Serbia national football team

	Olympic medal record
Men's Football

Serbia
Nickname(s)	Beli Orlovi; (White Eagles)
Association	Football Association of Serbia
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Radomir Antić
Captain	Dejan Stanković
Most caps	Savo Milošević (102)
Top scorer	Savo Milošević (37)
Home stadium	Stadion Crvena Zvezda, Belgrade
FIFA code	SRB
FIFA ranking	20
Highest FIFA ranking	8 (May 1998)
Lowest FIFA ranking	47 (December 2005)
Elo ranking	15
Highest Elo ranking	4 (June 1998)
Lowest Elo ranking	41 (September 2008)
Home colours	Away colours
First international
	Czech Republic 1 – 3 Serbia ; (Uherské Hradiště, Czech Republic; 16 August 2006)
Biggest win
	Azerbaijan 1 – 6 Serbia ; (Baku, Azerbaijan; 17 October 2007); Serbia 6 – 1 Bulgaria ; (Belgrade, Serbia; 19 November 2008); Serbia 5 – 0 Romania ; (Belgrade, Serbia; 10 October 2009)
Biggest defeat
	Ukraine 2–0 Serbia ; (Kiev, Ukraine; 26 March 2008)
World Cup
Appearances	11 (First in 1930)
Best result	Fourth Place 1930, 1962
European Championship
Appearances	5 (First in 1960)
Best result	Final 1960, 1968

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The Serbia national football team (Serbian: Фудбалска репрезентација Србије / Fudbalska reprezentacija Srbije) represents Serbia in international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Serbia. Both FIFA and UEFA consider the Serbia national team the direct descendant of the Serbia and Montenegro national football team and the SFR Yugoslavia national football team.

[edit] History

[edit] Heritage from Yugoslavia

Serbian national team was previously known as the Yugoslavia national football team from 15 January 1992 until 4 February 2003, and then as the Serbia and Montenegro national football team until 3 June 2006 when Serbia declared independence as the successor state to the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. It was officially renamed the Serbia national football team on 28 June 2006, while the Montenegro national football team was created to represent the new state of Montenegro.

Serbia plays Belgium at Marakana, 7 October 2006

Between 1921 and 1992, the team did not exist as we know it today, since Serbia was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918 – 1943) and later on, of the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia (1945 – 1991). The Serbia national team existed from 1919 to 1921, but ceased to exist following the creation of the first Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

However, the Football Association of Serbia is a FIFA member since 1921 and a UEFA member since its creation in 1954. The Serbia national team is recognized, thanks to a mutual consent between both FIFA and UEFA, as the direct descendant of the Yugoslavia national team. Hence, the new national team formed in 1992 inherited of the full status, results, and achievements from Yugoslavia, which was not the case for any other country resulting from the breakup of Yugoslavia. Consequently, it did not have to apply to obtain a FIFA and UEFA status.

A similar situation happened following Montenegro's decision to secede following a referendum held on 21 May 2006. Once more, Serbia inherited of the Serbia and Montenegro full status, and did not have to apply for a FIFA and UEFA status, while Montenegro was obligated to do so.

[edit] The beginnings and the 1998 FIFA World Cup

Although the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was formed on 28 April 1992, its teams were banned from all international sporting events, including the national football team. Consequently, the national team did not play its first game as a new country before 23 December 1994, a friendly match played in Porto Alegre and in which Brazil won by the mark of 2 – 0. This was the first ever team composed of Serbian and Montenegrin players exclusively, while Slobodan Santrač, a former Yugoslavia national team player, was named the team's first ever manager. The next game was played only three days later, this time in Buenos Aires, resulting in 1 – 0 loss to Argentina. Despite two losses in two games, the team was honoured to play its first two games ever against such football powerhouses.

Also due to the United Nations international sanctions, the team could not take part in the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification, nor the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying process.

On 31 March 1991, the team recorded its first official win in history, a 1 – 0 friendly against Uruguay, simultaneously marking the team's first ever home game, played at Stadion Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade, and the first ever goal scored, courtesy of Savo Milošević. Slightly more than one year later, the team recorded its first ever win in a FIFA World Cup qualifying tournament in its first game in such a tournament, a 3 – 1 win over the Faroe Islands. Shortly after, the team also recorded its biggest win in history, once again against the Faroe Islands, 8 – 1. Yugoslavia finished second in Group 6, just behind Spain, meaning it had to go through the play-off system in order to qualify. Yugoslavia was paired up with Hungary, and what was believed would be a tough matchup turned out to be an easy win for Yugoslavia, 7 – 1 in Budapest and 5 – 0 in Belgrade, for an aggregate score of 12 – 1. This was enough to secure Yugoslavia its first ever FIFA World Cup appearance as a new country.

