Dejan Stankovic gave a touching response when asked about his relationship with former player and coach Sinisa Mihajlovic.
The former Bologna coach sadly passed away aged 53 back in December following a long battle with leukaemia. It was an emotional and poignant time for the world of Italian football, who mourned the loss of a unique and oft-decisive character. His funeral drew many current and former faces of Serie A, including Italy coach Roberto Mancini.
Speaking to DAZN, Stankovic opened up about his relationship with Mihajlovic and revealed how the Serbian’s death has affected him.
“I always talked to Sinisa, about everything. He was my starting point, my reference point, someone who told me: ‘Go quietly, everything will be fine’. Just that.
“I talked to him about everything, then I made the choices, but he gave you advice, he pulled your ears when things didn’t go well. That’s the brother, not the one who only tells you when things are going well, but who scolds you when you make mistakes.
“Sinisa took away all my words, the immense pain and that of Arianna, the children, his brother, his mother…. I pray every night to God to give them the strength to go on. I keep it all inside and I am proud to have been part of his life.
“How much? I don’t know, but I was part of it. And I am proud that he knows what I thought. And how much I respected him, how much I loved him.
“A phrase that reminds me of him? There are many, like this one: ‘You must never regret what you have done, only what you haven’t done’. This is Sinisa’s phrase, which you can use in any context, in life and in football.”
Stankovic and Mihajlovic regularly spent time together in their playing careers, with both spending six years at Lazio from 1998 to 2004 before heading to Inter, where the latter retired after two years.
A colourful character, Mihajlovic was known to be a hardy defender who was one of the best in the world in a deadball scenario.