Vanja Dragojevic Prepares for the Old Firm Derby
Vanja Dragojevic has already tasted one of world football’s most hostile fixtures. Now he is being told the next one could be even bigger.
The 20-year-old Rangers midfielder grew up in the cauldron of Belgrade’s ‘Eternal Derby’ with Partizan. He knows what a city on edge feels like, what it means when a game becomes a social event as much as a sporting one. Yet since arriving in Glasgow, the message from those around him has been blunt: you haven’t seen anything until you’ve lived an Old Firm.
And he cannot wait.
From Belgrade fire to Glasgow fever
Dragojevic struck his first Rangers goal in Sunday’s League Cup win over St Mirren, a composed finish that helped seal a quarter-final date with Celtic in the Premier Sports Cup next month. The reward for that breakthrough? A fast-track ticket into what he has been told is “maybe the biggest derby on earth”.
“We're really happy that [the Celtic cup tie] will happen,” he said, still riding the high of his landmark goal.
The excitement is obvious, but so is the discipline. Dragojevic knows there is a European assignment first on Thursday, and he refuses to let his mind drift too far ahead.
“It's too far away to think about because we have a game on Thursday, we will focus on that,” he stressed. “But when I spoke with lots of players before I came here, everyone said this is maybe the biggest derby on earth. And maybe the craziest one – in a positive way. So I'm really happy that I have the privilege to be part of it and maybe play in it.”
He does not throw that word “privilege” around lightly. This is a player forged in the white heat of Serbia’s most ferocious fixture.
“I played in three or four Belgrade derbies. It was really hard and fired up,” he recalled. “In Serbia, it's not just about the football. It's really about much more than this. But I like this. I'm really happy here and I want to have the privilege to play in this one.”
Settled, smiling, and ready
The adaptation to Scotland, he says, has been far smoother than many outsiders might expect.
“I enjoy it here. This is a great country, with great people. I'm surprised how warm the people are here,” Dragojevic explained. “When I came to the club it was so easy to adapt. Everyone in the city is so nice. I'm feeling really happy here. I'm looking forward to doing everything I can for this club.”
That contentment off the pitch is starting to show on it. A first goal. A cup quarter-final secured. A derby looming that could redefine his young career.
He has lived one great rivalry already. Now comes the chance to step into another, one he has been warned might be louder, wilder, and even more demanding.
If the Old Firm really does eclipse the Eternal Derby, Dragojevic sounds ready to find out.