The 1998 FIFA World Cup seeding had Yugoslavia ranked in 21st position, but the Yugoslav national football team went to France as one of the shadow favorites for the World Cup. The justification for such an estimation was partially found in the names of the Yugoslav players, members of great European teams and proven footballers. The draw put the team in Group F alongside Germany, the United States, and Iran. Yugoslavia won its first game 1 – 0 against Iran thanks to a goal from defender Siniša Mihajlović. The next game was a heartbreaker for Yugoslavia. After leading Germany 2 – 0, last game's hero, Mihajlović, scored an unlucky own goal following a German freekick, and Oliver Bierhoff equalised at 2 – 2 with only about ten minutes to the match. Nonetheless, Yugoslavia responded in the next game against the United States and won 1 – 0 due to an early goal in Nantes. Yugoslavia made easy work of Group 6, but despite an excellent record, the game against Germany would prove costly as Germany won the group thanks to a better goal difference.

Due to their second position, Yugoslavia saw itself face the Netherlands in the Round of 16. Yugoslavia entered in the match with a sole attacker, but its defensive tactics proved unsuccessful as Dennis Bergkamp put the Netherlands in front in the 38th minute. Immediately following the start of the second half, Yugoslavia pressured the Dutch, who inevitably conceded a header from Slobodan Komljenović. However, the turning point of this match was be a penalty awarded to Yugoslavia after Vladimir Jugović was fouled in the penalty area. Predrag Mijatović's shot dazzled Edwin van der Sar, but not the crossbar, and the scoreline remained the same at 1 – 1. Such an event demoralized the Yugoslavs, as the Dutch took the initiative. In the late seconds of the game, as everybody was preparing for extra time, Edgar Davids shot towards the Yugoslav net from a distance of 20 meters and beat goalkeeper Ivica Kralj, to the pure disbelief of the Yugoslav players and fans. This marked the end of Yugoslavia's run in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, since there was not much time left to do anything.

Unlucky events forced Yugoslavia out of the tournament, but the team definitely demonstrated its great ability and proved it had a spot among the world's best teams. This was also reflected in the FIFA World Rankings following the 1998 FIFA World Cup, in which Yugoslavia was constantly ranked in the Top 10 for a long period of time.

[edit] Euro 2000

The draw for Euro 2000 qualifiers saw many eyebrows raised as first-seeded Yugoslavia was drawn in a group with Croatia, thus marking the first games between the two teams after the breakup of Yugoslavia. Other teams in the group were Republic of Ireland, Macedonia, and Malta. The coach of the national team first was Milan Živadinović, while Vujadin Boskov took over after his resignation.

Due to the NATO bombing of the country that started on 24 March 1999, Yugoslavia played its home fixture against Malta in Thessaloniki, Greece, winning 4 – 1.

The two highly anticipated games versus Croatia both ended in draws. First game in Belgrade ended with a scoreline 0 – 0 (the game was interrupted due to power outage at the beginning of the second half and resumed after 43 minutes^[2]), while the other (which was the last fixture of the qualifying stage) ended 2 – 2 in Zagreb. The latter result however amounted to victory as was enough for Yugoslavia to secure a direct qualifying berth and knock Croatia out of European championship.

The draw for the Finals placed Yugoslavia in group C along with Spain, Norway, and Slovenia. The first game against Slovenia saw yet another former Yugoslav republic take a surprising 3 – 0 lead at Stade du Pays de Charleroi, but Yugoslavia managed to equalise by scoring three goals in only six minutes in mid-second half. The team's only victory in the tournament came in the second game versus Norway in Liège, thanks to an early Savo Milošević backheel strike. Final group game in Bruges was another high-scoring, but ultimately heartbreaking for Yugoslavia, as Spain won 4 – 3 with two late goals, despite the Yugoslavs taking the lead three times. Yugoslavia ended the group in second place, as Norway failed to defeat Slovenia in Arnhem. In each of the three games, Yugoslavia had one player sent off (Siniša Mihajlović, Mateja Kežman, and Slaviša Jokanović, respectively).

