Football team of Serbia tonight at Wembley he is visiting the team England as part of the qualifiers for the World Cup in North America to be held next summer.
The match in London will be the penultimate one in this qualification cycle and the last one in which our selection will have the opportunity to save what can be saved. And that will be difficult, as difficult as winning at Wembley can be.
Serbia is led by the new coach Veljko Paunović and the question of all questions will be whether he will be able to cure overnight all the ailments that have plagued the national team for years.
Photo: FoNet / FSSLast training before going to London
Leskovac cargo
Echoes of everything that happened in and around the national team in the previous weeks seem to still be heard. That unfortunate visit of Albania - which, mathematically, was the most important - was an opportunity for Serbia to ensure an easier path to the World Cup, and for the recent coach Drago Stojković Pixi to overtake with his mandate at least until the end of the qualifications.
Instead, the match in Leskovac showed all the neuralgic points of the Serbian national football team gathered in one place - from Pixie's continuous bad management of key matches, through his arrogant media appearances and (a)political outbursts, all the way to fights in the stadium, handing out tickets to the "worthy" and moving the match outside of Belgrade for obvious political reasons.
Reset
Such a national team, with such a ranking in the table towards the very end of the qualifications, was inherited by Veljko Paunović - the world champion with the Serbian U20 national team in 2015 in New Zealand, a coach with integrity, a good reputation in the football world and, most importantly, results.
There was too little time for a system reset, but important personnel changes did occur.
Paunović's new coaching staff, apart from Aleksandar Rogić, Marko Nikolić's long-time assistant, is made up exclusively of foreigners with whom he already had good cooperation during his career. There is Quinton Fortune, Paunović's former teammate from Atletico Madrid and Manchester United's first team player, Argentinian Claudio Arseno, Nuni Miguel Gomes Benteš from Portugal and Spaniards Jesús Salvador Gardo and Alberto Martínez Fernandes.
Photo: FoNet / FSSThe Serbian national team plays against England in London
Return of Radonjić, Milinković-Savić still absent
The most resounding change when it comes to the list of players is the return of Nemanja Radonjić to the team, who was bypassed by Pixi for a long time, which he took as a bad thing and publicly called him out on social networks.
Despite speculation, Sergej Milinković-Savic did not return to the team, and his brother Vanja was also absent from the list. Youngsters Nemanja Maksimović, Jan-Karlo Simić, Stefan Mitrović, Ognjen Ugrešić, Dejan Zukić, Andrej Ilić and Aleksandar Mitrović, who was injured, also dropped out of the combination, while Aleksandar Karatai, Marko Grujić, Mihailo Ristić, Aleksa Terzić and brothers Ivan and Luka Ilić will have the opportunity to travel to London.
"We are maximally focused on England. It is a national team that has already secured a place and dominated during the qualifiers. They did not concede a single goal, and their attackers had no mercy. But in football it is always 11 on 11. Heart, faith and preparation often make the difference. We want to be brave, smart, organized and believe until the end," Paunović said in his first speech.
How much can Serbia do in London?
England are undisputed in Group K with a maximum of 18 points, without conceding a goal in six games and with an average of three goals scored per match. In the first meeting between them in Belgrade, the English won 5:0. The list of English coach Thomas Tuchel is full of big names, such as Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Bukai Saka, Phil Foden, Marcus Rashford, Declan Rice.
It is difficult to talk about Serbia's chances in this situation, however, there are several interesting things that should be mentioned.
After a long time, Serbia will play in a different formation, with four players in the back line, which is different from the offensive setup Pixi has insisted on for years. Whether it will be 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, we will find out at 20:45.
The aggravating circumstance is certainly the limited time that Paunović had at his disposal. It's just a few training sessions. On the other hand, the field will most likely feature players from the generation that won the world championship in 2015 under the leadership of the current coach, which can only be a benefit.
Mild optimism
Regardless of tonight's result, for the new coach it will be much more important what order he will establish in the period that follows after the remaining two qualifying meetings with England and Latvia. If, of course, he gets the chance.
Although many have already rushed to put him in the same basket as his two predecessors, the long-term arrival of Veljko Paunović leaves room for slight optimism. And whether the optimism will be justified will depend primarily on whether and how a man with integrity, reputation and results will be able to swim in the murky waters of Serbian football.
