Betting odds Serbia

World Cup appearances: 11
Best World Cup: Fourth Place; 1930 & 1962
FIFA World Ranking: 16
Manager: Radomir Antic
Captain: Dejan Stankovic

Serbia Team Profile

The Serbians used to be one of thee feared footballing nations when the World Cup was first introduced to the scene, earning a respectable fourth place finish in the very first World Cup back in 1930 before a successful run of attempts during the 50′s, finishing as Quarter-Finalists in 1954 & 1958 before falling at the Semi-Final stage once again in 1962, once again finishing as the fourth best side in the finals. However, they haven’t since been anywhere near as prolific and since the 60′s Serbia have only qualified for four finals, five if you include their successful campaign to reach South Africa this year, when they were previously know as Yugoslavia.

Serbia’s most recent appearance in a World Cup was that of 2006 when the Serbian’s couldn’t manage a single point during their three group games, finishing bottom of what proved out to be a very tough group of Holland, Argentina & Ivory Coast. However, it was against Argentina where Serbia got the most limelight, all of it unwanted though, when Serbia crashed to their highest International defeat after a 6-0 mauling at the hands of the Argentine’s. That humiliating defeat also featured the goal of the tournament as Argentina toyed with Serbia with inch perfect passes before Cambiasso slammed home his driven shot. They then went on to lose their last group game 3-2 with the then new boys, Ivory Coast.

Nickname: Belo Orlovi (White Eagles)

Serbia Key Players

Dejan Stankovic

We’ll be honest enough to say that not too many of the Serbian full-timers ring any bells but Stankovic has caught out eye on more than one occasion during his time at Italian giants, Inter Milan. The playmaker has a tonne of experience, winning experience at that, and has won no less than 14 honours during his six year spell at the club. However, while he plays a more offensive role for Inter Milan, Stankovic tends to play the anchorman for his country due to Serbia’s lack of quality in the midfield. He does, however, have one lethal shot on him and you’ll often see clips of Stankovic scoring 30 yard+ efforts. The Serbia captain has great on-the-ball vision and can pick out an inch perfect pass. He is Serbia’s main source of creativity and attack builder but he’s not getting any younger at 31 years-of-age.

Nemanja Vidic

This guy has come on leaps and bounds since joining English club, Manchester United, back in 2006. His tough, physical style of defending has earned him plaudits from across the European continent and will have plenty of admirers back home in England. Vidic is extremely strong in the air, a great tackler of the ball but, more importantly, has this unique ability to instantaneously read the play. Considering Serbia will spend most of their games on the back foot, the form of Vidic in South Africa will be crucial in how Serbia fare this summer in terms of keeping some of the bigger nations out. Moreover, Vidic is a real goal threat from set-plays and has scored all of his nine Manchester United goals from set-pieces.

Strengths

The Serb’s aren’t a side we’ve watched all too often but the basic make-up of their team looks very solid. Their centre-back pairing of Vidic (Man Utd) & Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea), whom both have plenty of first-class experience, is a big asset for Serbian manager, Radomir Antic, while Stankovic & Milias look a decent midfield pairing, especially when going forward. We feel their biggest danger factor will be from set-pieces as they pack a punch in the height department, with the likes of Vidic, Ivanovic & Nikola Zigic all climbing above most defenders in terms of natural height. Their main striker is Valencia forward Zigic, of whom is a big aerial specialist for club and country.

Weaknesses

Serbia do look a little too one dimensional, with height their only real asset. They do have a number of players who do pose some form of danger when going forward but they do and will rely heavily on set-pieces we feel, especially against the nations which get the ball down and play proper, on the floor, football. They are fortunate in that their centre-backs are world class but that’s as good as it gets in our eyes and they’ll need their defence to be in top form throughout the tournament if they are to surpass their previous ever best performance of fourth place.

