Serbia call up uncapped Serie A duo as keeper Stojkovic is ruled out

The Serbs are looking focused

Sinisa Mihajlovic is not afraid to experiment with his team and this has been the trend since the fiesty 43-year old former Serbian and Yugoslav international took over as the head coach of the Balkan nation in May 2012. After a frustrating few months of chopping and changing with a long term view to set a struggling team in order, last month’s goalless draw in Scotland and an impressive 6-1 mauling of Wales at home in the opening Group A World Cup 2014 qualifiers have provided added incentive for Mihajlovic to look for further options in order to grab a firm foothold on a competitive group by winning against Belgium on October 12 and local rivals Macedonia four days later before the winter break sets in. Serbia are top of group A on a better goal difference tied with Belgium and Croatia on four points from two matches.

There has always been a concern for Serbia as to who would score the goals upfront and although six different scorers were on target against Wales in Novi Sad last month, Sinisa Mihajlovic is always on the look out for the perfect forward who would deliver final blows in big matches and for this the former Fiorentina boss has unidentified Nenad Krsticic of Sampdoria and Alen Stevanovic of Torino in his 25-man for squad for the upcoming 2014 World Cup qualifiers. With the inclusion of these two in form Italy-based forwards, the Serbian team are looking to adopt an attacking mentality against the fancied Belgians who are undoubtedly the most talented team of the lot in the group with 14 players plying their trade in the English Premier League. And Mihajlovic knows his team would get punished sitting back and that too at home, where the Serbian fans could prove to be extra demanding ahead of future group clashes against bitter rivals Croatia next year.

“Krsticic (Sampdoria) and Stevanovic (Torino) are versatile players who deserve to be here with impressive performances for their clubs and I also have a lot of faith in Scepovic, who is a lethal finisher and very good at holding the ball,” Mihajlovic told a news conference on Sunday.

“Belgium will be a mountain to climb with 14 players plying their trade in the Premier League but our 6-1 win over Wales, when we moved well and kept the ball on the ground, has shown us the way how to play throughout the qualifiers.”

Meanwhile first choice keeper Vladimir Stojkovic has been ruled out of the games against Belgium and Macedonia with a broken collarbone suffered during a league match on Sunday.

“Bruges goalkeeper Bojan Jorgacevic has been called up after Stojkovic was forced to withdraw with a fractured collarbone,” the FSS (the Serbian football federation) said on its website on Monday.

The 29-year old Partizan Belgrade keeper was rushed to hospital in the first half of Partizan’s 2-1 home win over Javor Ivanjica and in all likelihood Stojkovic would be replaced by Udinese shotstopper Zeljko Brkic under the bar for the games against Belgium in Belgrade and FYR Macedonia in Skopje.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Zeljko Brkic (Udinese), Damir Kahriman (Tavriya Simferopol), Bojan Jorgacevic

Defenders: Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea), Aleksander Kolarov (Manchester City), Neven Subotic (Borussia Dortmund), Matija Nastasic (Manchester City), Nenad Tomovic (Fiorentina), Milan Bisevac (Olympique Lyon), Nikola Maksimovic (Red Star Belgrade), Aleksander Lukovic (Zenit St. Petersburg).

Midfielders: Srdjan Mijailovic (Red Star Belgrade), Ljubomir Fejsa (Olympiakos Piraeus), Aleksandar Ignjovski (Werder Bremen), Radosav Petrovic (Genclerbirligi), Nemanja Matic (Benfica).

Forwards: Zoran Tosic (CSKA Moscow), Nenad Krsticic (Sampdoria), Marko Scepovic (Partizan Belgrade), Dusan Tadic (Twente Enschede), Dejan Lekic (Osasuna), Filip Djuricic (Heerenveen), Alen Stevanovic (Torino), Miralem Sulejmani (Ajax Amsterdam), Lazar Markovic (Partizan Belgrade)