Serbia Looking A Hot Prospect After 5-1 Demolition Of Bolivia In World Cup Warm-Up Match

Serbia Looking A Hot Prospect After 5-1 Demolition Of Bolivia In World Cup Warm-Up Match
09:30, 12 Jun 2018

Serbia encountered a double-header of friendly matches before their World Cup opener with Costa Rica on Sunday, the second of which demonstrating exactly what this side are capable of. With an inexperienced Coach at the helm and internal politics having dominated the headlines in recent months, it was unclear what this talented squad would manage to do this summer, however a 5-1 win over Bolivia last weekend put Mladen Krstajic’s men firmly on the map.

A hat-trick from Newcastle forward Aleksandar Mitrovic put any doubts of a lack of firepower up front firmly to bed, while Serbia are safe in the knowledge that he will be backed up by supremely talented Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.

Mitrovic moved to joint top of Serbia’s record goalscorer list with that triple, now equal with Nikola Zigic on 16. No less than 14 of those strikes for the Newcastle man have arrived in the last 18 matches, a positive sign for the national team ahead of forthcoming matches in Russia. Former Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic fired in emphatically versus Bolivia after a superb team move, an excellent response having lost the captaincy to Aleksandar Kolarov earlier this year.

Southampton's Dusan Tadic and Nemanja Matic of Manchester United all made the starting lineup, with Crystal Palace midfielder Luka Milivojevic coming off the bench at half-time as Serbia successfully exorcised the memory of a 1-0 defeat to Chile on June 4th.

Krstajic revealed after the match that he had used the match versus Bolivia to experiment with different combinations in midfield and defense, and warned that the players need to stay focussed in light of such a big win. “We all need to keep our feet firmly on the ground,” the Coach admitted after the final whistle. “There were good signs but also bad things that need to be fixed.”

Normally supporting a lone striker at Lazio, Milinkovic-Savic was tested as part of a midfield duo with Matic in a 4-2-3-1, an unfamiliar position for the highly-rated 23-year-old.

“I talked to him for 15 seconds,” continued the Coach. “I asked him, 'Is it a problem that you're playing in this position?' He immediately replied, 'Boss, I’ll do whatever you say if I'm going to play.' “He's a great professional, a great guy, we only need to find the best way to utilise him.”

Milinkovic-Savic will undoubtedly find a way to shine wherever he ends up in the lineup, but a lesser-known player to emerge with a glowing report from that 5-1 victory was Fiorentina defender Nikola Milenkovic. Krstajic had wanted to test how the 20-year-old would fare alongside Ivanovic and Dusko Tosic in the backline, and his performance was good enough that the boss would compare him to Nemanja Vidic in his post-match comments.

These are all positive signs indeed for a Serbia side who face a tough contest with potential surprise outfit Costa Rica and the reliable Switzerland side who reside in Group E along with Brazil. It certainly seems that The Eagles have a good chance of reaching the knockout stages if they can reproduce the form shown versus Bolivia last weekend.

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