Serbia Qualification for the World Cup

Sector: European
Group: 1
Position: 1st
Win-Draw-Lose: 7-1-2
Goals Scored: 22
Goals Conceded: 8

Serbia finished qualification as Group 7 winners, fending off the challenges from France & Austria. In all fairness, their group was an easy one on paper but they performed brilliantly to finisher higher than the 1998 winners of the World Cup, France. They lost just two qualifiers along the way, whilst managing a decent +14 goal difference – 5 more than France, a team touted as having more chance this summer then the Serb’s. However, this may also be because Serbia didn’t beat France during qualifying, losing 2-1 in Paris & only managing a 1-1 draw on their own soil.

Milan Jovanovic, a Standard Liege player who is attracting plenty of interest from some of Europe’s top clubs, was Serbia’s more prolific goalscorer during qualifying, scoring 5 goals.

World Cup Potential: 3/5

Serbia are a very solid outfit and do have plenty of class in defence. This alone should stand them in good stead and make them a tough opponent to beat. However, the doubts are over whether the Serbian forwards, who haven’t exactly excelled in recent years, can score enough goals on the biggest stage. The World Cup is a pressured environment and we don’t think the Serb’s will be used to this type of expectation and demand. Still, they do have the potential to be an ‘awkward’ side and they have every chance of causing some sort of an upset.

Serbia World Cup Betting Odds

Serbia to win the World Cup: 225/1 bWin

Before the World Cup the odds on Serbia were 80/1 

Official Serbia World Cup Squad

Goalkeepers

Vladimir Stojkovic (Wigan Athletic)

Bojan Isailovic (Zaglebie Lubin)

Andjelko Djuricic (Uniao Leiria)

Defenders

Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea)

Antonio Rukavina (1860 Munich)

Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United)

Neven Subotic (Borussia Dortmund)

Aleksandar Lukovic (Udinese)

Ivan Obradovic (Real Zaragoza)

Aleksandar Kolarov (Lazio Roma)

Midfielders

Dejan Stankovic (Inter Milan)

Nenad Milijas (Wolverhampton Wanderers)

Milos Krasic (CSKA Moscow)

Milan Jovanovic (Standard Liege)

Milos Ninkovic (Dynamo Kiev)

Zdravko Kuzmanovic (VfB Stuttgart )

Zoran Tosic (Cologne)

Gojko Kacar (Hertha BSC Berlin )

Radosav Petrovic (Partizan Belgrade)

Strikers

Nikola Zigic (Valencia )

Marko Pantelic (Ajax Amstedam)

Danko Lazovic (Zenit St. Petersburg)

Dragan Mrdja (Vojvodina Novi Sad)

last update: 18 June 2010

World Cup 2010 Serbia Fixtures – Group D

World Cup 2010 Group D - Table

World Cup Fixtures and Results

Australia v Serbia Betting Odds

Serbia to win – 10/11 at Bet365
Draw: 11/4 at BetFred
Australia to win: 7/2 at Victor Chandler

Serbia

Serbia will be looking to wrap up qualification from Group D with a strong finish against the rugged Australians. Serbia were strongly tipped in World Cup betting to be a strong dark horse and push Germany all the way for top spot in the group. But Serbia find themselves down in third with African nation Ghana leading the way. This is all because Serbia blew their lines in their opening fixture against Ghana, pretty much handing their opponents three points after losing their composure in their latter stages of the match. The strong, physical and swift passing of the Serbians was there to be seen, but suffering a red card and then giving a penalty away ruined their World Cup opener. But the Serbians showed a lot of mettle in their second match, turning tables on their fortunes to beat the strong looking Germans. Those three points were necessary to keep Serbia in the hunt for a qualification point, and while Germany and Ghana will be battling it out amongst themselves, Serbia, with a win over Australia will guarantee their place in the last sixteen of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

A draw may even be enough for Serbia, if Germany lose to Ghana. Serbia coach Radomir Antic will get back the services of Aleksandar Lukovic, who was shown the red card in their first match, the first incident which put the Serbians under pressure. Serbia have a strong back line, and that will put them in good stead against an Aussie team which like a good battle themselves. Along with Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic, Manchester United’s Nemanja Vidic keeping things tight at the back, when they press forward a lot of the play moves through Milan Jovanovic, who could easily become one of the stand out stars of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He grabbed Serbia’s vital winning goal against Germany, and is hugely influential to the Serbian side. There is a good balance of speed, power and control with the Serbians, and while they are not among the elite group in Europe, the gap surely cannot be that wide. They can impress again with a good solid win against Australia.