In the quarter-finals, Yugoslavia was once again paired with Netherlands. Unlike the last time, the co-hosts made easy work of Yugoslavia, winning 6 – 1 in Rotterdam with Patrick Kluivert scoring a hat trick.

One of the few bright spots of Yugoslav team in the whole tournament was Savo Milošević, who was crowned the joint top scorer of the tournament, alongside Patrick Kluivert. Both players scored five goals, although Milošević played one game fewer.

[edit] 2002 FIFA World Cup

The 2002 qualifiers marked the first time that Yugoslavia failed to reach a major tournament ever since its return to the big stage after the UN sanctions. The problems started with the major political turmoil in the country as well in the Yugoslav FA, which prompted the new coach Ilija Petković to resign only after one game (2 – 0 away victory against Luxembourg).

Milovan Đorić took over the team, but under his leadership, the team managed only two draws (1 – 1 at home vs. Switzerland and also 1 – 1 away in Slovenia, in both games the opponents managed to equalise in late stages of the game) and a 0 – 1 home loss to Russia (which marked the team's first, and to this date only home defeat in official matches). After Đorić's resignation, a three-man commission, consisting of Dejan Savićević, Vujadin Boškov, and Ivan Ćurković, took over the coaching duties, until Savićević ultimately took over on his own. The team managed to bounce back with a draw in Russia and a win in Switzerland, but failed to defeat Slovenia in the penultimate game, thus ended the qualifiers in third position.

[edit] Euro 2004

Another failure came in the Euro 2004 qualifiers while competing for the first time as Serbia and Montenegro. Despite drawing both games against group favorites and eventual group winners Italy and winning both games against runner-ups Wales, Serbia and Montenegro failed to qualify, mostly due to embarrassing 2 – 2 home draw and 2 – 1 away loss to Azerbaijan.

[edit] 2006 FIFA World Cup

See also: 2006 World Cup qualification (UEFA)

Serbia and Montenegro began their 2006 World Cup campaign by finishing first with an undefeated record in their qualification group ahead of favourites Spain. The Serbia and Montenegro team also allowed only one goal in the 10 matches, the best defensive record out all 51 teams participating in qualification.

In the group stage, Serbia and Montenegro lost their opening game to joint group favourite, the Netherlands. The final score was 1 – 0 after Arjen Robben scored the only goal of the game. They also lost their second game to Argentina 6 – 0, the country's worst ever international result. With the team's two losses and with Netherlands and Argentina winning both their games, Serbia and Montenegro could no longer qualify for the knockout matches, and was playing for pride alone in their final group game against Côte d'Ivoire. Despite having a 2 – 0 lead for much of the first half, the Elephants managed to come back and win 3 – 2, leaving Serbia and Montenegro with a disappointing 0 – 0 – 3 World Cup run.

For the 2006 qualifiers, Serbia and Montenegro was drawn in a group with Spain, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania and San Marino. Led once again by Ilija Petković as coach, Serbia and Montenegro played some impressive defensive football — the "Famous Four" defense, consisting of Nemanja Vidić, Mladen Krstajić, Goran Gavrančić, and Ivica Dragutinović, with Dragoslav Jevrić as goalkeeper, allowed only one goal in ten games, finishing first with a 6 – 4 – 0 record, ahead of Spain.

Main article: 2006 World Cup squads (Serbia and Montenegro)

However, after the injury of Mirko Vučinić before the start of the tournament in Germany, coach Petković caused massive controversy when he picked his own son Dušan as replacement. Dušan eventually decided to withdraw himself from the World Cup squad due to immense media pressure. All this events have greatly deteriorated the atmosphere in the team. Drawn in the "group of death" with Argentina, Netherlands, and debutants Côte d'Ivoire, for the first time in its history, the Serbian and Montenegrin national team lost all three group stage games and finished in dead last — 32nd place.

After yet another defeat to Netherlands in the opening game (1 – 0), coach Petković fell victim of the media criticism of his too defensive-orientated play and used more offensive tactics in the second match against Argentina. This proved to be a huge mistake, as Serbia and Montenegro recorded it's biggest ever defeat in the World cup history — 6 – 0. In a meaningless game for both teams, Cote d'Ivoire defeated Serbia and Montenegro 3 – 2, despite Serbia and Montenegro taking a two-goal lead.

