We got off to a good start in qualifying.
When was the last time we saw the Serbian national team being group favorites in an international qualifying tournament? The “White Eagles” have only gained weight in recent years and are starting to seriously qualify for access to the World and European playoffs. And in the current selection of Euro 2024, they are quite capable of getting out of first place.
We started with victories over Lithuania and Montenegro
In both meetings Dragan Stojkovic’s wards had a tangible territorial advantage. At the same time, the team did not roll the ball only in its own half of the field. In the duel with Lithuania, the Serbs had the ball mainly on the half-flanks near the central circle – this was due to the active edges of the three central defenders. Both Pavlovich and Yerakovich played an important role in the initial stage of the attack, they were on a level with the Lukich and Gruich centers. Due to such activity and the high line of defenders, the Serbs more often sent the ball into the penalty area and more often hit from its limits.
As for the match against Montenegro, here the accent has shifted to the flank of Milinkovic-Savic and Mladenovic. Periodically, Dusan Tadic moved to the same area, forming a numerical advantage. The start of the attacks was marked by Milenković on the opposite edge. He had to do with the rotation. Jerakovich, Lukic and Vlahovic sat on the bench, while Milenkovic, Ilic and Milinkovic-Savic came out. Sergei is good at moving the ball, which is why there was a bias towards the left flank.
According to the results of two rounds, the Serbs are in first place in the group. They have 6 points on their account and ahead is a duel with Bulgaria.
element of luck
Of course, the group rivals are inferior to the Serbs in class. Dragan Stojkovic has many more players at his disposal who can make a difference. In addition to Lithuania and Montenegro, the “White Eagles” will play the Bulgarian national team – with all these opponents it is difficult to lose points (and has so far been avoided). The only team that can impose serious resistance on Serbia is Hungary.
Marco Rossi also has promising players at his disposal, even if the bulk of them belong to the defensive group. Central defenders Attila Salai and Willy Orban are highly regarded, even though they are the first to play in the Turkish league. Willy plays regularly for Leipzig and is regarded as one of the most underrated defenders in the Bundesliga.
On the left flank, fullbacks Milos Kerkez and Robert Shallai met. The 19-year-old defender quickly adapted to the Dutch side AZhe confidently advances the ball (more than 80% of accurate passes) and is good at tackling (1.5 per game – the 7th indicator in the team), a couple more years – and the clubs of the top league will definitely fight because of this.
But Hungary’s main talent is attacking midfielder Dominik Sobosloi. The Leipzig footballer is in demand among the European giants: this summer Chelsea, Newcastle and Atlético are ready to join the fight for him. Right now, the 23-year-old midfielder is in the top 5 assists in the Bundesliga and fourth in the league for key assists.
But all this is concentrated in one team and the other teams have almost no leverage to successfully compete with Serbia.
The team has a strong and balanced composition
The selection of Serbian players is even more promising than the Hungarian one. Last world Cup-2022 revealed the talent of young central defender Strahinja Pavlovich. The 21-year-old Salzburg player has impressive dimensions (1.94 meters tall), so he fights successfully in his own penalty area. And at the same time, he likes to play with the ball – for this reason, the Serbs have a high central line when building attacks, and Pavlovic can independently drag the ball into someone else’s half.
In addition to Strakhinya, Gudel and Milenkovic can also be in the top three, and recently the talented Red Star graduate Strahinja Jerakovich was called up to the national team.
In midfield there is a quality rivalry between Grujic, Ilic and Lukic (all in European clubs). And that’s not taking into account Sergei Milinkovic-Savic, who plays under the striker with Dusan Tadic. Dusan Vlahovic has added variability in the choice of players under the striker – he has recently begun to appear in the position of Sergei.
Dragan Stojkovic has plenty to choose from and in all positions.
First European championship for Serbia
Whether, of course, they get there, it’s too early to guess anyway. Until Euro 2004, the national team played as the national team of Serbia and Montenegro and only for the 2008 continental championship was it selected as a separate team. And since then, she has never qualified. Interestingly, the indicator is even worse than in the history of performances at the World Cup – the White Eagles visited the final tournament of the World Cup three times.
ON world Cup-2022, the Serbs had real chances of reaching the playoffs, but this was greatly prevented by a draw with Cameroon (although Serbia led at the end of two-thirds of the match). And it was not possible to break reliable Switzerland in a key duel.
The upcoming European championship is an opportunity for the Serbs to reach a qualitatively new level. First, finally qualify for the final tournament – the team has such an opportunity. And then everything will depend on the results of the draw. In any case, Stojkovic’s wards already have the necessary power reserve to fight for the playoffs.
