Such a sad thing hearing of the death of Matija Sarkic at only 26 years of age.
Lovely and funny story shared by Bobby Madley on twitter after the sad and sudden passing of Matija Sarkic at such a young age. Rest in peace.
Terrible news this week that 26 year old footballer, Matija Sarkic, passed away while on international duty. I met Matija in 2016 when refereeing my first U19 Euros Qualifying game between Montenegro and France. Matija was the captain which, as a goalkeeper, isn't always the easiest for a referee.
Standing in the tunnel before the game Matija came down and shook hands. Given that my grasp of the Montenegrin language wasn't the best, in a shocking broken English accent I tried to explain to Matija with many hand gestures and ridiculous facial expressions that as captain and goalkeeper it would be hard to work with him.
My question of "Is there player in team, speak English, maybe can speak with me if problem today?" was met his a blank look from Matija. I tried again with even worse broken English and the stone look remained on his face. I was defeated. I looked at Matija and said "Clearly I'm wasting my time and getting nowhere". Matija half smiled. He replied in a strong Balkan accent, "Nine. Speak English him."
Delighted and very proud of myself I replied "Ah you understand English little. This is good. He speak good English?"
Matija smiled and replied... "Yeah it's not bad, it's my brother Oliver, we're from Grimsby...l just wanted to see how long you'd carry that nonsense on!"
He'd done me like a kipper!
I didn't know Matija but I had the honour of sharing a pitch with this young man. That funny moment in the tunnel has stayed with me and I was devastated to hear this news.
Sincerest condolences to his family and his friends.