[edit] 2010 FIFA World Cup

See also: 2010 World Cup qualification (UEFA)

Serbia finished first in its first ever qualifying campaign as an independent nation, winning their group ahead of favorites France.^[3] They sealed their place in 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa with a 5 – 0 win against Romania on 11 October 2009.^[4] Serbia will be in group D with Germany, Australia, and Ghana.

Goalscorers during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Milan Jovanović – 5 goals
Nikola Žigić – 3 goals
Branislav Ivanović – 3 goals
Miloš Krasić – 2 goals
Nenad Milijaš – 2 goals
Marko Pantelić – 1 goal
Zdravko Kuzmanović – 1 goal
Zoran Tošić – 1 goal
Ivan Obradović – 1 goal
Neven Subotić – 1 goal

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 7

Team v • d • e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Serbia	10	7	1	2	22	8	+14	22
France	10	6	3	1	18	9	+9	21
Austria	10	4	2	4	14	15	−1	14
Lithuania	10	4	0	6	10	11	−1	12
Romania	10	3	3	4	12	18	−6	12
Faroe Islands	10	1	1	8	5	20	−15	4


Austria	–	3 – 1	3 – 1	2 – 1	2 – 1	1 – 3
Faroe Islands	1 – 1	–	0 – 1	2 – 1	0 – 1	0 – 2
France	3 – 1	5 – 0	–	1 – 0	1 – 1	2 – 1
Lithuania	2 – 0	1 – 0	0 – 1	–	0 – 1	2 – 1
Romania	1 – 1	3 – 1	2 – 2	0 – 3	–	2 – 3
Serbia	1 – 0	2 – 0	1 – 1	3 – 0	5 – 0	–

[edit] Tournament records

[edit] World Cup record

As Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1930 – 1938) and SFR Yugoslavia (1950 – 1990)

Year	Round	Position	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	GF	GA
1930	Fourth Place	4	3	2	0	1	7	7
1934	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1938	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1950	Round 1	5	3	2	0	1	7	3
1954	Quarterfinals	7	3	1	1	1	2	3
1958	Quarterfinals	5	3	1	2	1	7	7
1962	Fourth Place	4	6	3	0	3	10	7
1966	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1970	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1974	Round 2	7	6	1	2	3	10	6
1978	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1982	Group stage	16	3	1	1	1	2	2
1986	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1990	Quarter-finals	5	5	3	1	1	8	6
Total	8/14	-	32	14	7	12	53	41

As FR Yugoslavia (1994 – 2002), Serbia and Montenegro (2006) and Serbia (2010-0000)

Year	Round	Position	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	GF	GA
1994	Suspended*	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1998	Round of 16	9	4	2	1	1	5	4
2002	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2006	Group stage	32	3	0	0	3	2	10
2010	Qualified	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	2/3	-	7	2	1	4	7	13

-* In 1994, the team was banned because of international sanctions imposed due to Yugoslav wars.

[edit] European Championship record

As SFR Yugoslavia (1960 – 1992)

Year	Round	Position	Matches	Wins	Drows	Losses	GF	GA
1960	Final	2	2	1	0	1	1	2
1964	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1968	Final	2	3	1	1	1	2	3
1972	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1976	Fourth place	4	2	0	0	2	4	7
1980	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1984	Round 1	8	3	0	0	3	2	10
1988	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1992	Qualified*	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	4/9	-	10	2	1	7	9	22

-* Qualified, but not allowed to participate because of international sanctions during Yugoslav wars. Denmark, which finished second to Yugoslavia in the qualifying group, entered instead, and went on to win the tournament.

As FR Yugoslavia (1996 – 2000), Serbia and Montenegro (2004) and Serbia (2008)

Year	Round	Position	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	GF	GA
1996	Suspended*	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2000	Quarter-finals	7	4	1	1	2	8	13
2004	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2008	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2012	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	1/3	-	4	1	1	2	8	13

-* In 1996, the team was not allowed to compete because of international sanctions.

