Serbia

Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montengro and now simply Serbia, this is the first time technically that Serbia, as a single nation, has qualified for the World Cup. Yet, talisman Dejan Stankovic has appeared in the finals under all three. Serbia though qualified in style, with consistency being the key, knocking France off their perch to book a place in South Africa 2010.

Serbia did lose away at France and could only muster a draw against a French side that had been reduced to 10men early on, yet they were faultless throughout the rest of their qualifying campaign (apart from a 2-1 loss to Lithuania after they had already topped the group). Qualification was secured with a 5-0 thrashing of Romania.

The manager Raddy Antic is the only person ever to manage all three of the big three in Spain, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Barcelona. He has instilled a unity amongst the squad, something which at times they had lacked in previous campaigns, like when Sava Milosevic had a training ground incident with Kezman and Vidic – three people I would never get into an incident with...

However, with the players now totally focused on the game in hand, the team has been able to play some rather attractive attacking football, earning them the reputation of dark horses at this year’s World Cup.

Naturally, when thinking about a nation such as Serbia, connotations of fierce tackling, shaven headed, aggressive defenders spring to mind, and the Beli Orlovi’s (white eagles) do not disappoint. Nemanja Vidic is quite simply, a nutter. He attacks everything, fears nobody and loves a tough tackle, attributes that have made him a world-class centre-back.

For Manchester United he has been instrumental, for Serbia he is the keystone that holds the bridge up on the strength of his own two shoulder-blades. In qualifying for the 2006 World Cup Serbia and Montenegro conceded one goal in 10 games with him playing. In the finals when he was injured, they leaked 10 in 3 games. Vidic is Serbia.

If you thought facing him was bad enough, Serbia have Ivanovic there also. As well as his defensive capabilities the Chelsea man also scored 3 goals in qualifying. Set pieces are something Serbia are exceedingly good at, conceding from only 1 in qualifying, yet scoring from 8. Vidic’s defensive partner shall be Aleksander Lukovic, another man who thrives on a strong tackle.

Unusually though for a team of the modern era, Serbia do not play with a holding midfield player. Captain and current Inter Milan legend, Dejan Stankovic, shares the defensive and attacking role with Wolves’ Nenad Milijas. They work as a pair, if one goes, the other stays, and vice versa, but then with such solid defenders, why would you need a holding midfielder?

Antic believes in playing creative, attacking football and so two people to keep an eye on in South Africa are the two wingers, Milos Krasic and Milan Jovanovic. Kraisic plays on the right-wing and was voted Serbia’s player of the year in 2009. Jovanovic plays on the left and was the top scorer in qualifiers with 5 goals in 8 games. Both are highly rated, so much so Liverpool have snapped up Jovanovic before the World Cup has begun.

To complete the outfield team, Pantelic and Zigic play up top. There are concerns over Pantelic’s ability at international level, yet no doubt he will silence his critics at the finals. Zigic is Serbia’s Peter Crouch. All 6ft 7½inches of him provide the perfect target for longballs, if the team has to resort to that tactic. However, his team work rate also provides opportunities for others around him.

The wink link may be the keeper. Stojkovic technically plays for Wigan Athletic, but I say technically because he doesn’t really get a game, as Kirkland has the number 1 jersey. Despite this he is Antic’s firm choice keeper, but then he got Serbia into the World Cup, so no doubt he be looking to keep them there for as long as possible.

Serbia have been unfortunate, landing in the only group in the World Cup that is full of teams who finished top of their respective qualifying groups. Many people expect Ghana to provide a shock and Australia have often performed well previously in tournaments. And after that there is also a German side who, although look poor on paper (by their standards), generally outdo themselves in World competitions.

Serbia do have quality throughout their side. The midfield, strike force and defence all possess elements of the world class, yet whether they can hold it all together to negotiate a difficult group is another matter. If they do come second in Group D, a horrifying match against England will no doubt await. A fait more horrifying for the English than the Serbs. Let’s just hope it does not come to that.