History of Serbia

Team Overview

The Serbia national football team (Serbian: Фудбалска репрезентација Србије / Fudbalska reprezentacija Srbije) represents Serbia in international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Serbia. It was previously known as the Yugoslavia national football team until February 2003 and the Serbia and Montenegro national football team until June 2006 when Serbia declared independence as the successor state to the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. It was renamed the Serbia national football team on 28 June 2006, with the Montenegro national football team created to represent the new state of Montenegro.

FIFA and UEFA considers the Serbia national team the direct descendant of the Serbia and Montenegro and Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia national teams.

History

Although the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was formed on April 28, 1992, because of the international sanctions due to the Yugoslav wars banning the country from international sporting events, the football team didn't play its first match until 23 December 1994, when they lost to Brazil 2-0 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Since then the team has qualified for the World Cup twice, in 1998 and 2006, and for the European Championship once, in 2000. In 2003, with the reconstitution of the country as Serbia and Montenegro, the team changed its name accordingly. The first international match as Serbia and Montenegro was against Azerbaijan in Podgorica on 12 February 2003, and ended as a 2-2 draw.

On May 21, 2006 Montenegro voted to dissolve its political union with Serbia. On June 3, Montenegro became a sovereign state meaning there will be separate Montenegrin national teams competing in future tournaments. This did not affect the finals of the 2006 World Cup, in which the newly independent states of Serbia and Montenegro competed under the same flag for the last time but did not progress past the group stage.

On August 16, 2006 the new team representing Serbia played its first international match, with a 3-1 away win against the Czech Republic.

Stars of the Current Squad

• Dejan Stanković(F.C. Internazionale Milano)
• Nemanja Vidić(Manchester United)
• Nikola Žigić(Valencia CF)

Team Legends

• Dragan Džajić
• Stjepan Bobek
• Siniša Mihajlović
• Predrag Mijatović
• Rajko Mitic
• Dragoslav Šekularac

Most Appearances

Most Goals

Team Honours

FIFA World Cup™ victories

Fourth (1930, 1962)

FIFA World Cup™ appearances

10 (1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1974, 1982, 1990, 1998, 2006)

Continental titles

• Runners-Up

UEFA EURO (1960, 1968)

Best Results

• Winner

Olympic Football Tournament Final (1960), FIFA U-20 World Cup Final (1987)

• Runners-Up

Olympic Football Tournament Final (1948, 1952, 1956)

• Third

Olympic Football Tournament Final (1984)

• Fourth

Olympic Football Tournament Final (1980)

Management

• President-KARADZIC Tomislav
• Vice President-TEOFILOVIC Predrag
• General Secretary-LAKOVIC Zoran
• Treasurer-BRDARIC Mirjana
• Men's Coach-DJUKIC Miroslav (SRB)
• Media Officer-BOSKOVIC Aleksandar
• Referee Coordinator-JOKIC Zdravko

Uniforms

Important Links

• Official
• Football Association of Serbia - Official Site
• Football Association of Serbia - Official online store
• Serbian National Football Team
• UEFA team profile
• FIFA team profile

• Unofficial
• Beli Orlovi Template:Sr icon
• Serbian football at xtratime.org

References