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Serbia/Montenegro Team Information
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Serbia/Montenegro - Team Profile
30/03/2006
Serbia and Montenegro have qualified for their first World Cup although the former Yugoslavia was a regular in post-war competitions.
The Plavi, also known as The Blues, won their qualifying group which included Spain conceding just one goal in ten games (and that was in Madrid). Following a disappointing qualifying campaign for Euro 2004 Ilija Petkovic was installed as coach. He cleared out the old guard and concentrated on getting things right from the back. Turkish based Dragoslav Jevric is seen as the number one choice for the goalkeeper's jersey with former Everton man Oliver Kovacevic as his understudy. Their backline looks one of the strongest in the tournament with the hugely impressive Mladen Krstajic of Gernman club Scalke 04 the lynchpin. Recent Manchester United signing Nemanja Vidic is strong and athletic and looks a born leader. Ivica Dragutinovic is the type of versatile player any coach would want in his squad. Dragutinovic plays for Seville in Spain. The weak link, though not in physique, could be Igor Duljaj who has been in god form for his Ukraine-based side but has discipline problems.
In midfield Dejan Stankovic is an important member of Italian-based Inter Milan while Sasa Ilic has Premiership experience with Charlton, West Ham and Portsmouth. Dragan Mladenovic is back at Red Star after disastrous spells with Real Socieadad in Spain and Glasgow Rangers. Hailed as the new Zidane a few season's ago Zvonimir Vukic has failed to settle in at Portsmouth since signing in August 2005 though his season has been blighted by injuries. Other midfielders who may join these in Germany include the Partizan-bred trio of Albert Nadj, Nenad Brnovic and Simon Vukcevic.
For a team that is more defensive minded than not it is surprising that two of their forwards are the better known players in the squad. Chelsea fans became frustrated with Mateja Kezman whose mercurial qualities are now on show in Spain at Atletico Madrid. Aston Villa will wince at the name of Savo Milosevic who had a lean spell at the club in late 1990's. These days he is scoring regularly for Osasuna in Spain. His team have had an extraordinary season and have qualified for next season's Champion's League.