Serbia proved the ultimate dark horses in the World Cup qualifiers, and could well be again at the finals.
Manager Radomir Antic’s side found themselves in a group along with France, Austria, Lithuania, Romania and the Faroe Islands. Commentators gave them an outside chance of qualifying, more than likely via the play-offs, but they did much better than that – they topped the group.
Serbia, now ranked 16th in the world, will be making their first trip to a finals under the current Balkans carve-up.
However, they did make it to Germany 2006 when still going under the former alias of Serbia & Montenegro. Sadly, they came in last their group behind Argentina, the Netherlands and the Ivory Coast.
That said, the Serbia going to South Africa is far superior to the team that limped out of the finals on that that occasion.
They are a well-organised, attacking side as demonstrated by their 5-0 thrashing of Romania in the qualifiers.
Among their most potent attacking weapons is Milan Jovanovic, the 28-year-old former Standard Liege winger who has just signed for Liverpool. He has clocked up nine international goals and has a deserved reputation as a free-kick specialist.
That’s not to say Serbia are any type of mugs when not in possession. They have the rock-solid Dejan Stankovic leading a well-organised midfield and in Nemanja Vidic they boast one of the most sought-after defenders on the planet.
With scalps such as France and Romania under their belt and some genuine stars dotted around the squad, they will prove a handful for each of the other teams in Group D – Germany, Australia and Ghana.
One suspect stain on the underside of their mattress was the 1-0 defeat to soon-to-be World Cup whipping boys New Zealand. The result was also a shock to Serbia’s fans, who started wrecking the gaff when their side conceded.
Star Player: Dejan Stankovic
Stankovic, who won three titles with Internazionale during the club season, will be captaining Serbia at the World Cup. Bizarrely, Serbia will be the third country Stankovic has represented at the tournament.
During his Yugoslavia days, the man known as ‘Deki’ was considered a goal scoring midfielder. However, his game has developed drastically since then and he is now the solid defensive midfield hub around which much of Serbia’s recent success has been built.
As well as being captain of Serbia, Deki is also the team’s most capped player with a total of 86 appearances between the three nations he has represented.
One of his key attributes has been his ability to fluidly switch from defence to offence and dictate the pace of the game around him. He has also retained the ability to occasionally pop up with big goals at important times for both club and country. They frequently come from his lethal right peg.
Another big factor is that Deki is a winner. Under the guidance of Jose Mourinho his Inter side has just swept to a ground-breaking treble topped off with a convincing win over Bayern Munich in the Champions League final.
Make no mistake – this man is going to the World Cup with the intention of adding a fourth medal to his haul for the year.
Manager:  Radomir Antić
Antić, something of a national hero in Serbia, found his calling in management after a 17-year playing career.
The former defender’s managerial CV is something to see and he coached a string of top sides before opting to lead his national side.
He is the only coach ever to lead Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid but the 61-year-old also enjoyed stints with Real Zaragoza and Celta Vigo.
Antić took on the Serbia national team coach job two years ago after a short break from management, and his no-nonsense approach has been a huge asset to the team. This is one of the best teams to come out of the Balkans in quite some time, and in Antić they have one of its best ever managers.
Prediction: Last 16
Serbia find themselves in a reasonably difficult group with more than one potential banana skin. They would be expected to come out on top against Australia and Ghana which should be enough to see them safely through to the last 16.
Odds: 66/1
Irishness rating: 4/10
We played these fellas in Croke Park two years ago and they were most certainly no mugs. They managed to get a 1-1 draw against us at a time when we were going great guns. It was quite embarrassing to a degree because as the country was only established in 2006, we were essentially playing against two-year-olds.
Also, judging by the size of their away support, there appears to be a substantial number of Serbs working away here in Ireland. Although a fair chunk probably arrived here on Polish passports, we won’t be complaining. The female contingent was well fit.
If they were a car they’d be…
A Mustang. These boys are all muscle and all business.
