Aleksander Duric bids emotional farewell to Singapore football

SINGAPORE – Former Singapore international Aleksandar Duric bid farewell to Singapore football ahead of his final professional game here on Friday (Oct 31) with an emotional farewell.

Speaking to ESPNFC, the 44-year-old striker from Yugoslavia was featured in an article entitled Aleksandar Duric’s Letter: Thank you very much Singapore, expressing his heartfelt gratitude to the footballing fraternity in Singapore.

“It is hard to put my thoughts into one letter, but I needed to bid a proper farewell to my football family. The Singapore football family,” he began.

“Friday will be one of the saddest days of my life. It is all coming to an end. A beautiful dream that I could never have imagined growing up as a boy from a small town in Doboj, Yugoslavia.

“The moment the final whistle goes, I know the memories will start flooding into my mind, the hundreds of matches I played, the different goals I scored and the heartbreaking moments when my team lost”.

The 1.92m legend is one of Singapore’s most prolific strikers, with over 500 domestic club games played, bagging along with him 321 goals, 16 domestic titles and eight individual awards.

In his glittering tenure so far, Duric has played in five different S-League clubs, including Tanjong Pagar, Home United, Geylang United, Singapore Armed Forces and is currently serving out his final season at Tampines Rovers. His final game will take place at the Jalan Besar Stadium against Brunei DPMM.

“I have enjoyed every single moment of this career and I cannot tell you how much emotions I have gone through. The sadness of losing league titles, to the joy of lifting my first ASEAN trophy with the Lions in 2012,” he said.

Despite his achievements, Duric only wants people to remember him as a “decent player” who gave his “very best” to the different clubs and his adopted country. Duric made his first international debut for Singapore in 2007 at the age of 37, days after receiving his Singaporean citizenship. He recorded a total of 53 caps and 24 goals under his belt for the Republic and ended his international career on a high when he captained the Lions to victory in the AFF Suzuki Cup in December 2012.

Aleksander Duric said the emotions he will face on October 31 will be something he cannot describe and that it will be tough to sum it all up briefly.

However, he is looking forward to enjoy a life post-football cheering on from the sides: “Now it is time for me to take my seat in the stands and cheer Singapore on and I am excited to finally have the chance to chant with the fans and do the Kallang wave as a die-hard supporter”.

“Thank you S.League, thank you Singapore and thank you my fellow Singaporeans. From a decent striker, a loving father and most importantly, a son of the Lion City”.