[edit] Head coaches

Last update 18 november 2009

Manager	Period	Record
Manager	Period	Matches	Won	Drawn	Lost
Radomir Antić	2008 –	18	13	1	4
Miroslav Đukić	2007 – 2008	5	0	2	3
Javier Clemente	2006 – 2007	16	7	7	2
Ilija Petković	2003 – 2006	30	11	10	9
Dejan Savićević	2001 – 2003	17	4	3	10
Vujadin Boškov Ivan Ćurković Dejan Savićević	2001	8	4	2	2
Milovan Đorić	2001	3	0	2	1
Ilija Petković	2000 – 2001	4	2	1	1
Vujadin Boškov	1999 – 2000	15	6	5	4
Milan Živadinović	1998 – 1999	6	3	2	1
Slobodan Santrač	1994 – 1998	43	26	10	7
Ivica Osim	1986 – 1992	51	27	10	14
Ivan Toplak Ivica Osim	1986	3	1	1	1
Miloš Milutinović	1984 – 1985	15	7	3	5
Todor Veselinović	1982 – 1984	18	9	3	6
Miljan Miljanić	1979 – 1982	22	18	2	2
Dražen Jerković	1978	1	1	0	0
Ante Mladinić	1978	2	0	0	2
Slavko Ljuštica	1978	0	0	0	0
Stevan Vilotić	1978	2	0	2	0
Marko Valok Stevan Vilotić Gojko Zec	1977	6	1	2	3
Ivan Toplak	1976 – 1977	8	2	0	6
Ante Mladinić	1974 – 1976	15	9	2	4
Miljan Miljanić Milan Ribar Sulejman Rebac Tomislav Ivić Milovan Ćirić	1973 – 1974	11	3	3	5
Vujadin Boškov	1971 – 1973	27	10	12	5
Rajko Mitić	1967 – 1970	34	13	10	11
Aleksandar Tirnanić Miljan Miljanić Rajko Mitić Vujadin Boškov Branko Stanković	1966	4	2	0	2
Aleksandar Tirnanić Miljan Miljanić	1966	2	0	1	1
Aleksandar Tirnanić Milan Antolković Miljan Miljanić	1966	3	1	0	2
Aleksandar Tirnanić Milan Antolković Miljan Miljanić Abdulah Gegić	1965	7	2	3	2
Ljubomir Lovrić	1964	11	3	1	7
Ljubomir Lovrić Hugo Ruševljanin	1963 – 1964	7	5	0	2
Ljubomir Lovrić Prvoslav Mihajlović Hugo Ruševljanin	1961 – 1963	22	15	2	5
Dragomir Nikolić Aleksandar Tirnanić Ljubomir Lovrić	1959 – 1961	29	16	8	5
Aleksandar Tirnanić	1955 – 1958	34	13	11	10
Branko Pešić Aleksandar Tirnanić Leo Lemešić Franjo Wölfl Milovan Ćirić	1954	9	5	2	2
Milorad Arsenijević Aleksandar Tirnanić Leo Lemešić	1952 – 1954	18	14	2	2
Milorad Arsenijević	1949 – 1952	23	15	3	5
Milorad Arsenijević Aleksandar Tirnanić	1946 – 1948	18	12	1	5
Svetozar Popović	1940 – 1941	3	1	2	0
Boško Simonović	1939 – 1940	4	1	1	2
Svetozar Popović	1939	1	0	0	1
Boško Simonović	1939	4	1	0	3
Svetozar Popović	1937 – 1938	13	4	5	4
Nikola Simić	1936	4	1	1	2
Boško Simonović	1935	5	3	2	0
Ivo Šuste Mata Miodragović Petar Pleše	1934 – 1935	6	3	0	3
Boško Simonović	1933 – 1934	6	3	1	2
Branislav Veljković	1933	6	3	1	2
Boško Simonović	1930 – 1932	24	12	1	11
Ante Pandaković	1926 – 1930	19	7	2	10
Dušan Zinaja	1924 – 1925	3	0	0	3
Todor Sekulić	1924	1	0	0	1
Veljko Ugrinić	1920 – 1924	10	3	1	6

[edit] Squad

[edit] Current squad

The following players were named usually during this year.

