Serbia will be looking to return to the European Under-21 Championship with a bang after a small absence from the competition, and could be buoyed by avoiding many of the tournament’s most fearsome sides.
While Germany are the group favourites, Serbia will feel as though they can take points from both of Denmark and Czech Republic in the other two group stage fixtures, and coach Mladen Dodic will surely be hoping to secure a passage to the semi-final stage.
Route to the Finals
In the qualification section of the tournament, Serbia had to overcome some difficult opponents in Italy and Belgium, and some tricky customers in Northern Ireland and Cyprus in their group.
The Orlici did admirably to finish second and qualify for the playoff, where they had the daunting task of having to face a much-fancied Spanish outfit containing the likes of Oliver Torres and Gerard Deulofeu.
After a tense nil-all draw in the first leg at home, Serbia produced a sensational upset away in Cadiz, emerging victorious 2-1 and booking their place in the European Championships.
After beating such a high-class outfit, and one who would surely have been a favourite should they have qualified for the tournament proper, onlookers can be sure that this Serbia outfit fears no one.
Past Record
After a six-year absence, Serbia are back competing amongst the big boys.
When competing in the Championships however, Serbia – and their footballing predecessors Serbia and Montenegro – have quite a decent record.
Excluding their appearances as Yugoslavia, Serbia’s first final came in 2004 when they were runners-up to Italy,
Serbia again reached the last stage of the competition in 2007, but saw their campaign end at the hands of a thrashing to the Netherlands, despite fielding a team containing the likes of Chelsea star Branislav Ivanovic and Manchester City defender Aleksandar Kolarov.
Since then, Serbia have only two qualification exits to show for their efforts, with the country’s development of youth seemingly taking a negative turn.
Key Player
Borussia Dortmund man Milos Jojic is only seen as a back-up option for his club, but is one of the leaders in this Serbia under 21 side – having already made five appearances for the senior side.
Able to operate in all the midfield slots, but perhaps more comfortable on the flanks, Jojic possesses a nice touch and football brain to instigate plenty of attacks.
He may not be the paciest winger, but he makes up for it with his intelligence and creativity. Look for him to give his side direction and stability when on the ball.
The Coach
Forty-five-year-old Mladen Dodic was rewarded with his good work with Serbian club side Jagodina, taking up the Under 21 role last year and succeeding Radovan Curcic – who took up the mantle of the senior team.
A former midfielder in his day, Dodic will rely on his star midfielder Jojic to carry this team almost single-handedly, with the coach having been deprived of many of his other stars.
Liverpool winger Lazar Markovic, Schalke defender Matija Nastasic and temperamental, but talented Anderlecht forward Aleksandr Mitrovic were all blocked approval to travel by their club coach, and there is no denying that Dodic will miss their star-studded quality.
A brilliant attacking side on their day, question marks still persist about their back-line.
