World Cup Team Profiles: Group D: Serbia

Teams / Ari Last / 01 March 2010 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet

The Serbians beat the French to top spot in qualifying and will be eager to give a good account of themselves in their first World Cup as an independent nation...

They're priced at [85.0] to win it, with the long odds more a reflection on their lack of experience and pedigree than their talent. On paper, the Serbian side looks very strong indeed with Branislav Ivanovic, Nemanja Vidic, Zoran Tosic and Nikola Zigic to name but just a few of their players who have caught the eye over the last couple of seasons. They showed in qualifying just how strong they were, and dismissing their chances of going well this summer might prove to be a costly mistake.

Nation: Serbia

Also known as...
'Beli Orlovi'

Route to South Africa...
When the qualifying draw was made, you would have been hard-pressed to have found someone who didn't think the likes of Austria, Romania and Serbia were playing for second spot behind the French. As it turned out, Les Blues stuttered and Serbia capitalized. Needing a win over Romania to win the Group they grasped the opportunity with both hands, stuffing their opponents 5-0. It was a statement of intent that this Serbia side are ready and determined to take their chance.

World Cup Pedigree...
Their first international match as an independent nation was in August 2006, but as part of 'Serbia and Montenegro'they did qualify for the 2006 tournament. It wasn't an experience to remember though, having lost all three of their group games. While under the umbrella of Yugoslavia, the country qualified for nine previous World Cups, though 2010 is definitely seen as the beginning of a new age for Serbian football, and they'll be looking to kick things off with a bang.

They'll be relying on...
Nemanja Vidic sorting himself out. The towering centre-half has rarely been seen in a Manchester United shirt this year, largely due to injury but also, if certain newspapers are to be believed, due to his insistence on moving to Real Madrid this summer. Either way, his lack of match-time will be of concern to his national side who will be relying on him heavily in South Africa. Captain Dejan Stankovic is another man they'll be looking to for inspiration, and if Vidic keep things tight at the back, then Stankovic is the player capable of magical moments at the other end.

Something you may not have known is...
That with 37 goals in 102 caps, Serbia's all time record goalscorer is Aston Villa misfit Savo Milosevic. It is often the case that players fail to settle in new surroundings, yet rarely has there been such a disparity between the same player's performance in one country, when compared to another. In England, Milosevic, or 'Miso-lot-of-it' as he was nicknamed, was very much of a figure of fun, yet prior to, and after his time there, he was nothing short of prolific. He scored 98 goals in 170 games for Partizan Belgrade and Real Zaragoza.
Today, the gigantic Nikola Zigic is seen as Serbia's biggest goal-threat, and oddly enough he too, like Milosevic, is known to blow both hot and cold.

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