UEFA EURO U17 | U17 NATIONAL TEAM OF SERBIA, UEFA MODELS, ALEKSANDAR STANKOVIĆ AND STEFAN DŽODIĆ ABOUT THE GENERATION THAT NEVER GIVES UP, THE ONLY TEAM FROM THE REGION THAT QUALIFIED FOR THE UEFA U17 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP

The U17 National Team of Serbia arrived in Herzliya, a city in the district of Tel Aviv, where it will stay during the UEFA U17 European Championship. There are National Teams from two groups at the Daniel Hotel, all rivals of our U17 National Team in the group stage, Belgium, Turkey and Spain.

This generation, the Serbian football expects a lot of, followed the UEFA protocol, and individual and group photography was taken in front of the hotel located on the coast of Mediterranean Sea and it helped to the delegation to adapt easy to new conditions. In the afternoon, the Head Coach Radovan Krivokapić will do the first training session in Israel with his team as well as all of the preparations in Israel, for the first match scheduled for 17.05 against Belgium, Central European Time (16.30). Three days later, the rival is Turkey, and on 23.05, Spain.

Enough reason to talk to two players in whose veins is the blood of fathers who left a big mark in Serbian football, each had his own, valuable career. Aleksandar Stanković is one of the successors of Dejan Stanković, the legend of FC Internazionale, Milano, and Stefan Džodić is following in the footsteps of his father Nenad, a former player of FC Zemun, and then an international player in France …

– We have our dreams that we came here with – does not hide Aleksandar Stanković, captain of the 2005 generation that many people think that this generation will provide the Serbian national team football in the future,a new Tadić, Milenković, Mitrović, Vlahović … We would like to continue the competition after the Group Stage and stay in Israel as long as possible, to reach the final match. It is nice to be a participant of the European Championship, but we must always have ambitions. And the Head Coach constantly tells us, we respect others, but we look at ourselves first. We believe in ourselves.

– This generation has a character, we showed that during two rounds of qualifications, when it was harder. Perhaps the “come-back” against Slovenia is the best indicator that we are the strongest a group of players. We did not give up, we believed in ourselves and came to the result when maybe few people believed. And that is our greatest strength, team. And there is always an individual from a good team.

Father Dejan is certainly proud of his sons, Aleksandar is building his own path at Inter, and Filip, who is also a member of the Serbian national team under 19, was named the best goalkeeper in the 2nd Division in Netherlands by his great saves. It is also very important to know that Filip and

Volendam won a place in the First Division of Dutch football and next season we will watch him in matches against Ajax, Feyenoord …

– Our father is a role model, our dream is also his dream. We want to progress and achieve a part of his great career – Aleksandar Stanković, the captain of the 2005 generation, is honest, we all hope that this generation, will write beautiful pages of Serbian football in the future.

Stefan Dzodic also knows the path he wants to take, and Tel Aviv is just one of the many stations that await him on the path to full football maturity.

– We are glad to be here, because when you see how many national teams did not manage to win a place at the European Championship, everything gained in importance. We eliminated Croatia, Slovenia … good national teams. Now we want to go one step further. We have a good team spirit, that is our greatest strength. We all work for each other, we fight, no one gives up. We had several upheavals during the qualifications, we always believed in ourselves – points out Stefan Dzodic, who plays in the midfield, unlike his father Nenad, who was the central defender.

– It is a strong group, but we are playing in the European Championship. Everyone came here with some ambition, it is ours to pass the group, to fight for the knockout phase. We go from match to match, the first is always the most important. Belgium and Spain are good selections, we know Turkey because we were together in the elite qualifying round in Slovenia. We believe in ourselves, we hope for good results – said Stefan Dzodic.

IGOR MATIĆ, COORDINATOR OF YOUTH NATIONAL TEAMS IN THE FA OF SERBIA

One of the most responsible for the work and results of the younger selections of the FA of Serbia is Igor Matić, the coordinator of the Youth National Teams. Serbia is recording good results again, the U17 National Team is at the European Championships, and the U19 National Team is expecting the final round of qualifications.

– A good result was achieved, but we all know that in football it does not exist yesterday, but only today and tomorrow. The boys are a really good group, they showed that through the qualifying rounds. A generation that promises. It impresses their relationship off the pitch, the respect they have. It is up to us to show them the way, to provide support – Igor Matić is clear.

Serbia is in the most difficult group in Israel?

– Here are the best U17 National Teams in Europe and we want to measure ourselves, show progress again. Impressive is the way we achieved success in some qualifying matches and all of those points should have been deserved. The boys were awarded for their character, they never give up, they believe in themselves and want to progress – Igor Matić leaves no dilemma.

Photo: UEFA