He left his mark on his time at the Girondins de Bordeaux in the early 1980s. Goalkeeper Dragan Pantelic, former Yugoslav international (19 caps), died Wednesday at the age of 70, following complications linked to Covid- 19.
In two seasons (1981-1983), he played 47 games with Bordeaux, even scoring… three goals.
He had the particularity of taking the penalties.
Pantelic had also registered two with his selection.
A guardian known to be whimsical, Pantelic was at the heart of an incredible affair. On April 13, 1982, in a crucial match in the fight for the title, the Girondins coached by Aimé Jacquet bowed on a contentious arbitration decision against Lens. In the corridors, a linesman accuses Pantelic of having kicked him, before the goalkeeper does not receive a flag stick on the head, causing him three stitches. He was finally suspended for a year by the League after several months of proceedings. In protest, Claude Bez, the president of Bordeaux, decides to play the last day of the 1982-1983 season with a flying goalkeeper facing Nantes, Marius Trésor then Alain Giresse. Bordeaux lost 6-0 and Pantelic left France to end his career with his favorite club, Radnicki Nis.
"He was a particular and original player in his role as player and goalkeeper"
“It was an afterthought at the end of the procedure, remembers Alain Giresse on the WebsiteGirondins.
There was even a criminal case.
Besides, I went to testify in the police court as a captain.
When the penalty of one year of suspension fell, President Bez told me "Gigi you will play a flying goalkeeper" in Nantes.
But I was never in goal, except on set pieces ”.
The former captain of the Girondins says he is "touched by his disappearance".
“He is a player who has been with us and who has worn our colors.
This is sad news.
He was a particular and original player in his role as player and goalkeeper.
At the time, there was no goalie coach.
He called for his trainer to train alone.
He did not participate in team games very much, and did not like being in goal during shooting exercises.
Be careful, relations were good with him.
But he didn't like training inside the squad, and he wasn't interested in playing small games.
It was him, a little whimsical.
"