Vancouver Whitecaps center-back Ranko Veselinovic has revealed the influence that compatriot and ‘idol’ Nemanja Vidic had on him growing up.
The 23-year-old is capped once for Serbia at senior level but is showing plenty of promise in Major League Soccer, becoming the rock at the heart of the Vancouver Whitecaps’ defense.
Veselinovic can only watch on as Serbia compete to make it through the group stages at the World Cup, opening their campaign with a 2-0 defeat to an impressive Brazil side.
The hope, obviously, is to one day take to the field himself for Serbia at a major tournament. To do so, he’ll have to follow in the footsteps of former Man Utd stalwart Vidic – as is the case for pretty much all Serbian center-backs nowadays.
“Nemanja Vidić, that was my idol growing up. All center-backs in Serbia aim to be like him. A legend of Manchester United, a legend of the Serbian national team.”
Asked about the prospect of playing in a World Cup in Serbia himself, Veseliniovic admitted the difficulty in breaking through an increasingly talented player pool.
That said, he’ll continue to back his country all the way and work toward returning to the national team setup one day soon.
“It’s tough because we have a good team, a lot of good players, [but] I can’t wait to watch this World Cup,” he said, adding on his own World Cup aims: “In the future, why not? That would be the dream.”
Watch the story of Charlotte FC’s journey to MLS in 90min’s The Making of Charlotte FC, presented by DoorDash, on 90min channels now. Subscribe to our new US YouTube channel.
Add Comment