All about the Serbia Team at Football World Cup 2018
Unlike most football teams in the world, the Serbian National team is among the few teams that have a long and winding history, both in sports and otherwise. The history of the Serbian football team is one that reflects the geopolitical changes that the country has undergone throughout the years. Initially known as the Kingdom of Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes, the team first ever participation was in the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp.
Tips for Betting on Serbia in the World Cup 2018
Because Serbians have many difficulties in the backline, they are expected to have a difficult time in the World Cup. In their first match against Costa Rica, Serbia is will most likely emerge as winners considering Costa Rica have struggled completely in their qualification campaigns. A win for Serbia has a returning of 1.91, which is fantastic. Serbia will be battling out against Switzerland in their second group game. Despite the fact that all the two sides were impressive during their World Cup qualifiers, Switzerland won all their nine games before losing to Portugal. Switzerland versus Serbia will be a thrilling match and thus the betting tip for this fixture is an Asian Handicap for Serbia. This, in turn, means that if the game ends in a draw or if Serbia wins, it will be double the money. The Serbia Asian Handicap has an odd of 2.0
Serbia will face Brazil in their final group game, who won their qualification group with an impressive 10-point lead. In the first half of the game, we should expect the Serbs to put up heavy resistance, and thus the first half may end with a draw. However, in the second half, the Brazilians will most probably find a rhythm and therefore will put a few goals past the Serbs. The betting tip for this game is X/2 HT/FT, with a betting odds of 4.0. The Serbia national team are the favourites to win their group, which in turn means that they may not get out of the group stages. As one of the most disciplined sides in the 2018 World Cup, Serbia will probably not collect more than five yellow cards.
Betting Odds on Serbia to Win the World Cup 2018
During the qualification matches, Serbia surprised everyone by emerging the group winners, and in the process qualifying for Russia 2018. This time around, Serbia will try to make it past the group stages for the first time, as an independent nation. During the Qualifiers, Serbia was in a tough looking group, which included Republic of Ireland, Georgia, Wales, Moldova, and Austria. Qualifying for the 2018 World Cup means that Serbia has a great chance of competing at the highest level of football. Though Serbia has some highly talented players throughout their squad, they might just be one-step below the other teams. Many bookmakers give Serbia a chance by pricing Serbia, as favourites to win the group at odds of 7/1. Nonetheless, despite Serbia might cause a problem to the other teams, the chances are that they are not going to make past their group stages and thus the high odds on them winning the World Cup – 150/1.
Expected Serbia Lineup at the World Cup
Serbia is facing Costa Rica in their first game of the 2018 World Cup. It is expected that Serbia will feature their 25-man squad that played during their qualification campaign. However, unlike many teams, Serbia may be the only team to future in the 2018 games without a full-time coach. Slavoljub Muslin’s reign came to an abrupt end in October 2017. Mladen Krstajic, Serbia’s former midfielder was placed as a caretaker coach, which was his first managerial position. While playing for Serbia, Krstajic featured in fifty-nine games for his country. At club level, he won domestic league titles in Germany with Werder Bremen and Partizan in Serbia. It may be a little bit early to establish whether Mladen Krstajic will be in charge of the Serbian national team at the 2018 competitions. However, if given the mandate, then it would be an overwhelming start to his career as a professional coach.
The Serbian Squad will most likely feature the same 25 players that Slavoljub Muslin named during his reign as the Serbian coach during their qualification campaign. Goalkeepers will include Vladimir Stojkovic, who plays for Partizan, Aleksandar Jovanovic, Predrag Rajkovic and Marko Dmitrovic who plays for Eibar in Spain. The defence line will be led by Champions League Winner, Branislav Ivanovic. Other defenders in the list include Jagos Vukovic, Stefan Mitrovic, Matija Nastasic, former Manchester City player, Aleksandar Kolarov, Nikola Maksimovic who plays for Italian side Napoli, Antonio Rukavina and Uros Spajic. Midfield will include Nemanja Matic, Luka Milivojevic, Ljubomir Fejsa, Nemanja Maksimovic and Nemanja Gudelj. Attack will be led by Southampton talisman, Dusan Tadic, Filip Kostic, Adem Ljajic and Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Despite using an unfamiliar 3-4-3 formation in the World Cup Qualifiers, Serbia qualified for Russia 2018. Nonetheless, apart from coming up with a reliable alternative Serbia also need to inject fresh blood into the squad for Russia 2018. During a press conference, Serbian caretaker coach, Mladen who steered the team through their qualification campaign revealed that he disagrees with the former coach when it comes to team selection. Former Serbian coach, Muslin did not include several talented players including Lazio star, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic in his 24–man squad. In the upcoming friendlies before the 2018 finals, Muslin indicated that he would switch to 4-3-3 and the 4-2-3-1 formations, to construct an alternative plan for the World Cup Finals in Russia. According to Muslin, the young players are the future of the Serbian team, and thus each of them is going to get a chance to prove their worth.
Furthermore, coach Krstajic pointed out that Savic’s performance for Serbia’s Under 21, World Cup winning team and Lazio has shown that Milinkovic-Savic deserves a calling to the team. Serbia will stick to their traditional 4-2-3-1 formation, with Stojkovic as the number one goalkeeper. Former Chelsea star, Branislav Ivanovic will lead the defensive line alongside, Matija Nastasic, Kolarov and Mitrovic. Coach Mladen will feature two defensive midfielders, Manchester United’s Nemanja Matic and Nemanja Milunovic. The attacking midfield position will include Dusan Tadic, Adem Ljajic, and Kostic. Serbia will feature a sole striker, Newcastle United’s Aleksandar Mitrovic.
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Branislav Ivanovic
At 33 years, Branislav Ivanovic remains one of the key players for the Serbian National team. Ivanovic left Chelsea and joined Zenit Saint Petersburg, where he will see out his footballing career. Nonetheless, at Zenit Saint Petersburg, Ivanovic’s first year was a total disappointment. Apart from putting up a squad, which would be a title challenger, coach Mircea failed to come up with a solid squad for the Champions League. Due to an unconvincing performance, the Italian Maestro, Roberto Mancini, replaced coach Mircea, who has eventually turned Branislav Ivanovic into a star player that he has always been and Zenit into a title-winning team.
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Nemanja Matic
Undoubtedly one of the best defensive midfielders in the world, Nemanja Matic will always be remembered for his title-winning performance at Chelsea alongside, the French International, N’golo Kante. Ever since relocation to Manchester United, Nemanja Matic has never failed to impress and is one of the few key players that coach Jose Mourinho does not fail to include in his 11 man squad. Born on August 1, 1988, Nemanja Matic began his football career as an attacking midfielder at Benfica. In the year 2014, Nemanja Matic officially returned to Chelsea, and his first season, Matic was among several other players in the PFA Team of the Season. In the year 2017, Nemanja Matic reunited with his former boss, Jose Mourinho at Manchester United.
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