A great start to a new career: Antonio Delamea Mlinar and Jasmin Jeric lead Olimpija cadets to the autumn championship title
15. The year 2022 has also come to an end in the first Slovenian Cadet League. The new year will see Olimpija, who were in a class of their own in the autumn, at the top of the standings. It is true that they have only three points advantage over Brav and Celje, but the Dragons still stand out in many respects compared to most of their rivals. In 15 matches, Olimpija’s cadets won 11 times (the most among all) and lost only once (the least among all). They scored 52 goals (the most of any team) and conceded only eight (the fewest of any team). The first place in the ranking is just a logical consequence of the above. To say goodbye to 2022, the young dragons easily blew Aluminij off the pitch in the Jama in Bežigrad. Olimpija won 4:0 in front of around 70 spectators, ending a very successful first part of the 2022/23 season in the best possible way.
Cooperation a product of summer turmoil
Jasmin Jerič and Antonio Delamea Mlinar jointly signed the success of Olimpija’s cadets. The former was until a few months ago the head of the entire Olimpija youth school, and he also coached the Green-Whites’ juniors. After a summer of turmoil, he relinquished the leadership of the Boštjan Mikličand the seat on the juniors’ bench to Anton Usnik. He took over the cadets himself and did his job in line with his reputation as one of the most promising and incisive young coaches in Slovenia.
As for Delamea Mlinar, the former national team defender made a difficult decision in the summer, but it was inevitable. Knee problems ended his career at the age of just thirty-one, which took him to the United States (where he played for the New England Revolution), but he stayed with Olimpija. The Dragons offered him a job in the professional staff of the youth team and Delamea Mlinar joined the cadet team. He and Jerič have been working well together in the autumn and there are signals from circles close to the cadet team about the immense satisfaction of the youngsters with both the head coach and his assistant. After all, the results and the fact that several individuals in the cadet team have made their presence felt in the first part of the season confirm this.
Jeric first after the opening part of last season, then…
Žan Kovačević, who arrived from Triglav in Kranj in the summer, is Olimpija’s top scorer with 11 goals. Aldin Jakupović, who has already signed a professional contract with the Dragons this year, thanks to Jeric, scored one goal less. Žiga Pečjak and Lev Bohinc played excellently, Mateo Aćimović, son of the legendary
Milenko Aćimović
, Jaša Jelen gave a number of good performances and we could go on and on.
We will see in spring. Let’s not forget: Jeric was already leading the Olimpija youth team after the first half of the season. Then, during the winter break, many things happened and the rest of the competition year was much worse. If the winter in Ljubljana is calm this year and the club’s management doesn’t interfere too much with the work that Jerič and Delamea Mlinar are obviously doing very well, then it seems that it will be difficult for anyone to stop Olimpija’s playful cadets.
This text was automatically translated using AI.