Goodbye, Mister, you will forever be in our hearts
Sinisa Mihajlovic passed away today, at the age of 53, after a long and emotional battle with leukaemia. Bologna FC 1909 mourns the coach who managed the Rossoblù until last September.
Sinisa Mihajlovic was born in Vukovar on 20 February 1969 and began his coaching career at Bologna in 2008, after a success playing career with Crvena Zvezda, Roma, Sampdoria, Lazio and Inter. He returned to the Bologna dugout in January 2019, leading the team to a tenth-place finish following an incredible survival battle where he won 30 points from 17 games.
But right at the start of the following season, on 13 July 2019, there came the news that shocked the Club, the fans and football lovers everywhere: Mihajlovic announced in an emotional press conference at Casteldebole that he had contracted an acute form of leukaemia. His hospitalisation and the heavy treatment he was undergoing did not prevent him from continuing his work: the Club confirmed from the outset that they intended to continue on with Mihajlovic and he followed the team from a distance, communicating with the players thanks to technology and constant mediation by his staff. After 44 days in hospital, Mihajlovic surprisingly left the ward on 25 August to sit in the team dugout at the Stadio Bentegodi in Verona for their first league away match of the season.
Mihajlovic continued to lead the Rossoblù for three more seasons, but on 26 March he was forced to announce that the illness had re-emerged and, consequently, he had to go back to hospital. In September, the club made the painful decision to relieve him of his duties: “The most difficult choice”, said Joey Saputo, “since I have been president of Bologna”.
During these months, Sinisa has continued to fight away from the spotlight, surrounded by the love of his wonderful family. He wanted to live, he wanted to return to the football pitch, which had been his life since he was a child. He didn’t make it and yet he has still won. He has won by the example he has set. He has won by not hiding his own weaknesses and fears. Mihajlovic, whom many liked to call ‘the warrior’, has won with the gentleness of fragility, teaching the young that true strength does not lie in feeling invincible, but in always trying to get back up.
At Bologna, we experienced three and a half years full of highs and lows with him, in a state of mind that does not usually accompany the carefree affairs of football. Not only the Club, but the whole city accompanied him as far as possible on this difficult journey: the city council gave him honorary citizenship, the fans wished him well in a procession up to the Basilica di San Luca, the spiritual home of all Bolognese. The people of Bologna mourn you today, Sinisa, and send their love and affection to Arianna and your children, knowing full well that a ‘fellow citizen’ like you, once he has entered everyone’s heart, will remain there forever. More alive, more victorious than ever.
Goodbye, Mister.