How Bunjevcevic escaped his troubled past

Tottenham's Yugoslav international Goran Bunjevcevic has spoken for the first time of how his father was jailed after helping him to flee their country and avoid fighting in the Balkan war.

The 28-year-old former Red Star Belgrade defender grew up as a Serb in the Croatian coastal city of Split and was only days away from signing a professional contract with local side Hadjuk when his father, an officer in the Yugoslav army, was posted to the capital Zagreb, taking his family with him.

When civil war erupted shortly afterwards, the teenage Bunjevcevic and his family then fled to the Serbian capital Belgrade to stay with relatives.

His father, who masterminded the escape, was sent to a prisoner-of-war camp and Bunjevcevic has never forgotten the hard times.

"The war was the hardest point of my life," he said. "Life was so cheap, it had no value. There were so many murders all over Yugoslavia.

"My father knew that young guys would be enlisted into the army. So he sent me to Belgrade on the last flight out to stay with his brother and he was jailed. I had to get up early everyday to pick fruit just to earn money to get bread. I will not forget those days."

Bunjevcevic is recovering from a fractured cheekbone he sustained in a collision with Chelsea's Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and has played two reserve games with a protective mask.

He may return to the side at Leeds on Sunday, but his present problems are nothing compared with the struggle of trying to revive his career in war-torn Yugoslavia. As a refugee in Belgrade, he managed to start again with amateur side BUSK. Bunjevcevic said: "They told me they were a nursery club for First Division Cukaricki Belgrade and that I should sign for them. But in my first match they looked more like a pub team. In the first half I scored five goals and in the second I stopped counting.

"Although it was clear they had played a joke on me, I stayed for six months."

Bunjevcevic then spent three seasons with Fourth Division Graficar Belgrade before finally getting his chance in the top flight with Rad Belgrade.

Here he was outstanding and, in 1997, he moved to Red Star, where he quickly developed into one of their most important assets and was made captain.

"All my dreams came true," he added. "My father was a Red Star fan, my family were fans, and in a way I sort of achieved a dream for them. They were ecstatic that a Serb from Croatia had come to play for a club as big as Red Star."

His rapid rise led to international honours and incoming Spurs manager Glenn Hoddle wasted no time in taking the talented defender to White Hart Lane for £1.5million last May.

Bunjevcevic knew all about the club and his new boss thanks to a chance meeting with the English Ambassador in Yugoslavia, who gave him a tape of Tottenham's 1981 FA Cup victory over Manchester City.

"I saw my coach Glenn Hoddle, Ossie Ardiles and many other famous players and that is how I knew a little bit about Spurs. I was also lucky enough to see them play in Split as a child.

"Now the club have a group of talented youngsters and their time is coming. When these young players mature alongside the experienced ones, they could put Tottenham back on the road to success."

As Bunjevcevic knows, that road will be much easier than his own path to freedom.