In comes Vladimir Petrovic who is currently coaching Romanian side FC Timisoara. Vladimir Petrovic stated “I know all the players, but I only have a very short period in front of me so I do not want to change the playing staff.” “I believe that my main goal is to fix the atmosphere in the national team and to qualify for the European Championship finals in Poland and Ukraine.” He is also gone on to say he will call up players from his under 21 days where he took Serbia & Montenegro to the finals to only lose to Champions Italy.

My opinion of this change is a good one. Antic had blended a team that was mostly composed of Javier Clemente. He embarassed Serbia in the World Cup other than a big win against Germany. Being banned 4 games from FIFA also played a huge part in his dismissal. In comes Petrovic who personally I only see the FSS geting him because the price was right. He will not be able to fix the problems with the team. Thats something the player will have to do on there own. He is not a name that will come into a side and change things as Militinovic or Stojkovic and others are. He is simply there to just coach a team that is having problems not being able to fix them. He already talked about calling up some players from the Under 21 side of 2004. Most of those talents either play for Serbia currently or play for Montenegro. So I dont see this coach doing much now as in the long term. What makes it worse is he known for being very defensive. We dont need to go back to the days of Duljaj and Nadj and Jokanovic and have a very defensive midfield. It’s bad enough Stankovic plays defensive for Serbia but attacking for Inter.

In all fairness the best coach recently that Serbia had was Clemente. He brought in a whole youth of players and gave them national team experience. The only problem was that we were in a tough group with Poland, Finland, and Portugal. If we had given him time im sure we would have went far in the World Cup. It’s different when you bring in a coach of different nationality or of a big name. He wants to shake things up and wants to make his name look good by achieving success. Petrovic is not the right man, he will be told who to call up who to play and such. Crvena Zvezda and Partizan need to sell players too.

If this plan works and they do qualify for the EURO than its more the players responsibilities to perform. So far we’ve seen a team underachieve. Serbia always has one of the best teams in the world on paper but can never show it in the big stage. Back in the day Stojkovic, Jugovic, Mijatovic, Milosevic and others played for a country that they felt no longer existed and represented that country with pride. I remember when they would crush the Faroes by 8 goals. Or play draws with Brazil. So you would think with the country now being Serbia these players would show up but they still dont. The only players who play with some pride are Stankovic, Vidic, Ivanovic and Jovanovic. The rest can’t perform like they do for there clubs. All you can do is just wait and see what we do against Estonia and the Italians.

Serbia didnt play so great, they gave away too many balls and Zoran Tosic and Milan Jovanovic were ineffective from the wings. Milos Krasic was brought in for Tosic but could not fair any better. When you can’t play from the wings it seems we can’t score. Our only target Zigic must be used for his aerial threat and if you can’t give him the support than you might as well play for a draw in which we seemed to be doing. Again like I have written before we lack a true quality striker. We are playing this style only to suit our lengthy striker. We do play attractive football when we keep it on the ground. But without a proper finish man this is our only outlet. The Slovenian’s did look good, they came out to play. You can say because of the break up of Yugoslavia everyone seems to perform better in these kind of matches. Or maybe it was because with that opening loss in Maribor they needed to go for the win.

The biggest disapointing part was not picking up the 3 points and being rescued of defeat at home. After such a disapointing World Cup this is where you want to gain back support from your country and should be winning every game at home. But it was good to see them not lose points. However again just like Australia they only seem to be up for it when they are down and thats when they play better football.

Overall it’s still early and being unbeaten is a good thing, with Estonia coming up it should be another 3 points. The Italy game will be the decider, the team that beats Italy will be the team in 1st and with the rising talent in European countries you do not want to be second and have a playoff. So they need to get this chemistry going and figure out whats best for them tactically and not lose anymore points until Radomir Antic is back. At least than they can blame it on coaching and not themselves.

Next up for the Eagles is Slovenia as we welcome them to Belgrade. They lost there first game to Northern Ireland. 1-0 in Maribor. So expect Slovenia to come out and play for 3 points after that defeat. They hold a solid record against the Eagles with 4 draws. However be it back in the Zahovic days as he was there usual talliesman. On thing the eagles cannot do is play for a draw. This is where we need to seperate ourselves from a lucky side, or a side that can play good football on there day, to an elite team. We must secure 3 points from Slovenia and or Northern Ireland. With Italy to come we can only lose points to the team that closest to grab 1st place. We can’t give these outsiders a chance to make the playoff or finish 1st. I expect Serbia to beat Slovenia 2-0. We have a great home record and I expect us to play defensive and soak up the pressure that Slovenia will be giving us and hit them on the break. They will come out flying in Belgrade as a loss would eliminate them from the competetion.

