U-21 | NEW HEAD-COACH DUŠAN ĐORĐEVIĆ: SATISFACTION FOR HARD WORK, A PRIVILEGE AND A GREAT OBLIGATION, EVERYONE SHOULD BE AWARE OF THE EMBLEM ON THEIR JERSEY

New Serbian national U-21 team head-coach, Dušan Đorđević will lead Serbia in the qualifiers for the UEFA European U-21 Championship 2025 (Slovakia), playing the opponent teams of England, Ukraine, Northern Ireland, Azerbaijan, and Luxembourg. An expert who has come a long way to the position he deserves, and all based on his past, hard work and achieved results, does not hide that being appointed to an important position within the FA of Serbia system is a kind of satisfaction for his coaching career so far, but also an obligation to prove himself even more.

“First of all, I would like to thank the management of the FA of Serbia, who saw in me a man who would do this job honourably. Surely, this is the crown of my work and career so far, and it is also a big challenge. I will work with the best young players Serbia has, and I am aware that two previous U-21 cycles were unsuccessful. Expectations are for all of that to change and to win a place in the European Championship. It will not be easy, but I will use all my experience and knowledge to achieve that goal. I would also like to thank all the clubs in which I was engaged, and which enabled me to improve and ultimately reach this position”, said U-21 head-coach Dušan Đorđević.

The team will gather on Monday, 12th June; there will be no official matches, but it is a good opportunity to meet the players and practice a bit.

“The date is not so good, many of the players are on holiday. There will be no matches, but an opportunity to get to know each other, to create a good atmosphere. While in the clubs, I have coached maybe half of the players from the list, and that is an advantage for me. I hope we will make the most of the time we spend in Pazova. The idea is to make a firm base for September, the official start of the qualifications.”

The group we are in for the European Championship seems like it has never been more difficult. How good or bad is it that we play both matches with England, the first favourite of the group, until the end of 2023?

“That is the draw, and it is up to us to play from match to match. First, we play with Azerbaijan, then with England in October. They have a good team, the players who are regular in the Premier League, but let’s go step by step. The first match we play is extremely important, a good start is crucial to continue the qualification process with optimism.