European Qualifiers: DENMARK - SERBIA 2:0

In an away match in Copenhagen Serbia lost to the home-team Denmark and probably said goodbye to qualify for the European Championship in France next year

In the 5th round of the qualifying group 9 for the 2016 European Championship in France, tonight in Copenhagen the Danish national team won Serbia by 2:0 (1:0). At the Parken Stadium before 32000 spectators at a rainy weather the match was officiated by Mr Bjorn Kujpers (Netherlands).

Scorers: Yussuf Poulsen in 13’ and Jakob Poulsen in 87’. Yellow cards: Kjer, Kvist (Denmark), Kolarov (Serbia). Portugal won Armenia in Erevan tonight by 3:2. Albania won in a friendly match vs. France by 1:0. Serbia plays its next qualifying match on 4 September, when it is hosting Armenia. Until the end of the qualifying round, Serbia will play matches vs Albania (away, on 8 October) and Portugal (11 October, home).

In the preceding matches Serbia had a tie with Armenia (1:1), lost by Denmark at home (3:1) and in an away match with Portugal (2:1), whilst the match vs Albania ended in an official result, however Serbia was deducted three points by the decision of the UEFA disciplinary bodies.

Denmark: Schmeichel – Jacobsen, Kjer, Agger, S. Poulsen – Hojbjerg, Kvist (from 77’ – Kristensen), Krohn-Deli (from 61’ J. Poulsen) – Y. Poulsen (from 73' – Vibe), Bendtner, Eriksen.

Srbija: Stojković – Ivanović, Maksimović, Nastasić, Kolarov – Fejsa, N. Matić – Zor. Tošić (from 65’ F. Kostić), Ljajić (from 81’ F. Đuričić), Laz. Marković – A. Mitrović (from 89’ Škuletić). Captain: Branislav Ivanović, HC: Radovan Ćurčić.

By the defeat against Denmark, Serbia has probably lost all chances to qualify for the final tournament the UEFA European Championship in France next year. Our team members repeated the mistakes from previous matches, thus deservedly defeated without scoring. Serbia had some opportunities in the second half, but the outstanding goalkeeper Schmeichel intervened well several times. It is obvious that in again there was no enough „chemical interaction“ to win an important duel. Several highly motivated players, primarily Matić and A. Mitrović, obviously could not realize our hopes that the White Eagles will win their way back to the candidates for the competition in France.

The Serbian Head-Coach Radovan Ćurčić fielded the team for which he held that they can be a serious rival to Denmark at a slippery surface. Stojković has re-assumed his place at the goal, and defended the penalty kick of Agger, after Nastasić’s foul over Højbjerg in the penalty area. The defense was composed of Ivanovic, Maksimovic, Nastasić and Kolarov. Two midfielders were Fejsa and Nemanja Matic. The side defenders were Zoran Tosic on the right and Lazar Markovic on the left. Between the two of them, and behind the striker Aleksandar Mitrović, there was Adem Ljajić.

Experienced Denmark National Coach Morten Olsen had a different idea than his Serbian colleague. He had four players in the defense line. The „troika“ in the middle of the field consisted of Kvist, Hojbjerg and Krohn-Deli. There were three players in the attack – line: the scorer of the first goal Yussuf Poulsen and Eriksen, led by Berdtner. In such a setting, especially in the first part, Denmark has completely overwhelmed the Serbian national team. In the second half the White Eagles were much better and more equal rival, but it was not enough to achieve the ambitions with which they came from Belgrade.