Πέμπτη 25 Ιουλίου 2013

Soccer in Serbia

The Serbia national football team (Serbian: Фудбалска репрезентација Србије, Fudbalska reprezentacija Srbije) represents Serbia in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Serbia, the governing body for football in Serbia. Serbia's home ground is the Red Star Stadium in Belgrade . Both FIFA and UEFA consider the Serbian national team as the direct and only
successor of the Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro national teams
.

1920–1991 Heritage from Yugoslavia

See also: Yugoslavia national football team and Football Association of Yugoslavia
The Serbian national team was previously known as the Yugoslav national football team until 4 February 2003, and then as the Serbia and Montenegro national football team until 3 June 2006 when Serbia declared independence as the successor state to the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. It was officially renamed the Serbia national football team on 28 June 2006, while the Montenegro national football team was created to represent the new state of Montenegro.
Between 1921 and 1992, the team did not exist as we know it today, since Serbia was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1943) and later on, of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1945–1991). The Serbia national team existed from 1919 to 1921, but ceased to exist following the creation of the first Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
However, the Football Association of Serbia is a FIFA member since 1921 and a UEFA member since its creation in 1954. The Serbia national team is recognized, thanks to a mutual consent between both FIFA and UEFA, as the direct and only descendant of the Yugoslavia national team. Hence, the new national team formed in 1992 inherited of the full status, results, and achievements from Yugoslavia, which was not the case for any other country resulting from the breakup of Yugoslavia. Consequently, it did not have to apply to obtain a FIFA and UEFA status.
A similar situation happened following Montenegro's decision to secede following a referendum held on 21 May 2006. Once more, Serbia inherited of the Serbia and Montenegro full status, and did not have to apply for a FIFA and UEFA status, while Montenegro was obligated to do so.

Competing as FR Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro (1992–2006)

With the formation of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro were both represented by a new national team under the same name of Yugoslavia until political developments changed the name of the nation to "Serbia and Montenegro" in 2003. This "Yugoslav" national team, composed by Serbian and Montenegrin players, was arguably one of the brightest heydays of Serbian football history, as Yugoslavia at one point (in 1998) was ranked second in the world by Elo ranking. From 1992 to 2003, Yugoslavia impressed the world in two major competitions by reaching the knockout phase of the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the quarter-finals of the UEFA Euro 2000. The generation of Yugoslav players from 1992 to 2000 included the likes of long-time national captain Dragan Stojković, Siniša Mihajlović, Predrag Mijatović, Dejan Savićević, Savo Milošević, and other players which were renowned around the world. After Yugoslavia changed its name to Serbia and Montenegro in 2003, the newly-named nation competed in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

After the breakup of Serbia and Montenegro (2006–2007)

After Montenegro declared independence, Serbia marked independence with a 3–1 win over the Czech Republic. The Euro 2008 qualification process began not long after in 2007 and ended in disappointment for Serbia. A strong start in qualification was overshadowed by the final hurdle of matches where inconsistency took over the side dropping points against the likes of Finland, Belgium, Armenia and Kazakhstan. They eventually finished third, three points behind runners up Portugal and Group A winners Poland. Serbia's first ever foreign coach Javier Clemente was sacked after the failure.
Serbia replaced Javier Clemente with Miroslav Đukić, who then left the position on 19 August of the following year without having played any official games, due to various disagreements with the Football Association of Serbia.

Radomir Antić period (2008–2010)

Serbia's starting XI in their famous 1–0 win over Germany in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[6]
Subsequent to Đukić's rapid departure, Radomir Antić was appointed coach and success followed. Serbia's World Cup qualification campaign began in 2008. Their qualification group featured former World Cup winners and 2006 FIFA World Cup runners-up France, traditionally powerful Romania, as well as Austria, Lithuania and the Faroe Islands. Serbia played consistently during the qualifiers and this led to the team automatically qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. They confirmed qualification with a commanding 5–0 win at home against Romania.
Like in 2006, Serbia went into the 2010 FIFA World Cup as the dark horses of the tournament. Key points justifying their potential surprise-team status included a star-studded defense that was composed by Nemanja Vidić, Neven Subotić, Aleksandar Kolarov and Branislav Ivanović. In addition to the revered defense, Serbia featured a famous wing-partnership in Milan Jovanović and Miloš Krasić, who both earned world-wide acclaim in their careers. The captain of Serbia's 2010 World Cup campaign was stalwart Dejan Stanković, who became the only player to feature in a World Cup having played under three different national names (although he never changed nationality; this was a result of geopolitical events involving the identity of Yugoslavia).In their first tournament as an independent nation, they were to face Ghana, Germany and Australia.
Their opening group game was against Ghana and chances came to both sides but a red card to Aleksandar Luković and a handball by substitute Zdravko Kuzmanović in the second half gave Ghana a penalty to take all three points at the death. Asamoah Gyan converted eight minutes from full-time and Serbia were defeated 1–0.
In Serbia's second group match, they sensationally defeated Germany by a score of 1–0 with an acrobatic goal by Milan Jovanović late in the first half. FIFA's official Youtube channel called the win "the most famous day in Serbian football".
Serbia only needed a single point to reach the knockout stages but were defeated by Australia 2–1 in an entertaining match where Serbia's dominance in the first half and in period's of the second half would have made it look like a Serbia victory. They unfortunately were their own worst enemy, their failure to convert their chances again proved costly with Australia scoring 2 goals in the second half through Tim Cahill and Brett Holman. A late Marko Pantelić goal served only as a consolation. They finished last in the group.
Radomir Antić was sacked two games into the Euro 2012 qualification process, a 1–1 draw at home to Slovenia spelling the end to his two-year stint. The sacking meant the bringing in of Vladimir Petrović to the job.

