Croatian futsal champion Olmissum advanced to the Elite round of the Champions League as the winner of Group 7 in the main qualifying round, with all three victories won at home in Omiš, reports 24 Sata.
In the last round, Omiš defeated Armenian club Leo 5:0 on Saturday and ended the tournament with a maximum of three victories, with 14 goals scored and only one goal conceded. Goals for the Croatian champion were scored by Horvat (17), Jurlina (25, 32), Hrstić (28), and Juretić (32).
Olmissum will thus play among the 16 best teams in Europe. In the Elite Round of the Champions League, four groups with four teams each will be drawn, and only the group winners will go to the Final Four.
Olmissum placed in the Elite round of the Futsal Champions League for the second time in a row. The club was founded in 2015, made its way through the Third and Second Leagues, and then last year, in its first season in the Premier League, they played in the Champions League. Unfortunately, last year, they were knocked out by the Russian team KPRF.
Behind the Olmissum project is the Milavić family, former owners of the Studenac retail chain. The club’s leader is Mijo, who wanted to return part of the family earnings to the community. With the city’s help, he initiated and financed the construction of the Ribnjak Sports Center, in which they invested 30 million kuna of family money. After that, he founded a futsal club. The idea, the name, design of the jerseys, and coat of arms are all the work of Mijo Milavić.
“There was no futsal club in Omiš at all. Moreover, our neighbors from Dugi Rat took the lead and won local tournaments. So we started from scratch, I called a childhood friend Josip Škorić, who played before, he called the goalkeeper coach Ivica Krstulović Opara, we hired coach Ivica Osibov, and we started,” Milavić revealed.
“We broke through the Third and Second Leagues, planned the team, and grew. Osibov was succeeded on the bench by Duje Maretić, who was never a senior coach. We decided to gamble and it paid off. He led us to the championship title.”
After placing in the First League, the Omiš team did not reach for instant solutions and players from abroad and instead put together a team of local players.
“We have offered everyone the same – a healthy environment, a great atmosphere, and stable finances. And that suits everyone. We are building a club, not just a team; we have invested money in the hall, so in the conditions, not just in the players. We are growing step by step – the visual identity of the club, the mascot, the anthem, specially designed jerseys, and the youth are important to us. We have everything we need to be stable and recognizable. And above all, we have a young team with character that will stay together for a long time.”
For now, the club’s financing is based on the Milavić family company, which covers most of all costs.
“It can be said that we covered 99 percent of the club’s budget and that little by little, we started looking for sponsors. So far, we have spent time and energy getting the club on its feet, and now we will move on. You know the saying: “First you need to fix and make up the girl, and only then look for a boyfriend.”
Mijo Milavić is a sports fanatic, but little is known that he is also a big fan who travels to all Croatia national team matches and is a passionate jersey collector. He also ordered and financed the billboards that welcomed Ivan Perišić and Croatia at the entrance to the town of Omiš after their success at the 2018 World Cup.
“In the 80s and 90s, my family manifested its identity nationally, and lately, we have turned it into local patriotism. We try to help the local community as much as possible through some of our projects. Olmissum is our flagship; it is a club that has 130 children in the youth categories. We want to provide all of them with the best conditions, enable them to be the best, to strive for the maximum, and for their successes to be a signpost for life,” concluded Milavić.
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