Serbia’s national coach Dragan Stojkovic has a history with Munich from his time as a professional. At the beginning of the 1990s, Yugoslavia’s then outstanding strategist dribbled over to Olympique Marseille. And what an eleven they played in the 1993 Champions League final at Munich’s Olympic Stadium: Rudi Völler, Didier Deschamps, Fabien Barthez, a 1-0 win against Milan – but unfortunately without Stojkovic. Injuries slowed him down, but he still took the greatest triumph of his career.
So if anyone is wondering why one of the biggest names in Serbia during these weeks of the European Championship is the coach, here you go: Stojkovic, once footballer of the year in his home country, has experienced everything at the age of 59 – now even the return to the north of Munich for the second group match against Slovenia. There, in the roar of the arena, he added another episode to his globetrotting: a 1:1 (0:0) draw thanks to goals from Slovenian Zan Karnicnik and a late equaliser from Luka Jovic, which just about saved Serbia’s chances of participating in a knockout round of the continental tournament for the first time.
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The Serbs had fielded the better-known names in this duel. The offensive around Dusan Tadic and Dusan Vlahovic as well as Aleksandar Mitrovic embodies a high level. The latter is even one of the few professionals who developed athletically after moving from England to Saudi Arabia instead of just making millions. None of this impressed the Slovenians, who began with dashing runs through the middle, the best chance was missed in the 7th minute by winger Jan Mlakar, whose breakthrough was just stopped by the Serbian keeper Predrag Rajkovic.
Only in the last minute of injury time did justice come
Slovenia pressed, while outside on the line someone raised his hands in warning: Serbia’s coach Stojkovic, who would probably have preferred to provide some motivation on the field for his sluggish boys in red. It was hard to tell from the first half who would advance in this preliminary group alongside favorites England and possibly challenge the DFB team in the round of 16. The only thing that was certain was that neither of the contenders was particularly scary.
The Serbs lacked dynamism and precision, Slovenia lacked quality in finishing – see Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko, who got his moment. In the 37th minute, his colleague Timi Max Elsnik ran straight through the open Serbian barn door and hit the post. And Sesko’s follow-up shot: a case for the audience in the front row, ready to catch it. The Serbs certainly improved, the game gained in quality, but above all the number of blocked shots by Stojkovic’s eleven increased. No one slipped through.
The Serbs were beginning to despair, as three more attempts by Mitrovic failed to reach the goal after the break. There was always something wrong, which is why coach Stojkovic – now without a jacket and looking melancholy – ordered more casual play. But the Slovenians again had the best chance when Sesko forced Rajkovic to make a save with a long-range shot after a counterattack (58th minute). Almost logically, as the saying goes, the 1-0 came from the Slovenian full-back Karnicnik. He won the ball deep in the defence, ran halfway across the pitch, passed to Elsnik and took advantage of his cross with a goose step (69th minute). The fact that Mitrovic thundered the ball against the crossbar almost immediately was fitting for this day of Serbian misfortune.
It took until the last minute of injury time before justice was finally done: Substitute Jovic headed the ball into the goal after a corner to make it 1-1 – the rest was Serbian relief.