Serbia well capable of making an impression

In 1998, Davor Suker was the top scorer in France with 6 goals and was named in the tournament’s all-star team, alongside the likes of Ronaldo and Dennis Bergkamp. By that point he had already won La Liga (scoring three hat-tricks along the way) and the Champions League with Real Madrid. The same Croatia team included Robert Jarni - considered one of the best attacking left-backs in the world going in to the tournament, and Robert Prosinecki - a one-time midfield prodigy who had already joined a very selective football canon by having spells at both Real Madrid and Barcelona in the mid-nineties. Many other members of the squad were plying their trade at the highest level in Europe, with the likes of Mario Stanic impressing in both Italy and England.

But when Croatia humbled perennial World Cup contenders Germany 3-0 at the quarter final stage and missed out on a place in the tournament’s finale thanks only to Lillian Thuram’s now famous brace, many sat mouths agape, bemused at how had this supposed sporting minnow - a country with a population over just over four million that had won its independence only seven years prior - had managed to come so close to upsetting the natural order of international football. Others, however, wore a look of self-satisfaction. They’d predicted this, you see. They’d seen through the recent political turmoil and relatively low FIFA ranking. A wise few had the footballing nous to take one look at the pedigree of player Croatia was producing, as well as the World Cup’s tendency to ‘surprise’, and predicted that Croatia would be a ‘dark horse’ in the tournament.

So which team full of professionals at the top of their game, some of which have just experienced seasons of record-breaking success, are going to ‘shock’ people by not being utterly shit this time round? Who is it we can safely tip for the 3rd/4th place playoff (not the final…I mean, are you mad?) safe in the knowledge that we’ll either look like sporting sages or have our predictions forgotten amid the dissection of the final come the end of the competition? The Ivory Coast, who are as close as they’ll ever get in a World Cup to being on home territory and have current league champions such as Yaya Toure and Didier Drogba in their starting line-up? Argentina, one time favourites relegated to the position of outside bet by years of underachievement and a seemingly mental manager?

My money, as well as that of seemingly everyone else with an internet soapbox, is Serbia. The similarities with the Croatia side of 1998 are almost eerie. Having split from neighbouring Montengero in 2006, Serbia is a country and footballing entity even more in its infancy than the Croats were twelve years ago. Like that Croatia side, the Serbian starting eleven features many players who have become leading lights in European football in recent years.

Nemanja Vidic was the most commanding of presences in Manchester United’s three consecutive Premier League title wins between 2007 and 2009 and, like Davor Suker before him, has tasted success at Europe’s highest level, winning the Champions League in 2008. His domestic crown was this season usurped by the fantastic Branislav Ivanovic, whose never-say-die performances at right-back for English double winners Chelsea won him a berth in the Premier League’s team of the year.

Others are biding their time before breaking into football’s elite; CSKA Moscow winger Miloš Krasic is said to be a target of Real Madrid and Inter Milan, Neven Subotic’s stalwart performances for Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga has seen Arsene Wenger enquire about his availability, and forward Marko Pantelic has been key for free-scoring Ajax in recent months. And there should be no worries that Serbia will somehow be less than the sum of their parts, given that they swept the likes of France and Romania aside to march to first place in their first qualification campaign as an independent state, conceding just eight goals in the process.

So maybe common parlance has done a terrible thing to the expression ‘dark horse’. Any keen observer of Croatia’s players in the run up to France ’98 knew exactly how well they would do in the tournament, and it was only those who had little to no prior knowledge of them who were truly surprised by their success. Likewise, it’d be impossible to look at this current Serbia side and not be impressed by their burgeoning potential. With their group containing Germany and Ghana sides who may both be rocked by the loss of their star player, and an Australia team who have recently come in for stern criticism from their own manager, Serbia should prove less of a dark horse and more of a one-to-watch, especially given that a second round clash with England is a distinct possibility.

by Daniel Kelly

One team always surprises a lot of people at each World Cup. Belgium were semi-finalists in 1986. Bulgaria in 1994. Croatia in 1998. Turkey and South Korea (however dubiously) in 2002. Germany in 2006. Alright, that last one is pushing it somewhat but you get the point.

I personally backed (the then) Serbia and Montenegro to do very well in Germany in 2006. A narrow loss to the Netherlands then a thumping by Argentina saw them scuttling home all too soon. Always technically astute but generally either lacking the bottle or goals to do anything of note. A bit like a pre-2008 Spain.

The former Yugoslavia has always produced excellent footballers. One can only dream of the team they might have put together in the nineties had the war not torn them apart. Here’s a boring list of players for the sake of completeness: Zvonimir Boban, Alen Boksic, Dejan Savicevic, Predrag Mijatovic, Robert Prosinecki, Sinisa Mihaijlovic, Zlatko Zahovic, Savo Milosevic (actually better than most of us remember), Robert Jarni, Dragan Stojkovic, Davor Suker, Aljosa Asanovic to name but a few. And Sasa Curcic.

I know what you’re thinking, that was a hell of an era for playmakers from the Balkans. Not enough goalkeepers. Still, such a team could have bettered Croatia’s success at France ’98.

This is not to say that Serbia are going to win this thing but they are strong and, if they decide to turn up, could make serious inroads. They topped their qualifying group ahead of France, and yes we know France aren’t as good as they were and Domenech is a loon, but that is still a decent achievement.

They have the strength of Premier League duo Nemanja Vidic and Branislav Ivanovic at the back, the experience of recent Champions League winner Dejan Stankovic in the centre of midfield and the height and power of the 6’8” Nikola Zigic up front. Zigic, now of Birmingham, has struggled to maintain a place in the team at Valencia but should be fresher than many and his manager has tipped him to be a star of the tournament. These are supported by other solid players such as Aleksandr Kolarov (Lazio) and Lukovic (Udinese) at the back and Pantelic (Ajax) and Jovanovic (Liverpool) going forward.

Vladimir Stojkovic in goal (Wigan’s number 2) could be a weak point having played little club football over the past couple of years, though is highly rated.

Their route is far from straightforward but if they escape from their group (in with Germany, Ghana and Australia), and they are more than capable of doing so, they will potentially face England. Depending on which version of England arrives in South Africa they could progress and would also fancy themselves against any of the USA, Slovenia or Algeria. Then into the quarter-finals where anything could happen, regardless of opposition.

Now could someone bookmark this and send it to me when they crash out of the group stage with one point and no goals?

by Matt Morrison