SM
Germany vs. Netherlands: 18 hrs 36 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews
Collect News Data

Serbia Euro 2024 squad announced - Which players should England be wary of?

:Headline: Serbia Euro 2024 squad announced - Which players should England be wary of?:
Following the announcement of Serbia's preliminary Euro 2024 squad, Sports Mole looks at which players their Group C opponents - including England - should be wary of.
Sports Mole

Serbia's full squad for Euro 2024 has been named by head coach Dragan Stojkovic, who called upon an initial 35 players for the national team training camp before trimming down to the required 26 ahead of their flight to Germany.

Nine men have been axed from the ranks before Serbia begin their first-ever bid for European stardom as an independent nation, having qualified for the first time since reaching the Euro 2000 quarter-finals as Serbia and Montenegro.

The Eagles unsuccessfully pitted their wits against England, Slovenia and Denmark in Group C for the right to advance to the knockout rounds, and the Three Lions will be their first opponents at the continental gathering on June 16.

With that in mind, Sports Mole takes a look at which Serbian players England should be wary of ahead of their opening battle at the Arena AufSchalke.


71-goal attacking duo

Two men who unsurprisingly survived the squad cull are Stojkovic's two star strikers in Aleksandar Mitrovic and Dusan Vlahovic, the former of whom is his nation's all-time male top scorer with a staggering 58 efforts to his name.

Since ending his prolific Fulham stint, the 29-year-old has been making nets bulge for fun in Saudi Arabia with Al-Hilal, contributing an incredible 38 goals from 40 appearances in all tournaments; between October and February, he scored in an unbelievable 11 consecutive Saudi Pro League matches.

The second-highest scorer in the division behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Mitrovic's attacking efforts will be aided by another high-profile centre-forward in Juventus' Dusan Vlahovic, who has struck 13 goals of his own for the national team in 27 matches.

The 24-year-old has not exactly hit the same heights at Juventus as he did at Fiorentina, but 16 goals for the Serie A season is nothing to be scoffed at, leaving Stojkovic spoiled for choice when it comes to talismanic figures up front.


Champions League cult hero

Still going incredibly strong at the age of 35, Dusan Tadic - now plying his trade with Turkish powerhouses Fenerbahce - will proudly sport the Serbian captain's armband at this summer's European Championships.

The former Southampton and Ajax attacker was an irrepressible force for a number of years in Amsterdam - memorably shining during their run to the 2018-19 Champions League semi-finals, the same season he won the Eredivisie Golden Boot with an astounding 28 strikes.

A three-time Serbian Footballer of the Year, Tadic has not lost his prolific streak since leaving Ajax last year, contributing 15 goals and 15 assists from 55 Fenerbahce appearances this season as his side engage in a captivating two-way Turkish Super Lig title fight with Galatasaray.

No men's player has won more caps for Serbia than Tadic's 108, and the 35-year-old has also chalked up 23 goals and 40 assists for his nation since making his first appearance nearly 16 years ago.


Former Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea midfield target

While excelling in the Lazio engine room, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic - an all-action fulcrum with a serious eye for goal - was frequently tipped to take the step-up to a Premier League Big Six club, namely Arsenal, Chelsea or Manchester United.

However, the 29-year-old ultimately joined the profusion of players seduced by Saudi Arabian riches and now joins Mitrovic in donning the Al-Hilal jersey, a move which has certainly worked out on a personal level.

Indeed, Milinkovic-Savic has struck 12 goals and set up 17 more in 43 games for Al-Hilal - hitting double figures in both metrics in the Saudi Pro League campaign - and he also boasts eight efforts from 50 matches in a Serbia jersey.

Also possessing an intimidating physical frame at 6ft 3in tall, Milinkovic-Savic is more than capable of going toe-to-toe with an England midfield lacking any true enforcers, barring Declan Rice and - potentially - the fledgling Adam Wharton.


Serbia's 26-man Euro 2024 squad in full:

Goalkeepers: Predrag Rajkovic (Mallorca), Vanja Milinkovic-Savic (Torino), Djordje Petrovic (Chelsea)

Defenders: Nemanja Gudelj (Sevilla), Nikola Milenkovic (Fiorentina), Strahinja Pavlovic (Red Bull Salzburg), Filip Mladenovic (Panathinaikos), Milos Veljkovic (Werder Bremen), Uros Spajic (Red Star Belgrade), Srdan Babic (Spartak Moscow), Nemanja Stojic (Backa Topola)

Midfielders: Dusan Tadic (Fenerbahce), Filip Kostic (Juventus), Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Al-Hilal), Nemanja Maksimovic (Getafe), Sasa Lukic (Fulham), Andrija Zivkovic (PAOK), Mijat Gacinovic (AEK Athens), Ivan Ilic (Torino), Srdan Mijailovic (Red Star Belgrade), Lazar Samardzic (Udinese), Veljko Birmancevic (Sparta Prague)

Attackers: Aleksandar Mitrovic (Al-Hilal), Dusan Vlahovic (Fiorentina), Luka Jovic (AC Milan), Petar Ratkov (Red Bull Salzburg)


Manager - Dragan Stojkovic

Already regarded as one of the greatest players in Yugoslavian history, Dragan Stojkovic was hitherto a nifty playmaker who enjoyed success in his homeland, France and Japan, forming part of Marseille's Champions League winning crop of 1992-93.

After retiring as a player in 2002, Stojkovic served as Serbia and Red Star Belgrade president and eventually began his coaching journey in Asia, before the Eagles came calling for his services again.