Serbia World Cup 2010 Stats
Played: W1, D0, L1
GF/GA: 1/1
Cards: Y6, R1
Most Shots: Three players, 3
Top Scorer: Milan Jovanovic, 1
Shots/On Goal: 22/5
Fouls Committed: 20
Total Passes: 906
Pass Completion: 72%

Australia

Australia have never gotten the better of European opposition at the World Cup and their task will be made harder by the fact that they will be without Harry Kewell and Craig Moore who will both be missing through suspension. Discipline has been a problem for Pim Verbeek’s men at South Africa 2010, and after receiving a red card in their opening 4-0 defeat by Argentina, Everton’s Tim Cahill will be back in the side. If Cahill gets on the score sheet then the Aussies will be full of hope, as they have never lost a competitive match when Cahill has scored. Their talismanic midfielder is key to any Aussie success, but they will face another tough task against Serbia. The Aussies can probably count themselves lucky that Ghana did not fully press home their man advantage against the men from Down Under, as the African nation never really grabbed enough initiative in attack to really punish the Australians.

Australia reached the second round at Germany ‘06 by avoiding defeat in their final group match against Croatia. But they have to go one better this time around, as they need all three points to be in with a chance of sneaking through again. A victory would leave them on four points, which is the total group leaders Ghana have a the moment. Australia will also be banking on a Ghana win, because if Germany sneak a point and the Aussies win, then Germany will go through on a far superior goal difference. So while the chance for the green and gold is pretty slim, they will have heart. They will have plenty of spirit in the match, but as seen already, that has not quite been enough. After being destroyed by Germany and let off the hook against Ghana, the Australians are justifying their standings in the World Cup Betting as rank outsiders to get out of Group B. They will be disappointed with themselves, but will fight and hustle to the end. It is unlikely to be good enough against strong European opposition again though.

Australia World Cup 2010 Stats
Played: W1, D1, L0
GF/GA: 2/1
Cards: Y4, R2
Most Shots: Three players, 2
Top Scorer: Brett Holman, 1
Shots/On Goal: 18/7
Fouls Committed: 37
Total Passes: 1005
Pass Completion: 72%

Asian Handicap Betting Tip: Physical endurance could play its part again here, as the Australians are likely to run out of steam at the end of the match. They have had to play most of their tournament with 10 men, and that will not have helped their cause. They have an uphill battle to try and get out of this one though, and a Serbian win looks on the cards.
Serbia -1 for 7/4 at BetFair

Current Australia V Serbia Odds:

World Cup Betting overlooked high Scoring Germans

One of the most highly anticipated matches, in the whole of the group stages takes place on Friday, with the heavyweight European clash between Germany and Serbia. Serbia have been heavily tipped in World Cup betting as dark horses which could really spring a surprise or two, but it was the Germans who made the biggest splash in the opening round of matches, as they trounced the Socceroos of Australia 4-0. For some reason, no one really saw that coming, and no one has really been behind the challenge of the Germans, who, after their victory, saw their outright odds for winning the World Cup shorten immediately at online bookmakers. That’s understandable, as they were the first, and really the only team to set out a marker by playing some clinical attacking football. Granted, the Australian football team are not great opponents, but as shown in the World Cup, the underdogs have faring quite well, and the Germans were expected to face a solid wall of green and gold. However, with Miroslav Klose getting on the score sheet, after being out of form for his club Bayern Munich, and Lukas Podolski running things up front, the Germans overwhelmed the Australians. Germany have the second youngest squad at the World Cup, with an average age of around 25. That is their personal youngest ever squad taken to the World Cup finals, and while it raised doubts over their experience, their youthful enthusiasm certainly shone through. So did their slick tactical ability and hunger for goal. Germany had scored three goals in each of their final two warm up matches, so the signs were there. They topped their European qualification group, with a crucial away victory in Russia, yet no one has really backed them. The news of their injuries, such as Michael Ballack and number one keeper Rene Adler would have kept them back in World Cup odds, but the Germans have such a strong pedigree, its tough to see them not reaching the quarter finals at least. There will now be doubts over whether they will peak too early, after being notoriously slow starters in tournament football. Whatever happens, coach Joachim Loew has assembled a very strong, very disciplined, very organised and goal hungry squad, which could cause problems to any other nation participating. Serbia will provide a stern test of just how good they are, as the Serbians are a big, physical side with a lot of craft. Will the German defence stand up to this extra pressure? They know Serbia will come out strong, as they need a win, but by the same standard, a second win for the Germans would book them a place in the next round.