After a month and a half gone finally somebody had to talk about it. Serbia lost there final game against Australia. Many Serbian supporters will be outraged with the officiating in the game. Milos Krasic and Marko Pantelic scored two goals that were called offside. The more controversial one with Pantelic as he appeared to be on the line with the defense. Than as we have been punished the previous two games for handballs our luck didnt come on our end when Australia’s Tim Cahill played the ball with his hand in the penalty area from a Vidic header. The refs played on and Serbia was eliminated from the World Cup. I myself am outraged at the officiating in this game let alone World Cup. However the Aussie’s seemed to be more hungry. Serbia seemed to only show up after being 2-0 down other than playing a well 1st half. But what can we take from this experience of Serbia in the World Cup and what can we do to prepare ourselves in the future.

After the game with the Aussies Antic let his feelings be known and was suspended by FIFA for “inappropriate behaviour” against the referee. This means Antic won’t be able to lead Serbia from the bench against the Faroe Islands, Slovenia, Estonia and Italy in the first four qualifying matches for the 2012 European Championship. His job was also up for grabs as Serbia Football Association president Tomislav Karadzic decided to leave Antic at the helm after not being able to find a better candidate. This is really important for Serbia as in two of those matches are against quality sides (Slovenia, Italy). This is where the team as a whole has to manage to not lose any points from those teams and if anything share them while gaining points against the two weaker teams (Faroe Islands, Estonia).

With Euro 2012 the next big tournament and with Serbia being drawn into a group with Italy and Slovenia they have to get things right fast. So a scheduled friendly game vs Greece gave them some time to try out some newer players as Greece is also trying to re-identify itself. However this game proved only what many critics have said in the past, we lack a quality striker. Greece defeated Serbia 1-0 In Belgrade. I was glad to see Stojkovic not play in goal. He has had no form since his Zvezda days. So I was glad to see Andjelko Djuricic play in goal. The only thing that bothered me more was seeing the exact same team from the World Cup play in a friendly. The whole point of a friendly is to try new players or players who are usually on the bench, although Tosic, Kacar and Mrdja were featured I would have loved to see Sulejmani, Aleksic, Matic, Tadic, and several others make some 1st team appearances. But Antic supports his claim that we have a great side and shouldn’t change anything. Hard to explain when Zigic and Pantelic can’t get you goals.

Other than that game our future does look bright for Serbian football. In terms of defense this is somewhere we do not lack and shouldnt change anything. The two full backs Ivanovic and Kolarov are great going up and coming back. The central defense shouldnt change much either. Vidic will remain but look for Subotic and Lukovic to be fighting out to be paired with Vidic. I personally think Lukovic had a great World Cup minus his red card. But Subotic has lots of potential and is very young. The Midfield will see some new faces. Krasic and Jovanovic will play the wings with an aging Stankovic in the middle of the park. However I would love to see Stankovic retire from the national team. I think he’s past his prime and hasn’t showed much in these big tournaments. Players like Jankovic, Kuzmanovic and Tosic need to be regulars. Tosic has a prolific goal scoring record with the National team but he doesnt get the playing time.

As for the forwards. Thats the biggest problem, Zigic has shown only two be successful in the air. But is usually well marked to do anything. Pantelic is not a complete forward. Most of his goals are in the 18 yard box through loose rebounds, deflections or 1on1s with the keeper. Dragan Mrdja who was the leading goal scorer in the Jelen League and was on great form internationaly and club level should have been thrown in the World Cup to see what he can do. Miralem Sulejmani is a player who hasnt played for Ajax this year, and failed to get moved on loan to West Ham but he has great skill and should be a 1st choice for Antic. If they can develop Suljemani and Mrdja and have Lazovic subing them off and to be there backup they should have more firepower than they did. Danijel Aleksic is still too young to play in these important qualifiers We need to do the right thing now and that is to develop these strikers. Serbia hasnt had a great striker since Kezman. So I know many people are disapointed in Serbia but look at our future and it should make you happier. We have very young and talented players, there is no wait to rebuild we have the pieces already thanks to great Under 21 accomplishments over the years.

