Serbian football legend Sinisa Mihajlovic buried in Rome

ROME - Serbian football legend Sinisa Mihajlovic was buried in Rome on Monday in a private ceremony after a memorial service at the city's Basilica of St Mary of the Angels and of the Martyrs.

The service was led by Andrej Cilerdzic, the Serbian Orthodox Church bishop for Austria, Switzerland and Italy.

After the service, Mihajlovic's coffin was carried out by his friends including football names such as Dejan Stankovic, Attilio Lombardo, Roberto Mancini and Marko Arnautovic.

Thousands of football fans had gathered outside the basilica to pay a tribute to Mihajlovic.

On behalf of Red Star Belgrade - the club at which Mihajlovic rose to fame in 1991 - the service was attended by President Svetozar Mijailovic and Secretary General Zvezdan Terzic.

Serbian Minister of Sport Zoran Gajic and football legends including Dragan "Pixie" Stojkovic, Vladimir Jugovic, Zoran Mirkovic, Gordan Petric, Slavisa Jokanovic, Aleksandar Kolarov, Francesco Totti, Daniele De Rossi, Bruno Conti and Luca Marchegiani and the current Lazio squad including Serbia international Sergej Milinkovic Savic, the current Bologna squad and numerous representatives of other Italian and Serbian football clubs were also in attendance, as were Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri and former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo.

Mihajlovic died on Friday in a Rome hospital after a long battle against leukemia.

He began his playing career at Borovo and went on to play for Vojvodina Novi Sad, Red Star Belgrade, Roma, Sampdoria, Lazio and Inter.

With Red Star Belgrade, he won the UEFA European Champions Cup and the Intercontinental Cup in 1991.

He played 63 matches for the national team, scoring 10 goals.

He coached Bologna, Catania, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, Milan, Torino and Bologna and was also the Serbia head coach in the qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.