BELGRADE, Serbia
Thirty years after his glory days as goalkeeper for Galatasaray, a retired Montenegrin football goalkeeper now wants to be a Turkish citizen, he told Anadolu Agency.
Zoran Simovic, 61, won two successive championships with top Turkish football club Galatasaray in the 1986-87 and 1987-88 seasons.
"I wouldn’t exchange my experiences with Turkish people for anything else," said Simovic. “My life in Turkey was much better than here (in Serbia).
“Turkish people helped me with everything. I spent the best days of my life in Turkey. So I want to be a Turkish citizen. This is one of my greatest desires.”
Simovic lived in Turkey until 2004 and then moved to Krusevac, Serbia to work in real estate.
He says that citizenship was offered to him when he was living in Turkey, but he was unable to take up the offer.
"At that time I couldn’t accept it. Some newspapers in Yugoslavia ran stories which said, 'Simovic betrays Yugoslavia.' Citizenship issues were very sensitive back then," he recalled.
Still follows Turkish football
Simovic added that he never broke his ties with Turkey, and especially Turkish football.
"I have many friends in Turkey, and a house,” he said. “I still follow Turkish football closely. I watch league matches."
