Serbia head coach Mladen Krstajic has praised his players for having "the right attitude and approach" as they ran out 1-0 winners over Costa Rica in their World Cup Group E opener in Samara.

Roma defender Aleksandar Kolarov scored the game's only goal on 56 minutes, curling a superb free kick over the wall and beyond the reach of Keylor Navas from 20 yards.

Krstajic was pleased with how his charges played as a team, comfortably seeing the game out for three deserved points in a tricky group also featuring Brazil and Switzerland.

"My players had the right attitude and approach, unity," the 44-year-old told reporters. "We had to be a compact unit in both defence and attack and that's most important.

"What's most important for me is that we played as a team and we were focused. We have to be planted firmly on the ground and continue as a team.

"I'm a person who likes to take responsibility and even if we had lost, I would've come here to analyse the match to the best of my abilities. I'm very happy and proud of my players for their team effort."

Up next for Serbia is a meeting with Switzerland in Kaliningrad on Friday.