Slobodan "Čobo" Janjuš (born January 7, 1952, Sarajevo) is a Yugoslav and Bosnian retired

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. Čobo gained a legendary status in his hometown

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

, while playing for both Sarajevo clubs, a bitter city rivals, FK "Željo" and

FK Sarajevo Fudbalski klub Sarajevo ( sh-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Сарајево; , English language, English: Sarajevo Football Club), is a professional Association football, football Sports club, club based in Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosn ...

. He played a record 21 games in the

Sarajevo derby The Sarajevo derby (, ), also known as the Eternal derby (), is the name given to any football match between rival clubs Željezničar and Sarajevo, the two primary clubs in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the most viewed annual sporting ...

Club career

He represented a number of domestic clubs, having played with all of them, beside Second League Radnički Pirot, in the

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First League ( Bosnian: Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Прва савезна лига у фудбалу, Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, , , , , ) was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) ...

, namely, Željezničar Sarajevo, Vojvodina Novi Sad,

(for whom he played 122 official games), Olimpija Ljubljana,

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...

and Sutjeska Nikšić. He won the

in the 1971–72 season with Željezničar. He also played in

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He was the youngest starting goalkeeper in Yugoslav football history at the age of 17. Janjuš also was the oldest player to debut in the Maltese Premier League, being 41 years and 248 days old when he started for Mqabba Ħajduks against Birkirkara on 12 September 1993.

International career

Janjuš has also represented Yugoslavia national team at youth levels.

Post-playing career

Since the early 1990s Janjuš has been living in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Usually referred to as "Bobby" in the U.S., he worked as goalkeeping coach with MLS'

Tampa Bay Mutiny The Tampa Bay Mutiny were an American professional soccer team based in Tampa, Florida. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The Mutiny were a charter member of MLS, playing from 1996 to 2001. Th ...

. In 2008, he was appointed as the new goalkeeping coach at the newly established

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

of the NASL. With the Rowdies, Bobby trained than USF goalkeeper Jeff Attinella. Attinella developed his skills under Bobby and became NASL best goalkeeper which eventually grabbed

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

's attention who bought Attinella's contract. Bobby also coached youth teams across the county and has developed a youth female goalkeeper that represented the United States in a U-16 game. Janjuš additionally owns a number of local businesses including a bar which is filled with mementos and memorabilia from his football playing career.

Legacy

Despite living in the

for many years, Čobo maintained a strong bond with his hometown of

and his country,

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, where he is still loved and respected. In his native Sarajevo, Čobo became a legend despite playing for both Sarajevo clubs, FK "Željo" and

, which have been fierce city rivals throughout history, including the

and the

Bosnian Premier League The Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina (; ; sr-Cyrl, Премијер лига Босне и Херцеговине), officially known as the Wwin League of Bosnia and Herzegovina for sponsorship purposes, is the top tier football leagu ...

. Čobo played a record 21 games in the

(16 for Željezničar, 5 for Sarajevo), more than any other player. He was famous for his acrobatic goalkeeping style and technique, expressed through shot-stopping while "diving" towards the ball in the air, while "flying" in an extended dive, involving one or both hands in saves. In 2023, Federalna TV made a half an hour long documentary film about him, titled "Čobo - Slobodan Janjuš".

Personal life

While an active footballer, Janjuš had relationships with table tennis player Erzsebet Palatinus, while playing for

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...

, and singer .Slobodan Janjuš : Suprugu Suzan sam upoznao u striptiz baru na Floridi
/ref> After moving to the United States, Janjuš met a woman of

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

n origin, Susanne Ferry, and after more than two decades of living together they were married in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

in 2016 and spent their honeymoon in

. His daughter Martina attended

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. ...

and currently resides in

. On 6 December 2009, Janjuš was arrested for domestic battery by the St. Petersburg Police.Janjus at Florida.Arrests.org
/ref>

Honours

Player

Club

Željezničar Sarajevo *

: 1971–72

References

External links

"Čobo - Slobodan Janjuš"
- documentary by FTV via Historija.ba {{DEFAULTSORT:Janjus, Slobodan 1952 births Living people Footballers from Sarajevo Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Yugoslav emigrants to the United States Men's association football goalkeepers Yugoslav men's footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina men's footballers FK Željezničar Sarajevo players FK Vojvodina players FK Radnički Pirot players FK Sarajevo players NK Olimpija Ljubljana (1945–2005) players GNK Dinamo Zagreb players FK Sutjeska Nikšić players Mqabba F.C. players Valletta F.C. players Yugoslav First League players Maltese Premier League players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Malta Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Malta