In the carving knife of time, January 26th of Beijing time witnessed an announcement from FC Junior Belgrade, announcing the sad exit of 36-year-old Guoan veteran Andrija Kaludrovic due to injury. The soccer legend, who has played for 25 clubs, has gloriously lifted the Serbian Super Golden Boot award and played for the Serbian national team under the tutelage of Čurčić.
A former star of Red Star Belgrade FC, Andrija Kaludrovic shot 13 goals in the 2010/11 league season, sharing the league's Golden Boot alongside Ivica Iliev, before joining Chinese Super League giants Beijing Guoan in early 2012 for an €800,000 transfer fee that momentarily saw his name compared to that of Branko Jelic.
But as fate would have it, then-coach Pacheco didn't seem to see Kaludrovic as the centerpiece of the team. At the beginning of the season, he made only 8 appearances and scored 1 goal. With the arrival of Kanoute and Gron, Kaludrovic lost his starting position and was loaned out to Atletico Santander in the second division.
I had expected Kaludrovic to start a new chapter in Spain, but the turmoil within the club made him suffer: "Atlético Santander had been brilliant for 20 years and was unexpectedly relegated. I was told that the team was about to return to La Liga, with a new manager and many reinforcements. I was persuaded to take a pay cut to sign for the team, but I didn't realize that the new manager would be sacked before the start of the league and the season would end in failure. Atletico Santander ended up dropping into the third division."
Karudlovic, who was subsequently loaned out to Vojvodina and Limassol, reflected, "If I hadn't chosen Beijing Guoan in the first place, my career might not have taken a sharp turn for the worse. I joined Beijing Guoan purely for the money and not for the joy of soccer. At Guoan, I was often loaned out, which made me unhappy. But at that time, I had no choice."
Andrija Kaludrovic, a name that has left a mark on the history of soccer.