Germany World Cup Betting: Can the Germans keep their strong start going. They have had their World Cup betting outright odds cut to 7/1 at Bet365, which is now shorter than England. They will have a harder match against Serbia than they did against the Aussies. It still should be worth going over 2.5 Goals for Evens at SkyBet, which is pretty decent value. This should be a pulsating, exciting encounter, so goals should come. Miroslav Klose is 13/10 at Bet365 for Anytime Scorer, and Lukas Podolski is 13/8 at Coral in the same market. Germany look strong and organised all over the pitch, and are carrying good form. Therefore that should influence your Asian Handicap Betting.
Germany Asian Handicap Betting Tip: -0.75 for 11/10 at Paddy Power

Germany World Cup 2010 Stats
Played: P1, W1, D0, L0
GF/GA: 4/0
Cards: Y2, R0
Most Shots: Miroslav Klose, 5
Top Scorer: Four Players, 1
Shots/On Goal: 16/10
Fouls Committed: 10
Total Passes: 618
Pass Completion: 77%
Last 5 Form: DLWWW

Serbia to show no fear after crushing first defeat

Serbia lost their opening match to Ghana in a, crushing and cruel way. It really wasn’t what they deserved out of the match, but they capitulated near the end in their opener against Ghana. A red card and handball inside the area, gave Ghana the one chance they needed from sixteen yards. Ghana buried the penalty kick, which left Serbia reeling. Serbia had their chances, and it was not what was expected from the strong World Cup dark horses tip. Now those rash last fifteen minutes means they take on Germany, knowing that nothing less that a victory will really suffice. Serbia won their European qualification group ahead of France, and they should not be short of goals. But their confidence will have been dented by the defeat by Ghana, as they went into the match as quiet favourites to take all three points, and the players themselves will have felt like they let themselves and their nation down. Now they have to pick themselves up against one of the most impressive looking teams at the tournament, and they will need star striker Milan Jovanovic to start firing, and firing quickly. Do they have the tools in their box necessary to bring down the Germans? One really has to believe that they do, if they turn up and play to their full potential. They should be fired up as they cannot afford to show any fear of losing the match, and take the play to Germany at every opportunity. Serbia can play some fancy football through the middle of the park, or battle it out in an aerial contest at the back. This a game where everything can be lost, and everything gain be gained. Serbia could find themselves down and out, whilst Germany could be sailing through to the second round. But a Serbian victory, while not a major shock, would certainly set the cat amongst the pigeons. If that happens, then it will leave the group in a fascinating position, where everything would be up for grabs in the final group matches. This is match World Cup betting tipsters would have been focusing on before the tournament started, believing that Serbia’s impressive form could be the downfall of Germany. Everything will be revealed on Friday, in this real heavyweight of a match in Group D. Remember, it is from this group, where England’s second round opponents would come from, if England can secure passage through themselves.

Serbia World Cup Betting: The Serbians need to come out gunning, and they do have the ability to do so, and how they perform will help us gauge the Germans even better. They know they can show no fear and they can’t sit back and let the Germans take over possession in the middle. Their best chance is keeping the game open and trusting themselves. Not sure what approach they will take up front, whether they will use the height of Nikola Zigic or not. Zigic is 3/1 at Bet365 for Anytime Scorer, and the more dangerous Milan Jovanovic is 9/2 at SkyBet to get on the score sheet as well, and a better bet. For the game itself, the question of how much did their poor finish to the Ghana match take out of them?
Serbia Asian Handicap Betting Tip: +0.75 for Evens at Paddy Power

