Aleksandar Đurić

An ethnic Serb from the Republika Srpska section of Bosnia, Đurić combined canoeing with football and as a teenager, winning the Yugoslav junior canoe championship and being ranked amongst the top 10 in the world in his age group. Unfortunately, this period coincided with the breakup of Yugoslavia and the civil war that raged across the country, and his mother was killed in the conflict. In 1987 he was drafted into the Yugoslav People’s Army but, under pressure from his family, he decided to leave the country first for Sweden and then Hungary.

Prior to the Barcelona Olympic Games, despite having not trained for two years, he was offered the chance to represent Bosnia in the C-1 500 m canoe sprint race. With neither Đurić or the Bosnian Olympic authorities having enough money to fund his preparation, he had to hitchhike 1,500 km from Hungary to Spain despite having no valid passport and only a letter from the IOC to prove his identity. Unsurprisingly in the circumstances he would not prove to be competitive and placed last in both his races.

Having already played lower league football in Serbia and Hungary, an associate arranged a trial with South Melbourne Hellas of the Australian National Soccer League and he duly signed for them at the beginning of the 1995 season. Barring brief spells with Locomotive Shansan in China and Tanjon Pagar in Singapore, he was to stay in Australia for five years, marry a local woman, and be given Australian citizenship.

In 2000 he returned to Singapore and played for a season with Home United before embarking on a successful 13-year career with Geyland United, Singapore Armed Forces, and Tampines Rovers where he won eight league titles across the three teams. Having been a defender for most of his previous career, he was converted into a forward in his time in Singapore and repaid this decision by scoring more goals than anyone else in the highest division of any country across the world.

After applying for Singaporean citizenship three times he was finally granted it and made his international debut at the age of 37. He played for his adopted country into his 40s and scored 26 goals in 54 appearances, captaining Singapore and helping them win the South East Asian Championship in 2012. He retired in 2014 but then made a comeback in amateur football at the age of 46.