Chicago Fire: Serbia set to reclaim Veljko Paunovic
No one in the Windy City wants to see Chicago Fire Head Coach Veljko Paunovic leave and move back to his home country of Serbia.
Veljko Paunovic led the Chicago Fire to the 2017 MLS Eastern Conference Playoffs, though they were knocked out in the first round by the lower seed Columbus Crew in a poor performance at Toyota Park.
He proved his ability to lead in MLS as the Fire finished third in the Eastern Conference but Serbia desperately needs their own leader to take them to the next great soccer plateau.
FourTwoTwo writer Paul Tenorio recently tweeted just that. He cited Serbian journalist Aca Stojanovic, relayed on MLSSoccer.com, that a number of Serbian officials want Paunovic back. He proved his ability there just before taking the Chicago job.
Slavoljub Muslin is no longer coach of Serbian national team. Now, media speculate that Veljko Paunović is first option. pic.twitter.com/0ccRcAEKxB
— Aca Stojanović (@AcaStop) October 30, 2017
Paunovic led the Serbia side that won the FIFA 2015 U-20 World Cup. FIFA.com described the players landing in their home country.
"FIFA.com: On their return from New Zealand, Paunovic and his players were greeted by over 50,000 chanting, flare-waving fans, packed into a Belgrade square. And that, he says, emphasises football’s awesome power in an often-troubled country."
Paunovic recalls Serbia glory
The Chicago Fire players and fans enjoyed glory this season with Paunovic and players like Bastian Schweinsteiger. Yet profound glory awaits the one who can lead Serbia to their next soccer plateau.
"Paunovic: Serbia, as most people will know, has not had it easy over the last 20 or 30 years. And football is like a religion in our country.Serbia had won World Cups in basketball and other sports before 2015 and, whenever that happened, the winning team would come back to the same historic building in Belgrade and salute the people from the balcony.But the people who work at that building said they had never seen anything like the crowd and the reception my U-20 boys got. It was wonderful, and it shows how crazy our country is for football."
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The Serbian national soccer team now lacks a head coach as they head to the World Cup in Russia next summer. Their best choice now does a great job for the Chicago Fire but he has one more year guaranteed on his contract so it may not be that simple.
Glory awaits a soccer team next season through Paunovic but who wants it, and him, more? Serbia and Chicago Fire will decide that soon.