Serbia World Cup 2010 Stats
Played: P1, W0, D0, L1
GF/GA: 0/1
Cards: Y2, R1
Most Shots: Four Players, 2
Top Scorer: N/A
Shots/On Goal: 13/2
Fouls Committed: 10
Total Passes: 458
Pass Completion: 72%
Last 5 Form: WLDWL

Germany v Serbia Match Odds

Germany to win: 4/6 at BetFred
Draw: 3/1 at Bwin
Serbia to win: 5/1 at Bet365
 

Vidic Leading Serbia To World Cup Success From the Back

Apparently the bold Manchester City are preparing to launch an optimistic bid for Serbia’s star defender, and Manchester United player Nemanja Vidic. Vidic will captain his side against Ghana on Sunday, in one of the most intriguing first round of matches. This action takes place in Group D, which should be a close run thing with Germany in the mix as well. England fans from Group C will be keeping an eye on the proceedings from Group D, as the winner from each plays the runner’s up of the other in the second round. This is a chance to scope out the two potential opponents who will face England in the first knockout stage of the competition. To be frank, neither of them would make particularly easy opponents for Fabio Capello’s men, and this should be stern test of each of their abilities in the crucial race for a qualifying spot from the group. Serbia are a strong physical side, but have drawn much praise for their technical abilities with the ball. They were, perhaps, the most surprising team of the European qualification zone, as they beat France to top spot in their group, looking solid and strong along the way.

The Serbians will be confident as well as aggressive in their approach to this match, which neither team can really afford to lose in such as tight group. Coach Radmir Antic has done a fantastic job in taking the national side forward, with Vidic at the heart of the defence. Serbia also boast familiar names such as Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic and Dejan Stankovic, so they have a good core of players who are plying their trade at the top European domestic level. Up front they have a Peter Crouch-esque figure of Nikola Zigic (who has signed for Premier League side Birmingham next season) and he will play a large part in the focus of the Serbian attack. The main spearhead of the Serbia attack will be winger Milan Jovanovic, who netted five times during qualifying, and is a spark of inspiration, and one player to watch out for in the tournament. Serbian netted an average of 2.20 goals per match through qualifying, and the solid defence leaked just eight. The strength of Serbia is in their organisation and their technical ability. Sure they may not be World beaters just yet, but they are perhaps one of the most promising of the emerging nations.

Ghana Ready For Life Without Essien

There is a little twist in this one as Ghana have a Serbia coach. Milovan Rajevac has a great tactical mind on him, and has not been scared to work with the excellent crop of youth that the nation is starting to produce. Both of the qualification hopes of these nations rest on this match, with Germany favourites to top the group, so both need to get off to a good start. Naturally the support should favour Ghana, who were trounced by Holland in an international friendly as part of their build up. The Ghana side should be a tough one to break down, and in an understated way are a stronger, more organised unit than the Ivory Coast, who everyone seems to back as being the strongest African contender. Ghana have always had a little more composure, but lacking the clinical thrust of the Ivory Coast, and it was their strength in depth, and using their youngsters to fill in for an injury ravaged first eleven, that took them to the final of the African Cup of Nations earlier in the year. Yes, Ghana will be missing their talisman Michael Essien in the engine room, as he lost his battle against fitness, but the Africans are not short of quality with a lot of strength in midfield still. That will be where the key battles are won, and their ability at the back to deal with Serbia’s height.

The goal scoring responsibilities will fall on their history making youngster Asamoah, the scorer of Ghana’s first ever World Cup goal. It is he who will be charged with getting past the solid back line of Serbia, which is led by Manchester United’s Vidic. The Vidic v Asamoah battle should be worth keeping an eye on. Ghana are a good side, but the only question about them in this match, is whether or not they will have enough punch in the crucial areas to break down an incredibly organised Serbia side? Certainly the bookmakers are leaning towards the Serbians as favourites for this match, as they enter the tournament full of confidence and labelled with being the strong dark horse of the competition. There is a massive amount at stake in this first match, and the Serbians should just edge it with a little extra creativity in going forward from the midfield, and their big, strong defence. Expect Jovanovic and Zigic to be quite influential during the match, and if Serbia get their noses in front, it could be a long afternoon for Ghana.

