Milan Coach Sinisa Mihajlovic discussed his early life and career, his famous temper and why he feels “more Italian than Serbian now.”
The tactician has been in Italy since 1992, playing for Roma, Sampdoria, Lazio, Fiorentina and Inter before beginning his management career in 2006.
“I always wanted to come to Italy, as in my view it’s the most beautiful country in the world. I am happy here and feel more Italian than Serbian now, seeing as I’ve been here since 1992,” he told Sky Sport Italia.
Milan Coach Sinisa Mihajlovic discussed his early life and career, his famous temper and why he feels “more Italian than Serbian now.”
The tactician has been in Italy since 1992, playing for Roma, Sampdoria, Lazio, Fiorentina and Inter before beginning his management career in 2006.
“I always wanted to come to Italy, as in my view it’s the most beautiful country in the world. I am happy here and feel more Italian than Serbian now, seeing as I’ve been here since 1992,” he told Sky Sport Italia.
“I certainly have a strong character, but I was born in a country where you need to be tough not out of choice, but to survive.
“I like pressure, I’ve never run away from that. When you’ve been through two wars, you cannot be afraid of a football match. I give my best when under pressure, because football is important to me, but it remains a sport. It’s not life and death.”
Nonetheless, Miha admits he took a certain aggressive approach to the game and regrets saying he’d never join Milan because of his past at Inter.
“On first arriving at Milan, I said that I couldn’t transmit what the past of that club meant because I wasn’t part of it, but I could pass on the fear that Milan could create in the opposition, or the respect I felt as a rival.
“Before I used to see life as subtraction, so I needed an enemy to fight against. Now I want to feel the experiences that I didn’t enjoy. It’s easy to be loved and respected in the clubs you’ve already been with, but then you grow, change and mature.
“When I was six years old and about to start school, my teacher lived next door and she didn’t want to take me in her class because she saw I was always fighting. Actually I was very good at school, but the moment I was out of class I’d take on the bigger boys.
“My mother would get angry because I’d come home with a broken nose or blood everywhere, but if he was stronger than me I’d swing a punch.
“People always say you need to count to 10 before doing anything drastic. I never used to count at all, now I’m up to five or six. I don’t think I’ll ever reach 10, but you try to improve in life.”