
“When you have lived through a war, and when your best friend suddenly dies, it makes things that appear to be big to others not as big to you,” is how the 27-year-old puts it, in his decent if still broken English. “And if you are a Serb who has played for Red Star Belgrade, then playing for Manchester United afterwards is actually less pressure than people think.”
Vidic was still a young boy when Serbia found itself engulfed in wars against Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo under the leadership of Slobodan Milosevic. His home town of Uzice was hit as badly as many places in Serbia. Although he and his family were unharmed, the memories remain indelible.
“I was young and couldn’t understand the reasons for the war at the time, and it’s not something I like to dwell on now because they are not good memories and the world, has moved on,” he explains.
“But I lived through the war and, of course, times were very difficult. At Uzice as a junior we had to train on the athletics track behind the stadium, not on the pitch, and often we’d wait until the planes had come and dropped their bombs before we came out. That was the worst moment always, hearing the planes and knowing that they were coming to bomb the city. When I moved to Red Star at 15 Belgrade was a dangerous place to be in. Everywhere you went it was dangerous.
“I think this is why I see it as important that I am now a good ambassador for my country. Maybe English footballers do not have the same role, but for me Serbia’s sports stars have a duty to show ourselves and our country in a good light. It’s the same for our tennis stars, like Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic. Maybe a few years ago people might have had a problem with Serbia, but now I believe much has changed.”
It was at Red Star that he suffered more personal trauma when his best friend, fellow footballer Vladimir Dimitrijevic, died on the pitch of a heart attack aged just 20 years old. “It will stay with me forever,” is how Vidic tries to explain his emotions seven years on.
“Vladimir and I were inseparable. We shared the same dreams and wanted to be successful together. We both came from Uzice, and we both moved to Red Star. He would have been very proud of what I have achieved since, and I would have been just as proud of him if he had achieved the same. And he would have done. Vladimir was so talented. He would have been a great player. He got into the first team before me, you know. But now he is gone and I want to preserve his memory forever.”
One way of doing this is to help out at the Vladimir Dimitrijevic football school recently opened back in Uzice and headed up by his best friend’s father. “I will go there after the end of this season to meet the kids and help in any way I can,” Vidic promises.
In his friend’s absence Vidic went on to become Red Star’s captain at just 22 years of age, and led them to a league and cup domestic double in 2004. “Of course, I know just how big a club Manchester United is in the world, but in Serbia Red Star is king and everyone knows you and has an opinion about you. When you play for Red Star there is nowhere you can go in Serbia where people are not talking about you and Red Star. Winning the double with Red Star was, for me, as big as winning the Champions League with United, but when it comes to pressure playing for United is not as big as being made captain of Red Star at 22.”
Losing to Partizan in the big, Belgrade derby, must have been terrible, then? Vidic laughs. “I do not know,” he replies. “I never lost to Partizan.”
It is in the light of all this that Vidic remains unfazed by the pressure others placed on him upon his arrival in Manchester. “I appreciate life maybe a little bit more than some people,” he reflects. “The problems that some think are big really are not too big for me. The bad times place life in perspective.”
Vidic reminded himself of this when he had his moments of doubt two years ago, so bad in fact that at one stage he was convinced he had made the wrong move. “I found it hard to settle in Manchester and at United,” he admits, two years on and happily married to Ana (Ivanovic, but not the tennis star) with their two year old son, Luka.
“When I moved to Moscow it was easy because there were five Serbs in the Spartak team but at United there was nobody. In Manchester people didn’t know much about me. I know everyone was asking whether I was good enough to play for United. I felt as if I had to show something always, in training and in matches. I’d had some injuries, too, and the Premiership is more physical than I had experienced before. After a couple of months I said to myself: “This is not the right club for me.””
Ferguson begged to differ, though. “I was very down for a while but the manager kept telling me he believed in me, and that I’d come good and be a big player for the team. That really gave me confidence, and when my partnership with Rio Ferdinand started I began to show what I can do.”
Indeed he did and there is little doubt now that the Vidic-Ferdinand combination is one of, if not the best central defending partnership in the Premiership. “It’s because Rio and I, although different people, are good communicators on and off the field. We have a good relationship and it’s because Rio has always been very open with me. In a game we hardly need to talk. I know exactly what he’s going to do next, and where he’s going to be, and Rio knows the same about me.”
Will they help United to a successful defence of their Premiership title, though? Vidic is hopeful. “Right now we are like a track and field race,” he explains, with a wide grin. “We have just taken over the lead from Liverpool and Chelsea, but they are right behind us. We are looking nice and comfortable and ready to choose the moment to strike for the finish line.
“It is not yet, because it is only January, but the next two months will be very important and I am sure the race for the title will be tight this year. But I think we are in a very good position right now, and I am happy where we are.”
Nemanja Vidic is laughing now, as well he might be after his background and the success story that he has become. “I really like that picture of the track and field race,” he reiterates. “Please make sure you remember to write about it.”
Liverpool and Chelsea have been warned.
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