18 Facts About Petar Borota

Petar Borota was a Serbian footballer who played as a goalkeeper, most notably for Serbian clubs OFK Beograd and Partizan and English club Chelsea.

Petar Borota started playing professional football with OFK Beograd in 1969, recording 8 league appearances for the club by the end of the season.

Petar Borota finally joined the reigning league champion Partizan in late 1976 with the season already in progress.

However, in the 8th minute of the second leg match, forgetting that play hasn't been stopped after making a save since neither goal-out nor foul got called, Petar Borota placed the ball onto the 5-meter line and moved far away to take a run and kick it into play.

Petar Borota moved so far away from the ball that Dynamo forward Hans-Jurgen Dorner had enough time to step in and nudge it into the unguarded net.

The referee Desimir Pavicevic from Kragujevac actually didn't call a foul since Petar Borota firmly held control of the ball during the aerial challenge so when Petar Borota put it down, Red Star forward Milos Sestic snuck in and pushed it into empty net for the match's opening goal.

Petar Borota continued as a regular under Hurst as the team finished fourth in the standings, missing the promotion on goal-difference.

Petar Borota was voted Chelsea Player of the Year in 1981 after keeping 16 clean sheets that season; he made 114 appearances for the club.

Petar Borota made 114 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea and kept 36 clean sheets.

One month after his debut, Petar Borota got a surprise opportunity to start in the crucial qualifier away versus Romania that was a must-win for Yugoslavia.

The contest turned into a furious and epic scoring affair with Petar Borota amateurishly conceding a long-range lob effort by Iosif Vigu only 4 minutes in.

Petar Borota led the team in two friendlies and gave Borota a substitute appearance against Italy.

The campaign began at home versus old rivals Spain and Yugoslavia lost again as Petar Borota sat on the bench.

Petar Borota finished his international career with 4 caps in total, two of which were starts in competitive matches.

Petar Borota tried his hand at coaching, but didn't get further than several low-profile appointments in South Africa during the 1980s.

Already devoting much of his time to abstract painting, Petar Borota put together an exhibition in Srecna nova umetnost gallery in Belgrade's SKC.

Petar Borota died on 12 February 2010 in Genoa, after a long illness, aged 57.

Petar Borota was buried at the New Cemetery in Belgrade on 25 February 2010 with the ceremony attended by his friends and colleagues such as Momcilo Vukotic, Slobodan Santrac, Vladimir Petrovic Pizon, Xhevat Prekazi, and Milutin Soskic among others.