Born in Milutovac, a village near Trstenik, Jugović played throughout his career for numerous top European teams. He won the European Cup and Intercontinental Cup with Red Star in 1991 and won both competitions again with Juventus in 1996. He is regarded as one of the finest players that Serbia has ever produced and one of the best midfielders of his generation.
Club career
Red Star Belgrade
Jugović was scouted by Red Star at the age of 15 by former Red Star player Toma Milićević.[3] After making his debut for Red Star, he was loaned to FK Rad in the second half of the 1989–90 season. When Ljupko Petrović became coach of Red Star, Jugović was brought back to the starting eleven. In 1991, Jugović played in the 1991 European Cup Final, which Red Star won. Subsequently, he won the Intercontinental Cup as Red Star beat Colo-Colo 3–0, scoring the first two goals.[3][4] By the end of his career with Red Star, he was awarded the Star of Red Star and became one of the most celebrated footballers in Yugoslavia.
In 1995 Jugović was purchased from Sampdoria by Juventus, whose coach at the time was Marcello Lippi. In his first season, Juventus finished as runners-up in Serie A. In the 1996 UEFA Champions League Final, he came on as a substitute for Antonio Conte and scored the decisive penalty for Juventus against Ajax, following a 1–1 draw after extra-time. In a 2017 interview with Goal.com, he recalled that he felt calm before taking his penalty against Ajax keeper Edwin van der Sar.[7] After his role in their Champions League victory, Jugović played for Juventus for one more season, during which he featured in the 1996 Intercontinental Cup, which Juventus won 1–0 over River Plate.[4] That season, Juventus went on to win the 1996–97 Serie A title,[4] after which Jugović left for Lazio.[8] In total, he made 77 appearances for the Turin–based club, scoring 10 goals.[4]
Looking back at the trainings content and discipline under Marcello Lippi he noted: "The way we were training was a thing to watch and analyze. We didn't have time to rest and we would begin our first training in the day with a 40 minute work in the gym succeeded by running sessions, and that was only a warm up. In the afternoon we had a tactical training combined with a football playing and the third drill was around 20:00 p.m. containing mostly stretching. So, none of our success happened by an accident, we deserved everything and i do not like when someone oppugn our achievements. That was maybe a reason why we had such a big amount of injuries. I think that no club today train as hard as we did then."[9]
Later career
In the summer of 1997, he joined Lazio spending only one season with the Roman club winning his second Coppa Italia (1997–98 Coppa Italia), beating Milan in the two-leg final, also the club reached the 1998 UEFA Cup Final, losing to Inter in the all Italian final.[8]
A versatile, physically strong, and hard-working right-footed player, Jugović was usually employed as a left-sided or attacking midfielder, but could play anywhere in midfield, including in the centre, in a holding role, and on the right. Regarded as one of Serbia's greatest players, and as one of the best midfielders of his generation, he was mainly known for his tenacity, energy, generosity, intelligence, and tackling, but was also a talented player, with good technique, who could also exploit spaces by starting attacks with long balls or dictating play in midfield with his range of passing after winning back possession; he also possessed a good shot from any area of the pitch, and was known for his eye for goal.[3][4][6][8][11][14][15][16][17][18] He was also used as a second striker on occasion,[19] and even as a full-back.[20] Despite his ability, however, he often struggled with injuries throughout his career.[21] Beyond his footballing skills, he was also known for his leadership qualities.[5]
^Cerruti, Alberto; Curino, Luca; Elefante, Andrea; Garlando, Luigi (22 November 1999). "Inter, l' abbuffata dopo il digiuno". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 26 October 2019.
^Palombo, Ruggiero; Piccioni, Valerio; Nicita, Maurizio; Imparato, Gaetano (2 November 1997). "una Lazio da dieci e lode". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 27 October 2019.