Radoš Cerović from Leskovac had a bright future ahead of him; even as a fresh-faced youth, he was considered one of FK Dubočica’s best players, loved and adored, and had enrolled in university. But fate had other plans. He died on this day in 1998 at barely 20 years old and became a legend.
Radoš Cerović was born in Leskovac, where he also finished high school, but he was involved in sports from childhood. He began playing for FK Dubočica in the youth category, then with the junior team, and later the senior team. He played as a center-half, a defensive player.
“Football and sports were his great love from a young age until his death,” his two-year older brother Bojan Cerović tells Jugmedia, a brother who was his role model in something else, as it would later turn out.
Twenty-four years have passed since the tragic death of Radoš Cerović, and few remember which league Dubočica was in during Radoš Cerović’s career. His brother believes that the younger generation Radoš played in was very successful.
When he turned 19, Radoš went for his regular military service. From the army, he passed the entrance exam for DIF (Faculty of Physical Education and Sports) in Belgrade, but he never got to be a freshman.
“I was a paratrooper in the army, so he also wanted to continue the tradition. He served his military service in the legendary 63rd Parachute Brigade,” his older brother continues the story.
That year, 1998, was very turbulent in Kosovo and Metohija, where this brigade was stationed. Although undeclared, a war was being waged against Albanian terrorists. There was shooting, and both the Serbian population and the regular state army were attacked.
“My brother died on July 28, 1998, in the area of the Košare outpost during the extraction of Lieutenant Colonel Goran Ostojić, commander of the 63rd Parachute Brigade, who was killed in an ambush,” he recalls.
At that time, in addition to Ostojić and Radoš, First Class Sergeants Dragan Dušanić and Srđan Stančetić also died, but Radoš Cerović was the youngest soldier from Leskovac who laid down his life at Košare on the altar of his Serbian homeland and inscribed his name among the heroes of his hometown.
“The city of Niš, at the suggestion of veterans of the 63rd Parachute Brigade, named a street after my late brother,” says Bojan.
Although as a nation we have short memories, Radoš still lives in the minds and hearts of his loved ones and his teammates from FK Dubočica, especially in the hearts of his wartime comrades.
His entire 63rd Parachute Brigade attended the funeral. It was a sad event with an unprecedented number of people present at that time. There were also footballers and friends with whom he grew up. Even today, at every memorial service, when we relive painful memories, his wartime comrades are present,” says brother Bojan, whose voice trembled at times as our call and request for an interview brought him back to the days before and after the tragedy.
He says everything is hazy from the moment he saw soldiers with sad faces at the door.
“I was at home with my late grandmother Novka when they told me Radoš had died. The first feeling was disbelief, followed by emotions that cannot be described even today, after 24 years. I no longer remember how our parents, Divna and Dragoje, were informed. It seems to me that the army informed them at work as well,” he recalls, his voice occasionally trembling.
Bojan also didn’t get to talk to his brother about the situation in Kosovo because he was studying in Belgrade at the time. Everything he knows is from the stories of Radoš’s wartime comrades.
“From what his friends told me, I don’t think he was afraid; in fact, he even encouraged others. In that heroic and legendary 63rd Parachute Brigade, there is no place for fear anyway.”
MORE TOPICS:
ANGELINA TOPIĆ IS BALKAN CHAMPION: Serbian athlete won gold with a heavenly jump! (VIDEO)
Source: Telegraf.rs, Photo: Jugmedia