#	Name	DOB	Club	Caps	Goals	Debut
Goalkeepers
1	Vladimir Stojković	29 July 1983 (1983-07-29) (age 26)	Sporting CP	29	0	v Czech Republic, 16 August 2006
12	Vladimir Dišljenković	2 July 1981 (1981-07-02) (age 28)	Metalurh Donetsk	7	0	v Norway, 31 March 2004
23	Bojan Isailović	25 March 1980 (1980-03-25) (age 29)	Čukarički	3	0	v Poland, 14 December 2008
Defenders
2	Antonio Rukavina	26 January 1984 (1984-01-26) (age 25)	Borrusia Dortmund	18	0	v Finland, 2 June 2007
3	Ivica Dragutinović	13 November 1975 (1975-11-13) (age 34)	Sevilla	48	0	v Greece, 13 December 2000
5	Nemanja Vidić	21 October 1981 (1981-10-21) (age 28)	Manchester United	44	2	v Italy, 12 October 2002
6	Branislav Ivanović	22 February 1984 (1984-02-22) (age 25)	Chelsea	28	4	v Italy, 8 June 2005
13	Aleksandar Luković	23 October 1982 (1982-10-23) (age 27)	Udinese	18	0	v Poland, 15 March 2005
15	Aleksandar Kolarov	10 November 1985 (1985-11-10) (age 24)	Lazio	9	0	v Russia, 28 May 2008
16	Ivan Obradović	25 July 1988 (1988-07-25) (age 21)	Real Zaragoza	10	1	v Faroe Islands, 6 September 2008
20	Neven Subotić	10 December 1988 (1988-12-10) (age 21)	Borussia Dortmund	9	1	v Romania, 28 March 2009
Midfielders
4	Gojko Kačar	26 January 1987 (1987-01-26) (age 22)	Hertha BSC	14	0	v Kazakhstan, 24 November 2007
7	Boško Janković	1 March 1984 (1984-03-01) (age 25)	Genoa	24	5	v Norway, 15 November 2006
10	Dejan Stanković	11 September 1978 (1978-09-11) (age 31)	Internazionale	85	13	v South Korea, 22 April 1998
11	Nenad Milijaš	30 April 1983 (1983-04-30) (age 26)	Wolverhampton	14	3	v Faroe Islands, 6 September 2008
17	Miloš Krasić	1 November 1984 (1984-11-01) (age 25)	CSKA Moscow	28	2	v Norway, 15 November 2006
18	Miloš Ninković	25 December 1984 (1984-12-25) (age 24)	Dynamo Kyiv	6	0	v Sweden, 1 April 2009
21	Zoran Tošić	28 April 1987 (1987-04-28) (age 22)	Manchester United	18	3	v Finland, 8 September 2007
22	Zdravko Kuzmanović	22 September 1987 (1987-09-22) (age 22)	Stuttgart	24	3	v Finland, 2 June 2007
Strikers
8	Danko Lazović	17 May 1983 (1983-05-17) (age 26)	PSV	33	10	v Brasil, 27 March 2002
9	Marko Pantelić	15 September 1978 (1978-09-15) (age 31)	Ajax	28	4	v Poland, 16 November 2003
14	Milan Jovanović	18 April 1981 (1981-04-18) (age 28)	Standard Liège	23	9	v Finland, 2 June 2007
19	Nikola Žigić	25 September 1980 (1980-09-25) (age 29)	Valencia	41	16	v Norway, 31 March 2004

[edit] Current starting 11

Last updated on 10 October 2009.

[edit] Recent call-ups

Name	DOB	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut	Most recent call-up
Goalkeeper
Željko Brkić	9 July 1986 (1986-07-09) (age 23)	Vojvodina	0 (0)
Defenders
Jagoš Vuković	10 June 1988 (1988-06-10) (age 21)	PSV	2 (0)	v Northern Ireland, 14 November 2009	v South Korea, 18 November 2009
Nenad Tomović	30 August 1987 (1987-08-30) (age 22)	Genoa	2 (0)	v Poland, 14 December 2008	v South Korea, 18 November 2009
Midfielders
Radosav Petrović	8 March 1989 (1989-03-08) (age 20)	Partizan	4 (0)	v South Africa, 12 August 2009	v South Korea, 18 November 2009
Miralem Sulejmani	5 December 1988 (1988-12-05) (age 21)	Ajax	6 (0)	v Macedonia, 06 February 2008	v Faroe Islands, 10 June 2009
Marko Milinković	16 April 1988 (1988-04-16) (age 21)	Košice	1 (0)	v South Africa, 12 August 2009	v Lithuania, 14 October 2009
Strikers
Dejan Lekić	7 June 1985 (1985-06-07) (age 24)	Red Star Belgrade	1 (0)	v Northern Ireland, 14 November 2009	v South Korea, 18 November 2009
Dragan Mrđa	23 January 1984 (1984-01-23) (age 25)	Vojvodina	2 (0)	v Bulgaria, 19 November 2008	v Austria, 6 June 2009

[edit] Statistics (only since 1992)