Serbia v Ghana Betting Odds and Stats

Last 5 Matches
Serbia 4, Cameroon 3
Serbia 0, Poland 0
Serbia 0, New Zealand 1
Algeria 0, Serbia 3
Serbia 1, Korea Republic 0

Ghana 1, Latvia 0
Netherlands 4, Ghana 1
Bosnia 2, Ghana 1
Ghana 0, Egypt 1
Ghana 1, Nigeria 0

Last 5 Match Goals
Serbia: 8 For, 4 Against
Ghana: 4 For, 7 Against

Recent Stats
Serbia: P50, W25, D13, L12 with a 50.0% win percentage
Ghana: P37. W18. D7, L12 with a 48.6% win percentage

World Cup Stats
Serbia: P40, W16, D8, L16, GF62, GA56 (Serbia/Yugoslavia)
Ghana: P4, W2, D0, L2, GF4, GA6

Last 10 Match Form
Serbia: WDWLWWWLDW
Ghana: DLLWWWLLLW

Match Odds
Serbia to win: 6/5 at Bet365
Draw: 23/10 at SkyBet
Ghana to win: 14/5 at Boylesports

Asian Handicap Betting Tip: Serbia should be the stronger of the two sides, although it could be a mighty tough encounter. The conservative option is Serbia -0.25 at 5/6 at Paddy Power, or backing Serbia a little more on Serbia -0.75 at Bet365 is well within the realms of possibility and therefore profit. Whichever way, would lean on Serbia not losing.

World Cup appearances: 11
Best World Cup: Fourth Place; 1930 & 1962
FIFA World Ranking: 16
Manager: Radomir Antic
Captain: Dejan Stankovic

Serbia Team Profile

The Serbians used to be one of thee feared footballing nations when the World Cup was first introduced to the scene, earning a respectable fourth place finish in the very first World Cup back in 1930 before a successful run of attempts during the 50′s, finishing as Quarter-Finalists in 1954 & 1958 before falling at the Semi-Final stage once again in 1962, once again finishing as the fourth best side in the finals. However, they haven’t since been anywhere near as prolific and since the 60′s Serbia have only qualified for four finals, five if you include their successful campaign to reach South Africa this year, when they were previously know as Yugoslavia.

Serbia’s most recent appearance in a World Cup was that of 2006 when the Serbian’s couldn’t manage a single point during their three group games, finishing bottom of what proved out to be a very tough group of Holland, Argentina & Ivory Coast. However, it was against Argentina where Serbia got the most limelight, all of it unwanted though, when Serbia crashed to their highest International defeat after a 6-0 mauling at the hands of the Argentine’s. That humiliating defeat also featured the goal of the tournament as Argentina toyed with Serbia with inch perfect passes before Cambiasso slammed home his driven shot. They then went on to lose their last group game 3-2 with the then new boys, Ivory Coast.

Nickname: Belo Orlovi (White Eagles)

Serbia Key Players

Dejan Stankovic

We’ll be honest enough to say that not too many of the Serbian full-timers ring any bells but Stankovic has caught out eye on more than one occasion during his time at Italian giants, Inter Milan. The playmaker has a tonne of experience, winning experience at that, and has won no less than 14 honours during his six year spell at the club. However, while he plays a more offensive role for Inter Milan, Stankovic tends to play the anchorman for his country due to Serbia’s lack of quality in the midfield. He does, however, have one lethal shot on him and you’ll often see clips of Stankovic scoring 30 yard+ efforts. The Serbia captain has great on-the-ball vision and can pick out an inch perfect pass. He is Serbia’s main source of creativity and attack builder but he’s not getting any younger at 31 years-of-age.

Nemanja Vidic

This guy has come on leaps and bounds since joining English club, Manchester United, back in 2006. His tough, physical style of defending has earned him plaudits from across the European continent and will have plenty of admirers back home in England. Vidic is extremely strong in the air, a great tackler of the ball but, more importantly, has this unique ability to instantaneously read the play. Considering Serbia will spend most of their games on the back foot, the form of Vidic in South Africa will be crucial in how Serbia fare this summer in terms of keeping some of the bigger nations out. Moreover, Vidic is a real goal threat from set-plays and has scored all of his nine Manchester United goals from set-pieces.

