South Africa World Cup 2010 Group D: Serbia

GROUP D

Germany Australia Ghana Serbia

Serbia

Road to South Africa

Under Raddy Antic's wise leadership, Serbia qualified for their first major tournament as an independent nation, after a disastrous spell during Javier Clemente's tenure when the Serbian Eagles lost even to Kazakhstan.

The change of coach led to an immediate improvement as Serbia started the campaign with a resounding win in Austria, who had just defeated France.

Antic's team quickly climbed to the top of the group and secured a mathematical qualification on the penultimate day with a spectacular 5-0 win against Romania in Belgrade.

The string of scintillating displays helped the Serb tifosi rediscover their love for the national team, filling the Marakana stadium with an average crowd of 48,000.

France, alas, stayed second in spite of collecting four points in the head-to-head games with Serbia. That made the stage for the now infamous playoffs between France and Ireland, decided by an unpunished Henry handball.

Fixtures

Serbia Copyright © Soccerphile	Serbia Copyright © Soccerphile

Serbia v Ghana 13 June; Pretoria
Serbia v Nigeria 18 June; Port Elizabeth
Serbia v Argentina 23 June; Nelspruit

Analysis

As the biggest and most central republic of the former Yugoslavia, Serbia took part in nine World Cups until 1990, before making two more appearances as a part of a Serbia-Montenegro in 1998 and 2006, with significantly less success. Serbia controversially claims to be the unique successor of the former Yugoslavia, which UEFA and FIFA amazingly accepted. The soccer authorities based their decision on the precedent of the Soviet Union and Russia, although Serbia cannot possibly claim to have been the key ingredient of the former Yugoslav national team.

In fact, Serbia has never had so many quality players as today, as an independent nation.

Their strong points in defense include the tigerish defender Nemanja Vidic of Manchester United and fullback Aleksandar Kolarov whose performances at Lazio have attracted both Real Madrid and Inter. Ahead of the classic four man defense are the midfield dynamo Dejan Stankovic, a regular feature in the Serie A since 1998, and the creative Milos Krasic from CSKA Moscow. Upfront, the squad counts on the towering Nikola Zigic (202 cm), who is equally strong with the ball at his feet as in the air, and the dribbling maestro Milan Jovanovic, whom Antic holds in the highest regard.

The only department in which the present Serbia does not have a star player is the post of the goalkeeper, currently occupied by the flamboyant Vladimir Stankovic, who has had reduced playing time at Sporting Lisbon.

Key player: Dejan Stankovic

Dejan Stankovic is only 31, but he seems to have been around "forever" and one of the most durable stars of European soccer in recent times. He debuted at Red Star in 1994 at 16 and had already established himself as one of the country's top players when he was transferred to Lazio in 1998. The long-serving skipper is rarely injured, covers wide swaths of the pitch with his tireless running and frequently scores long distance goals.

Unlike some of his mates, Stankovic is an optimist regarding Serbia's chances in South Africa.

"The draw could have been tougher on us. I don't say we are favourites, but we have the quality to go through. Germany will be our strongest rival, followed by Ghana.

One to watch: Milan Jovanovic

The Standard Liege forward was the revelation of the qualifiers. The top scorer for the team with five goals, the 28-year-old shines with his ball-handling skills and quickness of movement. His goals and assists proved crucial in Standard's two consecutive triumphs in the Belgian league (2007/08 and 2008/09) after 25 years of drought.

Initially, after the team's dismal showing in the previous qualifying campaign, Jovanovic was not called up, but Antic recognized his value and reinstated him. For the coach, the forward is one of the most talented players in the world whose skills are comparable to Cristiano Ronaldo's. The World Cup will provide him with a first-class opportunity to prove Antic right - or wrong.

Coach: Radomir Antic

Currently the most popular personality in Serbia, Antic is credited with inspiring the brilliant performances of the Eagles in the qualifiers more than any player. At the end of 2009 he was voted the best soccer coach in Serbia by a popular magazine and had his contract extended until 2012. The experienced coach, formerly a defensive stalwart with Partizan Belgrade and Luton Town, brought a puff of fresh air when he was named manager in the summer of 2008. For starters, he knew a lot more about Serbian soccer than his predecessor Javier Clemente, who had been slammed by the media for his superficial approach during the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.

Antic acts as a father figure, inspiring confidence and exerting a kind and effortless authority. Few players do not trust a manager who has coached Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona, among others. The Serb led Atletico to a magnificent double in 1996 and also came close to winning the 1991 League title with Real Madrid, but was sacked while Real were firmly on top because "the team were playing unattractively". Leo Beenhakker replaced Antic with 15 matches to go, enough for Barcelona to chase Real down and overtake them on the last day of the season.

Record

First appearance as an independent state
Two semifinals as part of Yugoslavia (1930 and 1962)
Five quarterfinal appearances as part of Yugoslavia (1950, 1954, 1958, 1974, 1990)

FIFA Ranking

Predictions & Latest Odds

Squeezed out of the group.
World Cup Betting

How they qualified

Won European qualifying Group 7 ahead of France, Austria and Lithuania.

On the sidelines

The Yugoslav team that reached the semifinals of the first World Cup back in 1930 was composed mostly of Serb players.
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Soccerphile says

With Antic, Serbia has become a quick and entertaining team, displaying a lot of confidence against equal or inferior teams, but an inferiority complex against the big western nations, inherited from the Yugoslav times, has persisted to date.

They should progress to the second round ahead of Ghana and Australia, but don't expect them to make too much of a splash. On the big stage southern Slavic nations have rarely lived up to the expectations that their talent has generally created.

The Squad

Goalkeepers Vladimir Stojkovic (Sporting), Bojan Isailovic (Zaglebie Lubin), Andjelko Djuricic (Uniao Leiria)
Defenders: Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea), Antonio Rukavina (1860 Munich), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United), Neven Subotic (Borussia Dortmund), Aleksandar Lukovic (Udinese), Ivan Obradovic (Zaragoza), Aleksandar Kolarov (Lazio)
Midfielders: Dejan Stankovic (Inter Milan), Gojko Kacar (Hertha Berlin), Nenad Milijas (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Zdravko Kuzmanovic (VfB Stuttgart), Radosav Petrovic (Partizan Belgrade), Milos Krasic (CSKA Moscow), Zoran Tosic (Manchester United), Milos Ninkovic (Dynamo Kiev), Milan Jovanovic (Standard Liege)
Forwards: Nikola Zigic (Birmingham City), Marko Pantelic (Ajax Amsterdam), Danko Lazovic (Zenit St. Petersburg), Dragan Mrdja (Vojvodina Novi Sad)

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