In the third article on a handful of cult Eastern European players who captured the imagination of a generation, Andy Edgeworth looks at Darko Pancev.
Catch up here with part one and part two if you’ve missed them.
Darko Pancev – the Gerd Muller of the Balkans
On 29 May 1991, at around 10.40pm Central European Time, a slight figure stands on the edge of the D inside Bari’s Stadio San Nicola, the ball on the penalty spot some 12 yards ahead of him.
After a brief pause he takes a steady run up and calmly slots the ball past the Marseille goalkeeper, Pascal Olmeta.
Crvena Zvezda – otherwise known as Red Star Belgrade – were the champions of Europe. The man who scored the winning penalty was Darko Pancev.
It was the pinnacle of a season which saw Pancev not only win the European Cup but also the European Golden Boot for his 34 league goals in his club’s league title triumph.
He even finished equal second with teammate Dejan Savićević and Inter’s Lothar Matthäus in the Ballon d’Or of the same year, behind eventual winner Jean-Pierre Papin.
The now much fabled Red Star Belgrade side – the last side from outside Europe’s top leagues (if you include Porto) to win the greatest prize in European club football- were the last great unknown of the game.
The young side took Europe by storm beating Rangers and Bayern Munich on their way to glory.
Of course, it was not just down to Pancev. He was helped by the likes of Dejan Savićević and Robert Prosinečki consistently supplying him with their customarily sublime through balls.
Like many of that Belgrade side he moved on with Inter Milan winning the race to sign Europe’s hottest goal scoring property for a reported £7 million.
However, his time at Inter did not work out as planned, Much as we have seen with Aguero & Guardiola, Inter coach Osvaldo Bagnoli wanted Pancev to work harder for the good of the team, but Pancev just wanted to score goals.
The personality clash as obvious and destined to fail.
Bagnoli said: “I understand, he has played a lot this way, scored a lot and won a lot. But I expect more. He may be Slavic. I am from Milan. And here we’re not idiots. He must understand that at Inter he can play differently.”
The Macedonian’s response was just as cutting: “There are attackers who run and players who do not run. I was one of those innately talented in scoring and was running only within 30 metres from the door. And Inter would not accept the way I play.”
He was quickly replaced by Dennis Bergkamp. A loan spell in Germany with VfB Leipzig saw him regain his goal scoring touch but a second spell back with Inter under new manager Ottavio Bianchi did not work out for Pancev.
Despite a positive start to the new campaign, which included goals against Fiorentina and Bari, injuries and a dip in form saw him return to the side-lines.
A move back to Germany with Fortuna Dusseldorf saw him play only a dozen games or so before moving to FC Sion in Switzerland where he would retire aged just 32.
His career wasn’t quite as impressive as I should have been but for those who remember that great Red Star team, there will always be a fondness for the goal scoring machine that was Darko Pancev.
