Serbia escapes massive European Championship dilemma with a goal scored in the 95th minute
The Serb soccer squad experiences another setback at the Euro Cup: Right up until the extra minutes, they trail Slovenia. However, in the passionate final moments, there's still hope.
Luka Jovic maintains Serbia's football team's hopes of advancing to the last 16 of the Euro Cup and denies Slovenia their inaugural win in a Euro Cup tournament. Through a late goal in the 1:1 (0:0) in the chaotic closing minutes following a corner kick, the former Frankfurt player dampens the enthusiasm of the boisterous Slovenian crowd who had already celebrated their team's first victory in Euro Cup history. Defender Zan Karnicnik scored as a goalie in the 69th minute, but after the dramatic last-minute comeback, there was equalization.
With two points on the tally, Slovenia currently holds the superior starting position in third place, which could also lead them to the last 16. However, the team led by Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko faces England in the final game. Serbia (1 point) then faces Denmark.
Tadic starts for Serbia
After the 0:1 loss against England, the Serbs were under pressure not to fall too far behind in the race for the playoffs in Group C. This pressure seemed to affect the team even more - in the first half, the Serbs played erratically. Captain Dusan Tadic, who came on as a surprise substitute against the English and was back in the starting lineup, urged his teammates to play more calmly.
It took until just before halftime for Serbia to get its first significant chance: Striker Aleksandar Mitrovic received the ball in the penalty area, kept it well, but failed to put pressure behind the shot from close range. Slovenia's goalkeeper Jan Oblak saved it. Slovenia's forwards had had the best chance of the first half a moment earlier. Timi Elsnik hit a powerful shot but only hit the post. Leipzig striker Sesko followed up, hitting the crossbar. He now aims to score his first EM goal against England.
In a match that was fairly evenly matched, the lethargic Serbs could not complain about the deficit. After the break, the picture changed. Immediately after the restart, the tempo in the game picked up, and that was thanks to the Serbians. Mitrovic failed again against Oblak (47.), and shortly after that, Slovenia's Jaka Bijol almost scored an own goal. On the other side, Sesko tested goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic with a shot from outside the penalty area - the keeper deflected the ball off the post. After a corner kick, he was helpless against Karnicnik. In the closing phase, it became hectic and tense. Two Serbians, including scorer Jovic, saw yellow cards for fouls.
Federation uproar
Before the game, the Serbian Football Federation caused a stir on Thursday. Following allegedly hostile singing by Croatian and Albanian fans, the Serbs filed a complaint with UEFA and even threatened to withdraw from the tournament. "We demand sanctions from UEFA, ultimately also for the price that we do not continue the European Championship," said Federation General Secretary Jovan Surbatovic in the public-service broadcaster RTS in Serbia.
The UEFA was asked for a statement. Surbatovic referred to chants from both fan bases during the second half of the 2:2 between Croatia and Albania on a Wednesday evening in Hamburg. The top functionary lamented that his association had already been "punished for individual cases" and now demands consequences for the Croatians and Albanians as well. "If UEFA does not punish them, we will consider how to proceed further," emphasized Surbatovic and claimed that Serbian fans are "Gentlemen."
However, this did not prevent some supporters from once again displaying flags in the match against England, where the outlines of Kosovo could be seen filled in the colors of the Serbian coat of arms. "There is no surrender," was written above this - among Serbian nationalists, the sentence that follows is usually: "Kosovo is Serbia."