Formerly in charge of Nagoya Grampus and Chinese Super League side Guangzhou R&F, the 59-year-old took the national team reins in March 2021 and ensured that Serbia would be present at the 2022 World Cup, albeit one which ended prematurely in the group stage.

Nevertheless, Serbia did not lose a single one of their World Cup 2022 qualifying games under Stojkovic's tutelage - even taking four points from a possible six against Portugal - and while injuries may have curtailed his playing career, his managerial journey is continuing at full throttle.


Form

After suffering a premature exit from the 2022 World Cup in the group stage, Serbia started 2023 with a stellar four-match winning streak across friendlies and Euros qualifiers, although that 100% record would not precede a perfect record for the entire calendar year.

Nevertheless, two losses to Hungary were the only blemishes on Serbia's Euro 2024 qualifying notebook, as Stojkovic's side saw off Bulgaria, Lithuania and Montenegro to finish second in Group G, but their overall form picture does not make for totally pleasant reading.

A friendly clash with Cyprus on March 25 may have ended in a 1-0 victory thanks to a Milinkovic-Savic strike, but they had been battered 4-0 by Russia four days beforehand and also went down 1-0 to Belgium in November's exhibition fixture.

The Serbians' struggles continued in their first of two warm-up matches for Euro 2024, losing 2-1 to Austria on June 4 as Patrick Wimmer and Christoph Baumgartner struck before a Strahinja Pavlovic consolation.

However, the Eagles quickly put things right in a 3-0 thumping of Sweden on June 8, where the aforementioned Tadic, Milinkovic-Savic and Mitrovic all contributed to the morale-boosting romping.


Group and fixtures

June 16: Serbia 0-1 England (Veltins-Arena) - 21:00 (20:00 BST)
June 20: Slovenia 1-1 Serbia (2pm | Allianz Arena, Munich)
June 25: Denmark 0-0 Serbia (8pm | Allianz Arena, Munich)


Expected XI

Rajkovic; Gudelj, Milenkovic, Pavlovic; Zivkovic, Maksimovic, Milinkovic-Savic, Mladenovic; Tadic; Vlahovic, Mitrovic


body check tags ::

amp_article__544140 : Collect and Make Data not in DataBase  : 
last updated article - 2024-06-26 05:40:05:
html db last update - 2024-06-26 05:40:05 :

ex - 7200 : read : write cache and make html
Share this article now:
SA
Read Next:
Mitrovic, Vlahovic included in Serbia 2022 World Cup squad
>


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!
Read more about Dragan Stojkovic Cristiano Ronaldo Dusan Vlahovic Sergej Milinkovic-Savic Declan Rice Adam Wharton Djordje Petrovic Vanja Milinkovic-Savic Aleksandar Jovanovic Predrag Rajkovic Nikola Milenkovic Strahinja Pavlovic Filip Mladenovic Milos Veljkovic Uros Spajic Nemanja Gudelj Srdan Babic Strahinja Erakovic Nemanja Stojic Jan-Carlo Simic Filip Kostic Dusan Tadic Nemanja Maksimovic Nemanja Radonjic Sasa Lukic Andrija Zivkovic Mijat Gacinovic Ivan Ilic Srdan Mijailovic Lazar Samardzic Aleksandar Cirkovic Sasa Zdjelar Veljko Birmancevic Matija Gluscevic Samed Bazdar Petar Ratkov Luka Jovic Aleksandar Mitrovic Mihailo Ivanovic Patrick Wimmer Christoph Baumgartner Football
Follow @SportsMole for the latest breaking news stories, and follow @sm_headlines to get every headline from Sports Mole
Recommended Next on SM
Mitrovic, Vlahovic included in Serbia 2022 World Cup squad
Lee Carsley sends mixed signals over permanent England job
Saturday's Nations League predictions including Poland vs. Portugal
Will wonderkid Yamal be involved? How Spain could line up against Serbia

Page options

Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool76011321118
2Manchester CityMan City7520178917
3Arsenal7520156917
4Chelsea7421168814
5Aston Villa7421129314
6Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton73311310312
7Newcastle UnitedNewcastle733187112
8Fulham7322108211
9Tottenham HotspurSpurs7313148610
10Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest724176110
11Brentford73131313010
12West Ham UnitedWest Ham72231011-18
13Bournemouth7223810-28
14Manchester UnitedMan Utd722358-38
15Leicester CityLeicester7133912-36
16Everton7124715-85
17Ipswich TownIpswich7043614-84
18Crystal Palace7034510-53
19Southampton7016415-111
20Wolverhampton WanderersWolves7016921-121
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

history www

The Lions roar again: Much-changed England sink Finland in Nations League

1

TL

Maresca 'strikes agreement 'with Chelsea player over game time

2

M'

Potential Ten Hag replacement turned down Man United during summer?

NEW

3

PT

Preview: Botswana vs. Cape Verde - prediction, team news, lineups

NEW

4

PB

One eight and sevens all round: Player ratings from England win over Finland

5

OE

What national team record did England break in Finland win?

6

WN

Endrick, Savinho snubbed for Botafogo pair? Brazil predicted lineup vs. Peru

7

ES

Kane fit and six changes: England XI to face Finland confirmed!

8

KF

Premier League battle: Chelsea, Arsenal 'fighting for Brazilian forward'

9

PL

'No regrets' - Carsley hints at England changes but defends Greece defeat

10

'R


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .