Serbia Victorious In South Africa

Tell me, how much would you like to see this headline next summer, somewhere after 11th of july? Well, keep dreaming, we’ll all keep dreaming. This summer, however, Serbian NT actually traveled to South Africa and returned rather victorious, defeating the next summer’s host nation in an entertaining friendly in Pretoria. Radomir Antić’s men defeated South Africa 3-1, courtesy of goals by Zoran Tošić (x2) and Danko Lazović, while the hosts replied via Mphela in the dying minutes of the second half. Now, while South Africa certainly isn’t one of the world’s greats and weren’t considered favorites for this match, a victory like this means much, especially after some impressive games Bafana Bafana has produced during the Confederations’ Cup. So, Serbian players got the taste of the South African climate, had their first encounter with the rather annoying vuvuzuela (it’s even annoying on the TV!) and achieved a fine victory before the decisive match with France on september 9th. What more could you ask for?

Here’s the line-up Antić used:

Stojković
Ivanović – Subotić – Luković – Obradović
Kačar – Petrović – Ninković
Krasić – Žigić – Jovanović

So, this was basically a 4-3-3 with Žigić up front, Krasić and Jovanović as wingers and Radoslav Petrović as a defensive midfielder. Antić didn’t have a full squad at his disposal, with Pantelić, Stanković, Kolarov and Milijaš being left behind and Janković and Vidić being injured. Therefore, Antić called-up some new faces, notably Radoslav Petrović of Partizan Belgrade, and gave a chance to Ninković, Kačar and Luković in the starting line-up.

The first half was goalless, however, and at half-time Zoran Tošić replaced Krasić, Kuzmanović stepped in instead of Kačar and Lazović filled the shoes of Jovanović. This has changed the formation somewhat, and also the result. “A living proof that you can advance by simply training with Alex Ferguson” – Zoran Tošić – scored two fabulous goals and Lazović scored another one, second for Serbia on the night. Players like Rukavina, Tomović and Milinković were also given some minutes at the very end and Serbia only conceded one goal, with Mphela’s strike in the 90′ minute giving the hosts a consolation goal. A splendid victory, really.

Dear South Africa – we hope to see you very soon. Victory against France and we can already book hotel rooms, let’s hope that Ribery, Henry & co. aren’t going to cancel our flights – after being so close, that would hurt very, very much.