[edit] Most appearances

#	Name	National team career	Caps	Goals
1	Savo Milošević	1994 – 2008	102	37
2	Dejan Stanković	1998 –	85	13
3	Dragan Stojković	1983 – 2001	84	15
4	Predrag Mijatović	1989 – 2003	73	28
5	Slaviša Jokanović	1991 – 2002	64	10
5	Siniša Mihajlović	1991 – 2003	63	9
7	Mladen Krstajić	1999 – 2008	59	2
7	Zoran Mirković	1995 – 2003	59	0
9	Darko Kovačević	1994 – 2004	58	10
10	Dejan Savićević	1986 – 1999	56	19

Statistics do not include Serbian players who have played for the SFR Yugoslavia national team exclusively.

As of 10 October 2009.^[5]

Players in bold are still active/available for selection.

[edit] Leading goalscorers

#	Name	National team career	Goals	Caps	Average
1	Savo Milošević	1994 – 2008	37	102	0.36
2	Predrag Mijatović	1989 – 2003	28	73	0.38
3	Dejan Savićević	1986 – 2003	19	56	0.34
4	Mateja Kežman	2000 – 2006	17	49	0.35
5	Nikola Žigić	2004 –	16	41	0.39
6	Dragan Stojković	1983 – 2001	15	84	0.18
7	Dejan Stanković	1998 –	13	85	0.15
8	Danko Lazović	2002 –	10	33	0.30
9	Slaviša Jokanović	1991 – 2002	10	64	0.16
10	Darko Kovačević	1994 – 2004	10	59	0.17

Statistics do not include Serbian players who have played for the SFR Yugoslavia national team exclusively. Last updated: Serbia-Romania 5-0, October 10, 2009.

[edit] Nickname

Serbian team

Ever since the first game ever played by Yugoslavia's new team, on 23 December 1994, a 2 – 0 loss to Brazil, the team wore the name of Плави, literally translating to the Blues, much like France's famous nickname of Les Bleus. This was notably due to the fact the team wore blue jerseys, which they inherited from the former Yugoslavia national football team.

The trend continued even when the team switched names to Serbia and Montenegro, as flags, anthem, and kits remained virtually the same. However, as Montenegro declared independence from Serbia on 3 June 2006, on the basis of a referendum held on 21 May 2006, the newly formed Serbia national team needed a new nickname, as red replaced blue as the team's primary colour.

Hence, on 16 August 2006, as Serbia played its first international match in history (vs the Czech Republic), B92, a broadcaster with national coverage throughout Serbia, proposed the name of Бели Орлови (White Eagles).^{[citation needed]} The name referred to the white double-headed eagle found on the coat of arms of Serbia.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=srb/index.html
^ http://www.arhiva.serbia.sr.gov.yu/news/1999-08/19/13984.html
^ http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/10/10/sports/sports-soccer-world-serbia.html
^ "Jovanovic brace seals rout". ESPN. 2009-10-11. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=236551&cc=5739. Retrieved 2009-10-15.
^ Alpuin, Luis Fernando Passo; Mamrud, Roberto; Miladinovic, Misha (20 February 2009). "Yugoslavia (Serbia (and Montenegro)) - Record International Players". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/joeg-recintlp.html. Retrieved 06 June 2009.

[edit] External links

Official

Football Association of Serbia - Official Site (Serbian)
Serbian National Football Team (Serbian)
UEFA team profile
FIFA team profile

Unofficial

Beli Orlovi (Serbian)
Serbian football at xtratime.org

[fifa.com-0] ttp://www.fifa.com/associations/association=srb/index.html

[1] ttp://www.arhiva.serbia.sr.gov.yu/news/1999-08/19/13984.html

[2] ttp://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/10/10/sports/sports-soccer-world-serbia.html

[3] "Jovanovic brace seals rout". ESPN. 2009-10-11. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=236551&cc=5739. Retrieved 2009-10-15.

[4] Alpuin, Luis Fernando Passo; Mamrud, Roberto; Miladinovic, Misha (20 February 2009). "Yugoslavia (Serbia (and Montenegro)) - Record International Players". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/joeg-recintlp.html. Retrieved 06 June 2009.

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Men's Football
Olympic medal record
Silver	1948 London	Team
Silver	1952 Helsinki	Team
Silver	1956 Melbourne	Team
Gold	1960 Rome	Team
Bronze	1984 Los Angeles	Team