Having both been dumped out from the group stages of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Serbia and Slovenia dream of a better future. Reaching Poland and Ukraine is a must in a group that contains Italy. Serbia look to be on a good track after thrashing Faroe Islands 3-0 away from home on match-day one of their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign.
Coach Radomir Antic can be happy ahead of Tuesday’s encounter since his squad is free from injury. The Serbian manager revealed how confident he was as he declared:
“I believe that we will continue doing well, and playing in Belgrade will be our strongest weapon. I respect Slovenia, who were good during the 2010 World Cup.
“However, there’s a lot of confidence in our squad. After starting well [against Faroe Islands], we want to continue and stay in a good position in the group.”
Contrastingly to Serbia’s wonderful start in the Euro 2012 qualifying series, Slovenia fell victims by the narrowest of margins to Northern Ireland despite possessing the home advantage. Still, Coach Matjaz Kek is hopeful as Slovenia will face Serbia away:
“If the numerous errors which we committed in the first match aren’t repeated, then we’ll have a chance of getting a point or three [against Serbia]. We actually want to play better than we did in Maribor and we want our mood to improve.”
Don’t take anything away from Slovenia. After all, they’ve never lost a match against Serbia in four meetings. All games between these two sides ended in draws, so perhaps Coach Matjaz has a good reason to dream about taking at least a point from the Serbians.
