Canadian soccer player Derek Cornelius was born in Ajax, Ontario on November 25, 1997. In January 2017, Cornelius was signed by Serbian SuperLiga side FK Javor from the city of Ivanjica. This made him the first Canadian player not of Serbian descent to play in Serbia’s top tier. Cornelius – who was a member of Canada’s U17 squad in 2013 – made his professional debut on April 29, 2017 playing the full 90 minutes in a match against FK Radnicki Nis.
“Playing professionally has always been a dream of mine from when I was young and when I finally signed my first professional contract, it was a dream come true and a great feeling. Before Javor I was playing for VfR Neumünster in Germany. After a good first half of the season, my agent was able to come in contact with Javor and in January I went for a trial.”
The Serbian SuperLiga is dominated by Partizan Belgrade and Red Star Belgrade but Javor (which means maple in Serbian) has held its own having been almost constantly in the Serbian top tier for the last fifteen years. Javor was a Serbian Cup finalist in 2016 and finished 8th overall in the 2016-17 season (the Serbian league splits into two groups at the end of the season and Javor was the 8th and final team to enter the playoff/playout phase).
“My first impressions of Serbian football were that the competition here is very strong. From my time in Serbia, I’ve noticed that the players here are very hard working and disciplined. I think because of this it allows Serbia to be strong in whatever sport they do. I am very happy living in Ivanjica. It is a nice city that allows me to focus on football. I think games against Partizan or Red Star are always difficult games for any team that goes up against them. I also believe however that we (Javor) are a difficult team to play against. I’m still relatively new to Javor but from my time here I have noticed that Javor has a good philosophy, discipline and organization on and off the field. I feel that this is what allows Javor to be a strong team each year. I must imagine that the team’s goals (in the upcoming season) will be to compete in the top half of the league. As for my personal goals, I want to earn as much playing time as possible and I also have national team soccer on my mind as it is always an honour and a privilege to represent your country.”
Throughout his career, Cornelius has been listed as a forward but Javor coach Srdjan Vasiljevic has him playing a more defensive role.
“I’ve been playing centre-back for the past year now and I am feeling very comfortable and good in this position. I really enjoy playing under coach Vasiljevic. He has a good understanding of the game which, as a young player, I can learn a lot from.”
I also had the opportunity to speak about Cornelius with Javor vice-president Petar Lazovic whose father Dragan is president of the club.
“Javor is a club that represents the very best of the Western Serbian region with more than 105 years of tradition. Countless players have transferred from Javor to top clubs in Europe and this is our pride which pushes my family to run this club from year to year. Coach Vasiljevic is a former Serbian national team assistant coach and former director of the Red Star Belgrade youth program. With that expertise, he found a big talent in Derek and we are certain that through competing and hard work on and off the pitch Derek will become a key player for our team and also for the Canadian national team,” says Lazovic.
Cornelius is expected to start when Javor kicks off its 2017-18 Serbian SuperLiga campaign at home on July 22, 2017 against FK Borac Cacak.
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