Serbia and Montenegro: The new Yugoslavs seek the successes of old.

The players of Serbia and Montenegro’s national team do not lack self-confidence. They can well be proud of football successes achieved in the past. Red Star Belgrade was once one of the best club teams in Europe. And Yugoslavia’s national side was ranked in the top echelon of the old continent. But even the very confident Serbian professionals had not reckoned on Serbiaand Montenegro winning Group 7 of the European qualifications for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, especially ahead of the highly-rated Spaniards. On October 12, 2005 they did it. With a 1-0 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina the Serbs ascertained first place and the direct qualification, sending Spain into the play-offs with the best second-placed teams from other groups.

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Suddenly the Serbs are on a high. That’s understandable considering the fact that they are one of just a few European teams without a defeat in the World Cup qualifiers. But they have experienced some hard times. In the qualifications for EURO 2004 they lost to Azerbaijan. That defeat was considered a massive failure by the whole country, and triggered the change at the top in June 2003. Dejan Savicevic, the former top star and fans’ favourite, was succeeded by Petkovic as national coach. The team have yet to lose a competitive match under his direction.

Statisticians among football fans will find little to quote about Serbia and Montenegro. That’s no wonder because this country name has been listed at the International Football Association, FIFA, and the European Football Union, UEFA, for only a little more than two years. On February 5, 2003, the Yugoslav Parliament dissolved the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and proclaimed the new nation of Serbia and Montenegro. In principle it is the heart of the former Yugoslavia, from which Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina split during the Balkan War of the last decade, and the province of Kosovocame under the administration of the United Nations.

The Serbs have retained the colours of the old Yugoslavia, and the national team is called “Plavi” (the Blues) by the fans. Players from Montenegro are a minority in the team, not to say a rarity. When it was ascertained that the team would participate in the World Cup finals, coach Petkovic intimated certain problems. He said that today there are “still people who have problems saying the name of our country”. There is a majority in Serbia and Montenegro who would have liked to have kept the old name, Yugoslavia. Thus the appearance of the national team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup will be a “promotional appearance” for the new country of Serbia and Montenegro, not simply to advertise its name worldwide, but to also help gain favour at home.

“People here love football and live for the game. But Serbian football has a tendency to die beautifully”, said Lothar Matthaeus, Germany’s most capped international who coached Partizan Belgrade in 2003 before he became Hungary’s national coach. Petkovic, a former striker who played in the 1974 World Cup, probably understands the tendency of the Serbs as outlined by Matthaeus. By good defensive work and first of all an exemplary team spirit he has contained the tendency toward unproductive play. “Our secret of success is harmony”, says the coach who celebrated his 60th birthday in September 2005. His captain Krstajic still can’t believe that he will play for his country in his chosen home, Germany, in the summer of 2006: “We still have to digest what we have achieved. But we have even greater potential. We want to celebrate often, at the World Cup too”.