Australia may not be a football heavyweight, but the talent they posses and the experience of their players is something that must be taken in consideration. True, they may be without Harry Kewell, Vicenzo Grella and Craig Moore, some of their best players, but the likes of Tim Cahill, Mark Schwarzer, Lucas Neill, Mark Bresciano and Brett Emerton will be there, making their line-up one of the oldest and the most experienced in the entire World Cup. They are a hard-working side, giving their best on the pitch and making it very hard to overwhelm them, with their 4-0 loss against Germany being the only weak result I can think of. Against Ghana, they played with 10-men throughout much of the game, but yet pressured their opponent to the very end and were very close to claiming the three points. In other words, they must be respected as a team, and we must be very careful – a slip in concentration (especially if we take a lead) might cost us dearly and probably the only way to defeat them convincingly is to open up, run as much as we can and put pressure throughout the entire 90 minutes – to sit back and wait might end in a catastrophe.

Serbia go into this game with a very high-morale and self-belief that wasn’t seen for some time, probably for some ten years or so. To defeat Germany was a historical feat, a win that means a lot more than just the 3 points we had needed for advancing for the group, it’s should be a trigger for this team to wake up, realize it’s true potential and end this several years long apathy in which both the players and the fans expect some kind of a disappointment, humiliation or something even worse every time we play the games that really matter. As a matter of fact, this game will prove whether the win against Germany was a coincidence, one single flash of brilliance, or a turning point for us in this World Cup.

Unlike Australia, we go into this game with a full contingent of players, with Aleksandar Luković returning to the squad after a one game absence due to suspension. However, Antić could have problems of a different kind: five our players have a yellow card, with our whole back-line that played against Germany (Kolarov, Subotić, Vidić and Ivanović) being one card away from suspension. To play without the likes of Vidić and Ivanović in the second round would be a disaster, so Antić simply must avoid the rough play that would lead to them getting carded. He may employ Luković instead of Subotić to ease that pressure, but with Vidić being under a danger of missing the next game, it may be wise to rest him for this game. But how can you rest your key player in a key encounter is beyond me, and it would be very brave (or foolish) for Antić to do so. If I were him, I’d probably replace Vidić and half-time if we take a lead and he doesn’t get carded, but that might not be very wise. I hate yellow cards, you know?

The expected line-up:

———-Stojković———-
Ivanović-Vidić-Luković-Kolarov
———Kuzmanović———
—-Stanković—Kačar——-
Krasić————–Jovanović
————Žigić————

How should we play?

There was already a discussion in the previous post about the way we should play against Australia. But, let’s say it again: I believe that we should try to pressure the Australians as much as we can and go for a win no matter the result in the other game. If we take a lead, we should try to score more, the only way to prevent the Aussies from making our dream a nightmare is making their own life miserable by our offensive play, especially on the wings, where Jovanović and Milos Krasic should be too much for their full-backs. We have the attacking capabilities to exploit their weak defense and score some goals, but if we sit back and try to defend our lead (or even worse, a point) we may end up crying – Australia certainly won’t give up.

One other thing to take into consideration is the fact that Australia also needs a win to go through. True, they need either a high-scoring win combined with a convincing Ghana loss, or simply a win if Ghana defeats Germany (which are both extremely unlikely), but they will definitely go and give their best to achieve their goal. That bodes well for Serbia, because our opponent will be very eager to go into a all-out attack and get vulnerable at the back. The only thing that worries me is that we might try to exploit that weakness by defending and waiting for a counter-attack, and that could be wise only if we put a lot of pressure every time they cross the half, not if we sit back and wait for them. Yes, I might be repeating myself, but I think most of you will agree with me on this one. So, an attacking game and a full commitment is what we need to win this one. Any other calculations might send us home without a proper fight.

What is more to be said than Napred, Beli Orlovi! Napred, Srbija! Srce na teren!

