Krasimir Balakov, a Bulgarian midfielder who represented Sporting between 1990 and 1995 (168 games/67 goals), is the great idol for the generation of Leo fans who were children and teenagers at the time. He lives in Bulgaria and continues to follow the Alvalade club with all his attention. In this interview with DN, he highlights the most memorable moments he experienced in Portugal and expresses his desire to see Sporting win the title of national champions this season. A goal that he could not achieve during his playing days, despite being part of teams with other great footballers such as Luís Figo, Stan Valckx, Paulo Sousa and Cherbakov.
Are you following Sporting this season? They are in first place in the rankings, do you believe the club will become national champions?
Yes, of course I always follow Sporting, although not as much as I would like, as I am far away in Bulgaria. I believe that Sporting can become national champions, thanks to the great quality of Rúben Amorim, his technical team and the squad. As far as I’m concerned, Sporting can surprise the competition from Benfica and FC Porto and celebrate again at the end of the season, just like three years ago.
Who is the player you like most in the current squad?
The strength of this Sporting is the collective, the way in which everyone comes together on the field. I don’t want to emphasize names.
It’s impossible not to ask him what he thinks of Gyökeres, who is already an idol among the fans…
I knew you’d ask me about him… All great teams should have a guy up front who completes the work of the rest of the team. That happens in this Sporting team, just like it happens with Haaland at Manchester City or Harry Kane at Bayern Munich. Fortunately, Sporting has found this type of player, who can make the difference and become the best player and top scorer of the championship.
Do you think a big striker like Gyökeres was missing to help Sporting become national champions during his playing days?
Well, it’s unbelievable, but we didn’t become champions despite having great players like Figo, Paulo Sousa, Cadete, Oceano and Carlos Xavier, among others. What if a striker was missing? Those were different times, it was very difficult to beat the organization of FC Porto, under the responsibility of Pinto da Costa. And on the other hand, FC Porto always had great teams, most of the Portuguese national team players played there. Sporting, FC Porto and Benfica always had great teams, with the ability to go very far in the European Champions Cup and other European competitions. And any of the three can become national champions. But there were always little things that worked against Sporting.
Are you talking about issues related to arbitration?
Arbitration? I didn’t say that (laughs), but things often happened with Sporting that made us wonder: “how is that possible?”. In fact, people at that time could do things that are no longer possible today.
Do you consider your time at Sporting to be the best phase of your career?
My career has been very peaceful, always done from the bottom up. I can’t say the best phase was at Sporting or Stuttgart. I grew from 0 to 100 and finished second in the German League and the Champions League at the age of 38.
Do you miss the Sporting fans who supported you so much?
I miss you very much. Two years ago I was invited by Sporting to watch the Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund. I was at the club management lunch, as I know both presidents, and then I saw the match at the stadium. At halftime my image appeared on the big screens and the entire stadium applauded. It’s a moment I will never forget! I left Sporting in 1995 and it’s great to know that the fans still remember me this way. This relationship shows that my job was done well, not only on the pitch, but also in the way I communicated with the fans. I also have several friends from Benfica, which shows that fans in Portugal can appreciate the quality of players, regardless of the club.
Do you maintain contact with former colleagues at Sporting or with people who currently work at the club?
It is not daily or monthly contact, but sometimes I speak with Carlos Xavier, with the president [Frederico Varandas] and with the sporting director [Hugo Viana]. The coach [Rúben Amorim] I met him when I was in Portugal two years ago and I can say that he is a spectacular person, a very modern coach, as you can see from the way he gets the team to play.
And Paulinho, Sporting’s wardrobe man?
The great Paulinho! He started working for the Sporting football team in 1989 or 1990 and I caught him at that early stage. He now owns the house, it is a Sporting brand, in fact, there is no Sporting without Paulinho.
And what memories do you have of Sousa Cintra, your only president at Sporting, with the exception of the last eight days with Santana Lopes, curiously already the club’s leader when Balakov won the Portuguese Cup in 1995, his only trophy at Alvalade?
Sousa Cintra was my president and we shared many beautiful moments together, but we also cried together a few times because we were unlucky. He was a great sports fan, who did everything he could to make us national champions and who made a single mistake, which resulted in Bobby Robson being sent off after that match in Austria. [derrota com o Casino Salzburgo por 0-3 em dezembro de 1993, que ditou a eliminação do Sporting na Taça UEFA]. With Bobby Robson we would certainly have become champions.
The Englishman’s successor was Carlos Queiroz, with whom he had a public disagreement…
When I look back, I can only laugh at what I did. I was very young and had big ambitions to win everything and become the best player in the world. I told professor Carlos Queiroz that I would not accept playing on the right side of midfield again and he said to me: “Okay, you don’t want to play, that’s no problem”. In the pre-match conversation with Salgueiros he told us the eleven and that I wasn’t there. My colleagues all started looking left and right… “tchi, Balakov got left out.” The match was complicated, Professor Carlos Queiroz made a substitution and only then put me on the pitch with about twenty minutes to go. I scored the only goal of the match and it felt like I was world champion! At the end of the game, President Sousa Cintra joined me and Professor Carlos Queiroz, we sat down and everything was clear.
If Sporting becomes national champions this season, will they come to Portugal to celebrate?
This time I won’t fail. If Sporting becomes champion, I will go to Portugal to celebrate with the fans. If everything goes well and the club can become champions at the start of the final round, I will discuss attendance at that match with the chairman and the coach. The truth is that I never had the chance to be in Portugal at a time when Sporting were champions. I have been a member of Sporting since 1990 and my son has been a member since he was born in 1995. Two years ago, when we were in Portugal, he and I received medals for 25 years of membership.
Is it possible to choose your best goal for Sporting? There is the one in the derby with Benfica in the first seconds of the match, the hat to Preud’homme in another match with Benfica, against Vitória de Setúbal, in which he bypassed half of the team from midfield…
Yes, I can’t forget those three goals, but I also remember a hat-trick against Boavista and a beautiful goal against Salgueiros. It is also because of goals like this that the fans have not forgotten me (laughs).
He was an excellent free-kick scorer. Don’t you think there is a need for someone who knows how to take free kicks in Sporting’s current squad and, in general, in most teams?
Football has changed a lot. Not that it wasn’t important at the time, but today tactical and collective training is essential. I used to practice taking free kicks for half an hour every day at the end of training and now there is no time for that anymore.
Almost thirty years later, can you already understand what happened to the Sporting team in the 3-6 home defeat against Benfica, which cost them the championship title and handed it to Benfica?
What happened was that João [Vieira] Pinto should have played Totoloto that day and then he wouldn’t have to work for the rest of his life. That night he accomplished everything he set out to do. Undoubtedly he has done a great job and hats off to him! It was a shame for Sporting and we actually started that match very well. Anyway, these are things that happen sometimes…
Do you consider the tragic accident that put Cherbakov on wheels as his worst moment in Portugal?
Doubtless. I spoke Russian so I was the first person he called in the hospital, right after the operation he underwent. I remember it like it was yesterday, he called me and said “Bala, bring me a beer”. Well, I was relieved because if he told me that, it meant nothing serious had happened. However, when I arrived at the hospital, a doctor told me what had happened… I cried, because Cherbakov could have been one of the best players in Europe and he didn’t do it because of stupidity.
What are you currently doing?
I started this season coaching Septemvri Sofia, a second division team in Bulgaria, but I left a few weeks ago. It was agreed that I would help out for a while and I left the team in first place in the championship. Now I’m waiting for a club that offers me good prospects.
Source: DN
