Is Borussia Dortmund's Serbian Neven Subotic a Prima Donna?

Having quit on Serbia, Borussia Dortmund centre-back Neven Subotic is once again in the news for his emotional baggage, but this portrayal is unfair if you delve beyond the surface.

Serbian national team manager Dick Advocaat called out Subotic's lack of patriotism.

"My exchange of mails and text messages with Subotic has left no doubt that he doesn't like playing for the national team," Advocaat said, per Zoran Milosavljevic at Reuters. "I think it's best to keep players with such an attitude away from the squad to prevent them from disrupting the good atmosphere we have."

What a hypocrite. 

In 2010, Advocaat resigned as Belgian national team manager to take the Russian job a month later.

Quitting on Belgium certainly didn't give them a "good atmosphere."

Darko Vojinovic/Associated Press

"Dick, you're not alone," is probably the response of former United States U20 manager Thomas Rongen.

In a parallel universe, Subotic has over 40 caps for the United States men's national soccer team, and would be mentoring fellow naturalised American centre-back John Brooks through his vexing situation at Hertha Berlin. 

Then-United States U17 assistant managers John Hackworth and Keith Fulk discovering Subotic—a gawky, immigrant teenage footballing hopeful—was alike to Glen Foy spotting Santiago Munez in the film Goal!

"[Subotic] was just playing in a local park in Bradenton," Hackworth said, per Jeff Carlisle at ESPN FC. "Myself and Keith Fulk just happened to be training a group of kids. We see him [Subotic] ... [and asked]: 'Where are you from?'"

It was a sliding-doors moment for Subotic.

In an interview with Deutsche Welle, he discussed the "lucky coincidence" of his chance meeting with Hackworth and Fulk. 

Subotic then attempted to imagine a parallel universe where he would be "working at McDonald's" if he did not train at that specific park. 

Ben Curtis/Associated Press

Rongen was less enthusiastic about Subotic.

"He [Subotic] has not accelerated over there to the point where we feel he belongs on the [United States U20] team," Rongen said, per Andrew Rogers at ESPN FC. "He's not there yet, and we need to move on and check out players that can do the job."

A year earlier, Subotic only played 85 minutes at the 2005 FIFA U17 World Cup, and was sent off in the United States' 2-0 quarter-final defeat to the Netherlands. 

The FIFA technical study group highlighted three centre-backs for the outstanding players list, per FIFA's official website: 

• Romaric Bosson (Ivory Coast): toiling away in the Portuguese second division. 
• Patricio Araujo (Mexico): never played in an elite European competition. 
• Ofori Sarkodie (United States): drafted 52nd overall in the fourth round by Sporting Kansas City via the 2010 MLS SuperDraft. Waived a month later by Kansas.

While Subotic did not play enough minutes to catch the eye of the FIFA TSG, he must have thought to himself: "I'm better than Bosson, Araujo and Sarkodie."

"Rongen certainly said some discouraging and false things about me," Subotic said, per Jeff Carlisle at ESPN FC. "A few months later after Rongen said I was not good enough for the U20s, I played a very good season and started getting calls from various countries for the full men's team."

Rongen demoralised Subotic, who viewed football as an avenue to a better life for his family, specifically his father, Zeljko, who worked "multiple jobs in Bradenton to make ends meet," per Grant Wahl at Sports Illustrated. 

"Never in my life have I heard that a high level coach [like Rongen] publicly criticises a player," Subotic said, per Jeff Carlisle at ESPN FC. "I still don't know what he saw in the other players, and what he didn't see in me."

Rongen has since attempted to downplay Subotic's allegiance to the United States.

"He [Subotic] has said that he felt a pretty strong desire through his family roots to be part of a European country," Rongen said, per Steve Bottjer at MLS' official website. "We have had some other players, like Giuseppe Rossi with Italy, who did the same thing."

Yes, Subotic spoke about his "Serbian roots," but this was post-Rongen affair. 

Also, two counterpoints to Rongen comparing Subotic to Rossi.

1. Rossi left the United States for Italy at 12 years of age to speed up his footballing maturation.
2. Subotic arrived in the United States, the land of opportunity, a nation that offered his family a new life. His sister, Natalija, was based in the United States and dreamed of turning into a tennis pro. 

"You either come to America or go back to Bosnia [1], and in Bosnia I probably would have been a farmer by now," Subotic said, per Ives Galarcep at ESPN FC. "America was like a second chance to make something of ourselves."

Talk about selective amnesia from Rongen.

"I'm an American," Subotic said, per the United States soccer official website (h/t Filip Bondy's book Chasing The Game: America and the Quest for the World Cup). "If you wear [the crest] once you're not going to wear another crest. That would kind of be like back-stabbing, I would say. I'm an American until the end."

Fulk, who along with Hackworth had unearthed Subotic, believed Rongen was a factor in Subotic's decision to abandon the United States. 

"When I went to see him [Subotic] at Dortmund, he told me: 'Coach, something happened [between me and Rongen] and I lost my respect'," Fulk said, per Grant Wahl at Sports Illustrated. "I think Neven has never forgotten that. That was the big thing. He was loyal, so he would have played [for the United States]."

Rongen failed to establish a meaningful bond with Subotic.

"

Subotic is back , with Klopp #BVB pic.twitter.com/fuwP77abtV

— Die BorusseN (@NeiLBorusseN) July 5, 2014"

Whereas, Jurgen Klopp has been instrumental in propping up Subotic's confidence. 

"He [Klopp] brought me to Germany from America and I signed my first deal with him at Mainz, and then he gave me the opportunity to join him at Dortmund," Subotic said, per Mark Lomas at ESPN FC. "I wouldn't be where I am now without Jurgen Klopp."

Subotic is now a two-time Bundesliga winner and has competed in the UEFA Champions League final. 

Meanwhile, Rongen's claim to fame is being involved in helping the progress of American Samoan football, as documented in the feel-good film Next Goal Wins.

Down the line, Advocaat could end up regretting handling Subotic—a world-class centre-back when fully fit—in a Rongen-esque manner.

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[1] "But my parents [and relatives] are Serbian," Subotic said, per David Hytner at The Guardian. "With a large chunk of them living in the Serbian part of Bosnia."

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