Đukić is Official
It was announced yesterday (Christmas press conferences are always a great idea) that former U-21 and Partizan Belgrade coach Miroslav Đukić will take charge of the Serbian national team starting January 1.
Since his resignation from the Partizan bench last week, it’s been a foregone conclusion that Đukić would get the job, but the length of the contract is a big surprising: It’s only for two years, which means it ends before the World Cup in South Africa — not exactly a resounding vote of confidence, is it? The FSS have said the contract will automatically extend for another six months if Serbia qualify, but why why not make it run 30 months from the start, like the contract Fabio Capello got in England? (Granted, Đukić can only dream about the kind of money Capello is making, but the length of the deal seems quite reasonable.) Contracts are hardly worth the paper they’re written on these days, so I don’t understand why the FSS wouldn’t assume the best and just give him a contract through the World Cup, since everyone and his brother would know he’d have to qualify to avoid being fired. It seems like they missed out on a chance to show their faith in him, which is not the best way to start a relationship.
In addition to guiding the full national team through World Cup qualifying (against France, the Faroe Islands, Romania, Austria and Lithuania), Đukić will also be in charge of the Olympic team when it goes to Beijing next summer. The Olympic rules dictate that the side be made up mostly of U-23 players with three overage ones allowed, which means the team will probably feature a lot of his old U-21 team and, in reality, could have a lot of overlap with the full national side. Generally putting national team coaches in charge of both isn’t considered the best idea because it divides their attention, but because so much of the Olympic team will probably end up in the full national side, in this case it makes sense, if only because it gives Đukić more time with his team.
The FSS say the appointment was unanimous, and Đukić himself is all fired up, and already talking about bringing kids into the side. “We want to play aggressive football and take the game to our rivals while keeping the flair and talent that brought success in the past. To do that, we need to bring in young prospects who will play their hearts out for their country, sing their national anthem with pride and win the hearts of all fans.” Hells yeah!
So far, two friendly matches have been scheduled: Against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin on May 24, and against Germany in Gelsenkirchen a week later. Ireland face Montenegro in WC qualifying, while Germany will play Croatia in their Euro 2008 group about a week after the Serbia friendly, so both teams have obvious brought in the Serbs hoping they’ll present a similar style to those to sides. Given that the matches will be held shortly before the Olympics, one assumes Đukić will also be using them as warm-ups, and will call up his Olympic team for them rather than the full national team.
Related Posts
Subscribe
|
Print
|
Share
|
Comments


I think appointing him as Olympic team coach is the best thing they could do. Look at the kids he will be taking with him… Lola, Zoran, Boško, Duško, Antonio, Branislav Ivanović… These boys are fantastic and are ready to play in the full national team (or they have done so already). Add the older players to that and you have a pretty bloody good team.
And that quote = brilliant. That is what Serbia needs, a bit of a shake up! Show the old guys that if they don’t preform they don’t get to play and that the young boys can do just as good a job.
Posted from
Australia




[...] Serbian NT has a new gaffer (Serbia World Cup Blog) [...]
Posted from
United States




[...] Serbia has a new coach (Serbia Blog) [...]
Posted from
United States




[...] him fit for the first time since last summer? And no Bojan. Boo! Đukić’s self-proclaimed emphasis on youth combined with the desperate need to convince the kid to pick Serbia means Bojan should get a damn [...]
Posted from
United States


Comments are closed
Send Your Tips!
Email tips[at]worldcupblog[dot]org
Serbia Club Football News
- Daily Dose, 07.03.08
- Photo of the Day: Kung-Fu Libertadores
- Andrei Arshavin - the Next Token Russian at Chelsea
- Copa Libertadores - More Exciting than Champions League?
- Daily Dose, 07.02.08
More Europe Blogs
France Euro 2008 Blog
666 Articles | 7,087 Comments
Croatia Euro 2008 Blog
169 Articles | 1,711 Comments
Czech Republic Euro 2008 Blog
196 Articles | 317 Comments
England World Cup Team Blog
644 Articles | 2,115 Comments
Germany Euro 2008 Blog
428 Articles | 2,709 Comments
Italy Euro 2008 Blog
359 Articles | 12,691 Comments
Netherlands Euro 2008 Blog
1,351 Articles | 13,163 Comments
Poland Euro 2008 Blog
182 Articles | 1,031 Comments
Portugal Euro 2008 Blog
404 Articles | 6,239 Comments
Serbia World Cup Team Blog
147 Articles | 783 Comments
Spain Euro 2008 Blog
185 Articles | 1,418 Comments
Sweden Euro 2008 Blog
150 Articles | 318 Comments
Switzerland Euro 2008 Blog
175 Articles | 301 Comments
Ukraine World Cup Team Blog
84 Articles | 645 Comments
Greece Euro 2008 Blog
10 Articles | 24 Comments
Russia Euro 2008 Blog
17 Articles | 86 Comments
Scotland World Cup Team Blog
73 Articles | 41 Comments
Ireland World Cup Team Blog
8 Articles | 6 Comments
Norway World Cup Team Blog
1 Articles | 0 Comments
Turkey Euro 2008 Blog
24 Articles | 254 Comments
Romania Euro 2008 Blog
35 Articles | 247 Comments
Austria Euro 2008 Blog
69 Articles | 84 Comments
Denmark World Cup Team Blog
1 Articles | 0 Comments
Albania World Cup Team Blog
4 Articles | 8 Comments
Belgium World Cup Team Blog
18 Articles | 14 Comments
Monthly Archives
World 







