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Key events
Slovenia, then. I haven’t been everywhere, but Ljubljana is a beautiful city, while Bled and Bohinj are beautiful places – the ice cream is fantastic everywhere. I was a particular fan of the cupcake and amarena flavors, but you really can’t go wrong.
Yes, on ITV they are also talking about… England.
I actually wonder if Tadic could be the key figure in this game. At 35, he can’t be expected to attack and I’m sure Dragan Stojkovic wanted that from his players against England. But his touch and intelligence between the lines is perfect for a game like this and if I were Matias Kek I would take special measures to deal with him.
Watching this again Serbia team, I assumed that Tadic – the captain – was left out specifically for the England game and I’m not at all surprised that he’s back for this game. I can’t say I expected Milinkovic-Savic to be left out, but he has himself to blame: he doesn’t play in Serie A anymore and did next to nothing in the last game.
god
Serbia is demanding UEFA punish Croatia and Albania after accusing their fans of chanting hate during their Euro 2024 clash in Hamburg on Wednesday.
Jovan Šurbatović, general secretary of the Football Association of Serbia, said an official complaint had been filed, alleging that Croatia and Albania fans chanted “Kill, kill, kill the Serb” during the 2-2 draw.
He even threatened that Serbia, themselves charged by UEFA for incidents during their loss to England last Saturday, could withdraw from the tournament.
“First I want to thank our fans for their support in the match against England and I hope we beat Slovenia,” Šurbatović was quoted as saying by Serbian PTC.
“What happened is scandalous and we will ask UEFA for sanctions, even if it means not continuing the competition. If UEFA does not punish them, we will think about how to proceed.”
On Monday, the Serbian Football Association was charged by UEFA after their supporters displayed a banner that “conveyed a provocative message inappropriate for a sporting event” and for throwing objects inside the stadium.
The accusation came after the Kosovo Football Federation complained to UEFA about “Serbian fans displaying political, chauvinist and racist messages against Kosovo” during their 1-0 loss to England.
“We were penalized on individual occasions and our fans behaved a lot better than the others,” Šurbatović said.
“A fan was punished for racist abuse and we don’t want this to be attributed to others. We Serbs are gentlemen and have an open heart.”
Gosh, at 5 live they’re talking about… Gerrard, Lampard and Scholes.
For Sloveniait’s simple: they are unchanged. However, Serbia make three changes: on the left of midfield, Filip Mladenovic replaces Filip Kostic, whose injury was not reversed, while in the middle, Ivan Ilic and Dusan Tadic replace Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Nemanja Gudel.
Apologies, I was disturbed by the delivery of meat and the lack of room for it by the head of the refrigerator. Now I’m going to list these teams, then we’ll take a closer look at what they’re all about.
Teams!
Slovenia (4-4-2): Cloud; Karnicnik, Drkusic, Bijol, Janza; Stojanovic, Cerin, Elsnik, Mlakar; Sporar, Sesko. subtitles: Balkovec, Blazic, Stankovic, Verbic, Lovric, Belets, Kurtic, Horvath, Vekic, Vipotnik, Celar, Brekalo, Jugel, Jelkovic, Ilicic.
Serbia (3-4-1-2): Rajkovic; Velkovic, Milenkovic, Pavlovic; Zivkovic, Ilic, Lukic, Mladenovic; Tadic; Vlahovic, Mitrovic. subtitles: Stoic, Maksimovic, Gudel, Jovic, Kostic, Petrovic, Babic, Mijajlovic, Ratkov, Samardzic, S Milinkovic-Savic, Gacinovic, V Milinkovic-Savic, Spaic, Birmancevic.
Preamble
If there’s one thing this tournament has taught us, it’s that we know nothing. Who would have thought that the group stage matches between Georgia and Turkey or Albania and Croatia would instantly go down in the annals of football as cold classics? Or that England’s first performance will disappoint, instilling grief, anger and annoyance?
However, this was not only due to them. Rather, Serbia – so timid in the first half hour – woke up, turning the game into a physical test as they moved the ball with pace and conviction. If they produce similar today, Slovenia there will be a problem.
However, Slovenia also played well in the draw with Denmark, disciplined at the back and hardworking in the middle, with Benjamin Cesko’s star quality giving them an edge up front. They will fancy themselves doing something here and with both sides most likely needing a win to progress, we might just be in for another busy afternoon.
Kick-off: 15:00 local time, 14:00 BST
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