EURO 2008: SERBIA HALES HER LISBON LIONS
B92
13 September 2007
Serbia
Serbia snatched a last-gasp equalizer in Lisbon last night to keep
alive their hopes of qualifying for Euro 2008.
After 178 minutes of ineptitude and frustration, just when Serbia’s
qualification hopes looked to be dead and buried, and the players’
wives and girlfriends thought they were free to start making plans for
next year’s summer holidays – anywhere except Austria and Switzerland –
the unthinkable happened. Serbia scored.
The hero of the hour was in the unlikely form of Lokomotiv Moscow
right-back Branislav Ivanoviæ. In the dying seconds, team captain
Dejan Stankoviæ drifted in a free-kick from the right, causing panic
in the Portuguese penalty box. In the ensuing melee, the ball broke
to Ivanoviæ who drilled the ball past keeper Ricardo to send the
visiting fans into raptures.
However, the early signs had not boded well. From the opening whistle,
the Portuguese took the game to the visitors, who had started with
only one man up front.
Despite earlier rumours to the contrary, Valencia forward Nikola ~Nigiæ
started on the bench, leaving Milan Jovanoviæ as the sole striker.
In the eleventh minute, the home side won a free-kick on the edge of
the penalty area, some twenty-five yards out. Simao Sabrosa stepped up,
and sent an exquisite curling shot inside keeper Vladimir Stojkoviæ’s
right-hand post to put Portugal one up. It looked like it was going
to be a long night.
Ten minutes later, things could have got even worse.
Jose Bosingwa, who was making hay down Serbia’s left flank, broke
free again, and whipped in a tantalizing cross. Nuno Gomes rose
heighest in the box, only to see his header crash off the post. The
resulting rebound fell to Nuno Maniche ten yards out, who sent the
ball goalwards, but by now Stojkoviæ had found his bearings, and
pulled off a great save to keep the visitors in the match.
Serbia, by now virtually encamped on the edge of their own
eighteen-yard box, and with as shots raining in on their goal, somehow
managed to cling on until half-time, and Javier Clement was able to
regroup his charges.
In the second half, he made a bold decision. He took off the
out-of-sorts Milo~Z Krasiæ and Zoran To~Ziæ, and brought on Marko
Panteliæ and ~Nigiæ, changing to an attacking 4-3-3 formation. If
nothing else, ~Nigiæ’s arrival gave the team and the visiting fans
alike a boost.
The swap almost brought benefits immediately. The big striker caused
Ricardo to spill a cross from the right, which fell to Jovanoviæ on
the volley ten yards out. Sadly, the young striker sliced his shot,
and the ball flew harmlessly into the stands behind the goal.
This was to set a pattern for the second half, as the home side began
to pull more men back, in a bid now to hang for a 1-0 victory. And
though Serbia looked more threatening than they had in the opening
period, Portuguese manager Scolari’s tactics seemed to be paying off,
as they were unable to put the home goal under any serious threat.
And it was then, two minutes from time, with Portuguese fans heading
for the exits, confident that their side had done enough, that Ivanoviæ
had his moment of glory.
Drama was to follow after the final whistle when an unseemly scuffle
broke out along the touchline, TV pictures showing Scolari striking
Ivica Dragutinovic on the chin, after an argument. UEFA will
undoubtedly be looking further into the incident
While it was not the result of the night – little could match
Scotland’s triumph in Paris – few can argue that Ivanoviæ’s goal was
the footballing equivalent of getting away with murder. The draw,
together with the 1-1 draw in Helsinki between Finland and Poland,
means the Eagles still have their Euro 2008 destiny in their own hands,
and can go into next month’s clash with Armenia with heads held high
and all guns blazing.
–Boundary_(ID_xo9nxWRaVwrcFQYkT4LsBw)–