SERBIA
FIFA Ranking: 15
After winning their qualification group ahead of France, the Serbians will make their 11th World Cup appearance in South Africa this year.
The Beli Orvoli or the White Eagles as they are popularly known, have proved that they are a team who can pull of an upset or two and subsequently have been termed as the dark horses going into this years World Cup.
This is Serbia's first appearance at the World Cup as a single country. They played as Serbia and Montenegro in Germany '06 and as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia at France '98.
Prior to that, they played as a part of the Yugoslavia national team, representing the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1920 - 1941 and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia between 1946 - 1992, reaching the semi finals in 1930 and 1962 and the quarter finals on four other occasions.
The Manager
Radomir Antic
A charismatic and popular coach with an impressive CV, taking in manegerial stints at Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid amongst others. His appointment has coincided with an upturn in fortunes for Serbia's national team, and not by chance. A tactful man-manager and a shrewd diplomat, the biggest challenge for Antic will be to prevent the in-fighting that scuppered Serbia's chances four years ago.
The Squad
Goalkeepers:
Vladimir Stojkovic, Bojan Isailovic, Andelko Duricic.
Defenders:
Antonio Rukavina, Aleksandar Kolarov, Nemanja Vidic, Branislav Ivanovic, Aleksandar Lukovic, Ivan Obradovic, Neven Subotic.
Midfielders:
Gojko Kacar, Zoran Tosic, Dejan Stankovic, Nenad Milijas, Milan Jovanovic, Milos Krasic, Milos Ninkovic, Radosav Petrovic, Zdravko Kuzmanovic.
Forwards:
Danko Lazovic, Marko Pantelic, Nikola Zigic, Dragan Mrda.
Man To Watch
Milos Krasic
A key player in the qualifying, Krasic comes into the tournament off the back of another successful season at CSKA Moscow. Along with left-sided counterpart Milan Jovanovic, he will be relied upon to provide pace, width and a goal threat.
FP Verdict
Drawn alongside Ghana, Germany and Australia, they are expected to clear the group stage and might just go on to win the group, given their current run of form. An early exit in the first round would surely be a terrible result for the Beli Orvoli.
Comments
Post a Comment