Serbian defender Vladimir Bubanja and Montenegrins Bogdan Milić and Goran Milojko were hard to miss after arriving at Andijan in 2022. Their height alone made sure of that — and once led to a misunderstanding that former club captain Ildar Mamatkazin still remembers with a laugh.
Milić stands 2.02 metres tall, Bubanja 1.96m and Milojko 1.86m. One day, while the players were shopping, a woman behind the counter looked at the three foreigners and asked Mamatkazin who they were and what they did.
“They’re house painters. They paint ceilings and walls,” Mamatkazin joked.
She believed him.
As the players were leaving, the woman asked for their phone number. She was planning renovation work and apparently thought she had just found an unusually tall team of decorators.
“When I explained to the guys what I had told her, we laughed for about ten minutes,” Mamatkazin recalled in a conversation with Eurasia Football.
Bubanja, in particular, adapted quickly to life in Uzbekistan. According to Mamatkazin, taxi drivers and market vendors began recognizing the Serbian defender. He also developed a taste for plov and gradually picked up Uzbek words and expressions.
The three players eventually went their separate ways.
Bubanja later continued his career in Uzbekistan with Metallurg Bekabad. Milojko moved to Kazakhstan, while Milić has since retired from professional football.
Mamatkazin has also left Andijan and now plays for Kattakurgan.
Their time together in Andijan produced plenty of memories beyond the pitch — including the day three professional footballers almost walked out of a shop with a renovation job.