2010–2012

Serbia once again failed to qualify for the European Championships, making it 12 years since the country last took part in the tournament. Serbia was drawn in Qualification Group C featuring Italy, Slovenia, Estonia, Northern Ireland and the Faroe Islands. The qualifying stage began with Radomir Antić as coach and finished with Vladimir Petrović. Serbia and Antić started the first two games positively with a 3–0 win away to Faroe Islands and a 1–1 draw at home to Slovenia but this result brought the end of Antić's reign as the country's coach. New coach Vladimir Petrović faced set backs immediately with an embarrassing 3–1 loss at home to Estonia and an abandoned match resulting in a 3–0 loss to Italy due to crowd trouble from the Serbian away supporters in Genoa.
Serbia returned to form with a 2–1 win at home over Northern Ireland but could only manage a 1–1 draw away to Estonia.
Afterwards, Serbia won back to back games with a 1–0 win away to Northern Ireland and a crucial 3–1 win at home against Faroe Islands. These results put Serbia in pole position to confirm a play-off spot behind Italy.
Serbia needed a win at home against Italy to confirm a play-off spot but their efforts only resulted in a 1–1 draw. The team, however, still had one more chance to confirm a play-off place when they faced Slovenia away. This game was a must win even though Serbia had a superior goal difference over Estonia, a draw was not good enough for progression. Serbia played positively and created a number of chances during the game but a long-range goal put Slovenia up 1–0 at half time. The Serbians then failed to convert numerous chances that they had in the second half, notably Nemanja Vidić's penalty miss mid-way through the second half. Serbia left empty handed after a 1–0 loss and exited the tournament for the third time in a row during the qualifying group stages, missing out by one point behind Estonia.
Vladimir Petrović was sacked after the team's failure to qualify.

Rebuilding (2012–)


Dejan Stanković and Nemanja Vidić announced that they are retiring from international football. This meant that Serbia had lost two key players and that a new era had started. Branislav Ivanović became the new captain. Siniša Mihajlović, a former member of the national team, was appointed as the coach on 24 April 2012. He has made it a requirement for the players to know the words of the national anthem because he calls himself a right wing nationalist. Serbia was drawn in Group A in qualification for 2014 FIFA World Cup, together with Croatia, Belgium, Scotland, Macedonia, and Wales. Mihajlović started with three straight defeats in friendly matches against Spain, France and Sweden. In his fourth game as coach, the team played a draw with Republic of Ireland. The team began the qualification campaign with a goaless draw with Scotland and a 6:1 win over Wales. In the next two games, Serbia suffered two defeats, from Macedonia and Belgium. 2012 ended with a 3:1 victory in a friendly match against Chile. In 2013, Serbia's first game was a friendly match versus Cyprus. It ended 3:1 for Serbia. On 22 March, Serbia played in Zagreb against Croatia. The game was highely anticipated in both countries due their rivalry both on and off the pitch. Croatia won 2:0 and sent Serbia down on the table. This way, Serbia's chances for qualification became very small. Serbia defeated Scotland 2:0 at home in a crucial qualifier. Though their World cup hopes were taken away after a 2:1 defeat to Belgium.

 Serbian SuperLiga

The Serbian SuperLiga (Serbian: Суперлига Србије, Superliga Srbije) is a Serbian professional league for football clubs. At the top of the Serbian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 16 clubs, operating a system of promotion and relegation with the Serbian First League (Prva liga Srbija, second Serbian football tier). The SuperLiga was formed during summer 2005 as the country's top football league competition in Serbia and Montenegro. Since summer 2006 after the secession of Montenegro from Serbia, the league only has Serbian clubs.
Serbian clubs used to compete in the Yugoslav First League. This competition was formed in 1923 and lasted until 2003. After the downfall of SFR Yugoslavia in 1991 a new Yugoslavia would be formed that would be named FR Yugoslavia with Montenegro and Serbia. They kept the name Yugoslavia until 2003 when the country changed its name to Serbia and Montenegro: this union lasted until 2006 when Montenegro gained independence and formed its own league, the Montenegrin First League.
The current SuperLiga champions are Partizan. UEFA currently ranks the league 25th in Europe of 53 leagues. The league was known as Meridian PrvaLiga/SuperLiga from Autumn 2004 until Summer 2008. The league's current official sponsor is beer maker Jelen pivo, thus resulting in the league's official name to be Jelen SuperLiga.

Superliga (Top tier)

Prva liga (Second tier)

στις

Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:

Δημοσίευση σχολίου

Εγγραφή σε: Σχόλια ανάρτησης (Atom)