Strengths

The Serb’s aren’t a side we’ve watched all too often but the basic make-up of their team looks very solid. Their centre-back pairing of Vidic (Man Utd) & Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea), whom both have plenty of first-class experience, is a big asset for Serbian manager, Radomir Antic, while Stankovic & Milias look a decent midfield pairing, especially when going forward. We feel their biggest danger factor will be from set-pieces as they pack a punch in the height department, with the likes of Vidic, Ivanovic & Nikola Zigic all climbing above most defenders in terms of natural height. Their main striker is Valencia forward Zigic, of whom is a big aerial specialist for club and country.

Weaknesses

Serbia do look a little too one dimensional, with height their only real asset. They do have a number of players who do pose some form of danger when going forward but they do and will rely heavily on set-pieces we feel, especially against the nations which get the ball down and play proper, on the floor, football. They are fortunate in that their centre-backs are world class but that’s as good as it gets in our eyes and they’ll need their defence to be in top form throughout the tournament if they are to surpass their previous ever best performance of fourth place.

Serbia Qualification for the World Cup

Sector: European
Group: 1
Position: 1st
Win-Draw-Lose: 7-1-2
Goals Scored: 22
Goals Conceded: 8

Serbia finished qualification as Group 7 winners, fending off the challenges from France & Austria. In all fairness, their group was an easy one on paper but they performed brilliantly to finisher higher than the 1998 winners of the World Cup, France. They lost just two qualifiers along the way, whilst managing a decent +14 goal difference – 5 more than France, a team touted as having more chance this summer then the Serb’s. However, this may also be because Serbia didn’t beat France during qualifying, losing 2-1 in Paris & only managing a 1-1 draw on their own soil.

Milan Jovanovic, a Standard Liege player who is attracting plenty of interest from some of Europe’s top clubs, was Serbia’s more prolific goalscorer during qualifying, scoring 5 goals.

World Cup Potential: 3/5

Serbia are a very solid outfit and do have plenty of class in defence. This alone should stand them in good stead and make them a tough opponent to beat. However, the doubts are over whether the Serbian forwards, who haven’t exactly excelled in recent years, can score enough goals on the biggest stage. The World Cup is a pressured environment and we don’t think the Serb’s will be used to this type of expectation and demand. Still, they do have the potential to be an ‘awkward’ side and they have every chance of causing some sort of an upset.

Serbia World Cup Betting Odds

Serbia to win the World Cup: 225/1 bWin

Before the World Cup the odds on Serbia were 80/1 

Official Serbia World Cup Squad

Goalkeepers

Vladimir Stojkovic (Wigan Athletic)

Bojan Isailovic (Zaglebie Lubin)

Andjelko Djuricic (Uniao Leiria)

Defenders

Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea)

Antonio Rukavina (1860 Munich)

Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United)

Neven Subotic (Borussia Dortmund)

Aleksandar Lukovic (Udinese)

Ivan Obradovic (Real Zaragoza)

Aleksandar Kolarov (Lazio Roma)

Midfielders

Dejan Stankovic (Inter Milan)

Nenad Milijas (Wolverhampton Wanderers)

Milos Krasic (CSKA Moscow)

Milan Jovanovic (Standard Liege)

Milos Ninkovic (Dynamo Kiev)

Zdravko Kuzmanovic (VfB Stuttgart )

Zoran Tosic (Cologne)

Gojko Kacar (Hertha BSC Berlin )

Radosav Petrovic (Partizan Belgrade)

Strikers

Nikola Zigic (Valencia )

Marko Pantelic (Ajax Amstedam)

Danko Lazovic (Zenit St. Petersburg)

Dragan Mrdja (Vojvodina Novi Sad)

last update: 18 June 2010

World Cup 2010 Serbia Fixtures – Group D

World Cup Group D - Table

World Cup Fixtures and Results

World Cup Group of Serbia