Bafana Bafana legend joins the Serbian team ahead of the England clash! | OneFootball

Bafana stars join European national teams, both players and coaches.

Bafana Bafana legend joins the Serbian team ahead of the England clash!

A shared history, one that began decades ago on the training grounds of Spain, has been rekindled on the international stage. Quinton Fortune, the former South African international, has embarked on a remarkable new chapter, answering the call of an old friend to become an assistant coach for the Serbian national team.

His new boss, Veljko Paunovic, didn't just hire a colleague; he reunited with a brother. Their story started as teenagers, two eighteen-year-olds arriving at Atlético Madrid. "I call him Fortune because that’s how it’s pronounced in Spain," Paunovic recalled with a fondness that transcended the formal announcement. They were more than just teammates; they were flatmates in a building on Calle Penguino, their lives intertwined from the very start. Even as they graduated to the first team, their bond remained unbroken, with Paunovic in the attic and Fortune just downstairs.

It was a friendship built not just on football, but on family visits and a genuine cultural exchange. Paunovic highlighted a telling detail about Fortune's character: "He is the only foreigner I’ve met whose first words of Serbian he learned weren’t swear words." Instead, his first steps into the language were the warm "brate" (brother), the friendly "kako si" (how are you), and an appreciation for Serbian cuisine.

Now, this long-standing partnership faces its biggest test. Fortune steps into his role as The Eagles make their final push for a spot in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The mission is clear: crucial qualifiers against England at the iconic Wembley Stadium and a home clash with Latvia await. With Serbia sitting just one point behind second-placed Albania, the battle for qualification is razor-thin.

Should they succeed, Fortune will find himself in a unique position, mirroring the path of his compatriot Roger de Sa, who was on the sidelines as an assistant for Iran at the last World Cup. For now, however, the focus is on the immediate future, where a friendship forged in a Madrid apartment will be put to work in the high-stakes arena of international football.