Pet celebrates renewal with Flamengo
Serbian, who starts playing against Grêmio, plans to end his career at Gávea
By From the team at Flamengo's official website - in
This Friday afternoon (28.05) was historic for Dejan Petkovic and Clube de Regatas do Flamengo. The idol of the four three-time state championship, and one of the main names in the conquest of the sixth Brazilian championship, last year, signed his contract renewal until the end of 2011. The Serbian's idea is to end his career at Gávea. This Saturday (28.05), he will start playing against Grêmio, in a match valid for the fifth round of the 2010 Brasileirão.
Happy with the deal, Petkovic revealed the idea of retiring wearing the Flamengo shirt and the desire to continue working in football after hanging up his boots.
"What I wanted happened. I'm happy with the trust shown in me. I met the president through a mutual friend and saw how kind and sensible she was in helping Flamengo. Before signing the contract, I wanted to make sure everyone around her felt the same way. I helped Flamengo last year and I want to keep helping. My plan is to end my career here. I'm going to work in football. I'll play until the end of 2011 and then we'll see. I hope the nation is happy, because they asked me to stay and I wanted to stay too," he said.
An idol of the club since 2001, the player believes that his identification with Rubro-Negro was fundamental for the renewal to take place.
"I've always been an idol and I'm very grateful to Flamengo. Patrícia and her advisors recognize this, and the financial side is of lesser importance. Helio Ferraz has already shown a desire to count on me, and I saw that everyone wanted Pet to continue. I've always tried to maintain the club's image, I've continued working, and I'll do my best to keep it that way," he said.
Petkovic also knows that his situation is not the only one that needs to be resolved within the squad and is confident that everything will be on track in the coming days.
"The president is being held accountable, but they are not standing still. Now they are not reporting everything to the media as usual, but they are trying to form a stronger squad, or as strong as last year's, to fight to be champion," he concluded.
Happy with the agreement reached between the parties, president Patrícia Amorim celebrated the 'reinforcement' for the rest of the season, as did vice-president of football Hélio Ferraz.
"Petkovic is an experienced player, he has a great history at Flamengo, and we are happy to have reached a happy ending to this negotiation. This wasn't the first step we've taken to maintain a strong squad, but it's the first one we're announcing. In fact, we only announce something when it's actually finalized. I don't usually talk about it before it happens. That's how we've been working, and that's our stance," said president Patricia Amorim, who is expected to announce more news in the coming days.
Happy with the deal, Petkovic revealed the idea of retiring wearing the Flamengo shirt and the desire to continue working in football after hanging up his boots.
"What I wanted happened. I'm happy with the trust shown in me. I met the president through a mutual friend and saw how kind and sensible she was in helping Flamengo. Before signing the contract, I wanted to make sure everyone around her felt the same way. I helped Flamengo last year and I want to keep helping. My plan is to end my career here. I'm going to work in football. I'll play until the end of 2011 and then we'll see. I hope the nation is happy, because they asked me to stay and I wanted to stay too," he said.
An idol of the club since 2001, the player believes that his identification with Rubro-Negro was fundamental for the renewal to take place.
"I've always been an idol and I'm very grateful to Flamengo. Patrícia and her advisors recognize this, and the financial side is of lesser importance. Helio Ferraz has already shown a desire to count on me, and I saw that everyone wanted Pet to continue. I've always tried to maintain the club's image, I've continued working, and I'll do my best to keep it that way," he said.
Petkovic also knows that his situation is not the only one that needs to be resolved within the squad and is confident that everything will be on track in the coming days.
"The president is being held accountable, but they are not standing still. Now they are not reporting everything to the media as usual, but they are trying to form a stronger squad, or as strong as last year's, to fight to be champion," he concluded.
Happy with the agreement reached between the parties, president Patrícia Amorim celebrated the 'reinforcement' for the rest of the season, as did vice-president of football Hélio Ferraz.
"Petkovic is an experienced player, he has a great history at Flamengo, and we are happy to have reached a happy ending to this negotiation. This wasn't the first step we've taken to maintain a strong squad, but it's the first one we're announcing. In fact, we only announce something when it's actually finalized. I don't usually talk about it before it happens. That's how we've been working, and that's our stance," said president Patricia Amorim, who is expected to announce more news in the coming days.