EURO2024
Jovic saves Serbia’s hopes – Sesko also continues to hope
Slovenia and Serbia fought a close duel. Photo
© Sven Hoppe/dpa
First Slovenia celebrates in a heated European Championship duel, then Serbia turns up the heat and celebrates the draw. After the 1:1, both teams can hope for the round of 16. Sesko is waiting for a first.
With his late goal to make it 1-1 (0-0), the former Frankfurt player Jovic dampened the mood of the Slovenian fans in the turbulent final phase of an intense match, who had already loudly celebrated their national team’s first victory at a European football championship. “That broke our hearts,” said Slovenia’s midfielder Timi Elsnik.
Defender Zan Karnicnik scored the opening goal in the 69th minute – but then came the last-minute shock from Jovic. The goal by the 26-year-old attacker from AC Milan in the fifth minute of injury time now gives the Serbs hope of reaching the round of 16 at the European Football Championship. “We believe in ourselves until the end and will not give up,” said coach Dragan Stojkovic, praising the morale of his players: “For many, the game was already over, but not for us. We were rewarded for that.”
With two points on the board, the Slovenians are currently in a better position in third place, which could also lead to the round of 16. However, the team led by Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko will face title contender England on the last matchday. “Unfortunately, the result is not what we had hoped for. We could have achieved more. Now we have to keep going against England. It will be a difficult game, but we can beat anyone,” said goalscorer Karnicnik. Serbia (1 point) will face Denmark at the end of the preliminary round.
Tadic in Serbia’s starting eleven
After the 0-1 opening defeat against England, the Serbs were already under pressure not to fall behind in the fight for the playoff places in Group C. This seemed to hinder coach Dragan Stojkovic’s selection even more – in the first half, the Serbs appeared largely confused. Captain Dusan Tadic, who slipped back into the starting eleven after his surprise substitution in the 0-1 defeat against the English, repeatedly urged his teammates with outstretched arms to play more calmly.
Sesko has to wait
It took until just before half-time for Serbia to have its first big chance: striker Aleksandar Mitrovic got the ball in the penalty area, held onto it skillfully, but then failed to put any power behind his shot from close range. Slovenia’s goalkeeper Jan Oblak parried. His teammates had had the best chance of the first half just before. Timi Elsnik hit the post with a powerful shot. Leipzig striker Sesko put the follow-up shot over the goal. He now wants to score his first goal at the European Championships against England.
In a match that was initially of a moderate standard, the sluggish Serbs could not have complained about falling behind. After the break, the picture changed. Immediately after the restart, the game picked up pace, thanks to the Serbs. Mitrovic was again thwarted by Oblak (47th minute), and shortly afterwards 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 past the post. After a cross, he was powerless to stop Karnicnik’s goal.
Association complains
Before the match, the Serbian association caused a stir on Thursday. After allegedly hostile chants by Croatian and Albanian fans, the Serbs lodged a complaint with UEFA and even flirted with withdrawing from the tournament. “We are demanding sanctions from UEFA, ultimately at the price of not continuing the European Championship,” said association general secretary Jovan Surbatovic on Serbia’s public broadcaster RTS.
He was referring to chants from both fan camps in the second half of the 2:2 match between Croatia and Albania on Wednesday evening in Hamburg. The top official complained that his association had already been punished “for individual cases” and is now demanding consequences for the Croatians and Albanians. “If UEFA does not punish them, we will consider how we will proceed,” emphasized Surbatovic, claiming that Serbian fans are “gentlemen.”
This did not stop some supporters from putting up flags in the stands, as they did in the match against England, showing the outline of Kosovo, filled in with the colors of the Serbian coat of arms. “There is no giving up,” was written above them – Serbian nationalists usually follow this with the sentence: “Kosovo is Serbia.”