1. Ghana defeats Germany:

- We go through as a 2nd placed team if we win
- We go through as a 2nd placed team if we draw

2. Ghana draws Germany:

- We go through as a 1st placed team if we win

3. Germany defeats Ghana by one goal:

- We go through if we win, as 2nd or 1st (depending on goal difference)
- We go through if we draw as long as we score (and concede) more goals than Ghana

4. Gemany defeats Ghana by two goals:

- We go through as 2nd with a draw
- We go 2nd or 1st with a win (depending on goal difference)

So, as you can see, we have pretty solid chances for advancing to the second round. A win would be enough no matter how the other game ends, while a draw would also put us through if either Ghana beats Germany or Germany beats Ghana with 2 goals or more. Also, if Germany defeats Ghana by one goal, we can go through with a draw as long as we score more goals than Ghana (for example, they lose 1:0, and we draw 2:2). That means that draw would probably be enough, but a win would definitely put us through and that is what we should look to achieve.

What should we do?

I believe is that we must act as if a draw isn’t enough. If we try to protect a draw, we risk being knocked out without a proper fight, and there is no need for us to use that strategy. If, for example, Germany leads Ghana 3:0 at half-time and we still play 0:0, a draw would most definitely be enough and most teams would try to defend that result. However, Australia is a rather fanatic team and we must go out to win, attack them with our full force at let them worry about our own threat. If we take a lead, Australia would give their best to score, and here’s where I see our chance for counter-attacking and winning comfortably.

What do you think about the strategy to employ against Australia?

I’ll make a post about qualification/group winning scenarios soon. Now is the time to take a deep breath and enjoy the moment. And, of course, heap praise on Australia, they deserved it!

This game was an absolute thriller. There were 9 yellow cards and a red one, there was a penalty, a goal, two bars and a post, and if you have a weak heart, you shouldn’t have watched this one. But, the only thing that matters is that we won the game, everything else will soon be forgotten. We were lucky, yes, but it is about time lady luck smiled upon us – we deserved it with our hard work, devotion and the fact that we won the first game in such a tragic manner.

The positives:

We were playing very well in the first half and managed to shut down the opposition, not creating many chances, but also not letting them create some against us. The referee started giving yellow cards like confetti, and although I was worried that it would be Serbia to receive a red card again, it was Germany who were playing with 10 men after Miroslav Klose was sent off. Was it deserved? Perhaps not, but it was rather clear that the referee did not tolerate any foul play and the Germans should have know better than to continuously foul our players from behind. We played smart after the sending off, and the goal we scored was something we were all waiting for: it involved a run on the right by Miloš Krasić and a finish by Milan Jovanović. If you followed our NT before, or read my game previews, you would know how much did I praise these two players and how many times did I label them as our main attacking threat. Serbian joy was endless.

When things started to look bleak in the second half, we managed to threat the German a few more times, hitting both the bar (Žigić) and the post (Jovanović) and looked capable enough to win by an even larger margin. Unfortunately, we were not able to score and just had to defend our lead. The pressure was great, and the opponent’s attack was deadly, but we managed to keep a clean sheet. When the penalty was awarded to Germany, Stojković managed to shut up all of his critics by saving a penalty and became the hero of the nation by doing so. A lot of positives to be taken out from this game, and the 3 points that we won after a great struggle are most definitely the biggest one.

The negatives:

There were, however, a lot of negatives in this game. Let’s start with the way we have played in the first part of the second half, when we didn’t try to attack the 10-man Germans, but to defend our slim lead, and had our opponents been a little bit more concentrated, we would have blown our chances rather easily. We were clumsy in defense once again, and it was pure luck that we haven’t conceded in the dying minutes of the first half when Khedira hit the post. And the penalty we conceded was a whole another story. I don’t understand how is it possible to repeat the VERY SAME thing as in the game against Ghana and handball in the area without any need! To make matters worse, the culprit was Nemanja Vidić, arguably one of the best defenders in the world. Hand’t Stojković saved that penalty, this World Cup would have been remembered as the most tragic one for our team with two identical handballs in two games effectively sending us home without a decent goal conceded. If that wouldn’t have been tragic, then I don’t know what would.

The conclusion:

Celebrate, Serbia, you have reason to! Let’s rejoice in this historic win and keep the analyzing and criticism for later, now is the time for joy. We were written off, but now we’re one step away from the second round. After this win, we know anything is possible. Just don’t touch the ball with your hands, please.

P.S. I really like those all-red jerseys, what do you think about them?

P.P.S. Do you think Manfred will show up to mock us because of the German “demolition” of our team?