Old bond drives Sydney FC's Serbian duo in search for A-League silverware Reunited: Sydney FC's Serbian connection, striker Ranko Despotovic and old teammate, defender Nikola Petkovic at Breakfast Point. RANKO Despotovic and Nikola Petkovic were holding back tears the last time they shared a dressing room. It was 2007 and what was supposed to be a Cinderella story had just ended in failure. The humble Vojvodina lost the Serbian Cup final to powerhouses Red Star Belgrade and a team they described as a family was on the verge of separation. It was to be their last game together before Despotovic moved to Rapid Bucharest in Romania and Petkovic was sold to the Turkish club Genclerbirligi. The two close friends were resigned to the fact they were unlikely to play together again. That was until a phone call last month. Despotovic spent more than six months searching for a new club this year and - after stints in Romania, Spain and Japan - knew his next move would be one of the most important. At 30, he was in no rush to accept the first offer that arrived and, when one from Sydney came, he almost consigned it to the same pile as others from Spain and Japan. But a call that followed an agent's proved more persuasive. He had not heard that voice for some time - six years to be exact - but it was instantly recognisable and more influential than that of other prospective suitors. An agent called me and asked me if I'm interested in coming to Sydney. I said OK, good and then I received a call from him [Petkovic] and that call changed everything. That put the fire in me," Despotovic says. Petkovic, 27, gave a glowing reference when he heard Sydney were interested and was the first person to greet his former teammate on his arrival in Australia. "He was a good scorer, fast, strong, quality player," Petkovic says. This is what I said to the club when they asked me about him, 'If you play him, he will be one of the best strikers in the league.' I'd say the best, but [I didn't want to put] too much pressure on him. The former teammates were part of a club that had a special bond. They had risen from the relegation zone to join the title race, a similarity they see in their start to the season at Sydney, and comfortably knocked off giants Partizan and Red Star. "We were very strong that year, nobody could beat us," Despotovic says. We felt unbeatable. We go on the pitch and know that we were going to win and couldn't lose. We were full of self-confidence. This year we are in a similar position, almost everything is the same like before. The two Serbians have been an instant hit in Sydney. Despotovic has found the net twice in his first two games, both as a substitute, while Petkovic has turned Sydney's defence into one of the strongest in the league despite the regular upheaval of the starting back line. "His fighting for us is very important," Despotovic says. It's very important to the team to have somebody like him, and he's pushing that, always from behind and giving us more mental power. Petkovic has been leading from the back while Despotovic is emerging as the surprise of the season. [I'm] not surprised, that's his style, he doesn't need five chances to score a goal. One chance, he will score a goal," Petkovic says. There is a sense of relief among the duo with their new lives in Australia after Petkovic endured difficult times in Turkey, and Despotovic, a striker, was languishing at a club where tactics were fixed around defence. They now live in the same building in Sydney's inner west, enjoying their lifestyle and being part of a club on the rise, but there is no cause for celebration just yet. Although they're becoming central figures in the Sydney FC team, it counts for little unless it translates to silverware. The two players spent the past six years globetrotting, accumulating a collective five passports worth of stamps on their travels, but the pain of that night in Belgrade in May 2007 has not diminished. The "family" that was the 2006-07 Vojvodina club has since gone in separate directions but due to fortune or fate, Despotovic and Petkovic are reunited on the other side of the world. They live on the foreshore of the Parramatta River, rather than the Danube in Novi Sad, wearing sky blue instead of red and white, but their desire to stand on a podium together as champions has remained after six years apart. "There is a lost part in our good history," Despotovic says. If we just enjoy life here and do nothing, it's going to be lost again. We are going to fight to win something important.