The Serbian national team suffered a heavy defeat in a friendly match in Mexico. The host celebrated with 5:1 in the general rehearsal for the World Cup and thus inflicted a heavy defeat on the “eagles” at the packed stadium in Toluca.
Serbia took the lead with a goal by Petar Stanić, before Alvarez equalized by halftime, and then Bukinac brought the lead to the host with an own goal. In the continuation, first Jimenez, and then Avdić with another own goal, brought a big advantage to the host, while Chávez put the final dot in the last attack with a eurogoal.
Although head coach Veljko Paunović took a team deprived of the help of main assets like Andrija Živković and Strahinja Pavlović on this distant journey, the pale performance and incomprehensible cardinal mistakes in defense leave great concern and dark clouds over the future of our national team football.
Mexico imposed a fierce rhythm from the very start, constantly besieging our penalty area, where Venezia goalkeeper Filip Stanković managed to save the net with several brilliant interventions. However, in the 19th minute, a big surprise happened. The only real action of Serbia in the match flashed – after a collision between two Mexican defenders, the ball reached Petar Stanić, who scored in the manner of breed goalscorers for an unexpected 1:0.
The joy of the “eagles” lasted about fifteen minutes, when Vásquez used an excellent cross and beat the helpless Stanković with a header for 1:1. And when it seemed that they would go to the break with that result, a shocking detail followed in the second minute of referee’s stoppage time. Young Boys’ new player, Stefan Bukinac, made an incomprehensible mistake and without looking, in a desire to pass the ball back, strongly shook his own net for Mexico’s turnaround.
In the second halftime, Serbia totally sank. The host practically resolved the question of the winner in the 57th minute when Jiménez picked up a rebound after a hit post and increased to 3:1. Paunović tried to stir up the team with substitutions, Serbia created two half-chances, and then in the 72nd minute, a new own goal for the “believe it or not” column was seen.
After a corner for Mexico, substitute Adem Avdić clumsily caught the ball at the first post and placed it into the closer corner of Veljko Ilić’s goal, who had in the meantime replaced Stanković, for a painful 4:1. Luis Chávez put the final dot on the disastrous edition of Serbia in the 90th minute of the match, setting the final 5:1.
This tour bared the situation and showed that players from the domestic Superliga and those with less playing time can currently hardly respond to challenges at the highest international level. While our team awaits the September start in the A Division of the Nations League with many worries and question marks, a maximally encouraged Mexico opens the World Cup in just seven days with a match against South Africa, in a group where Czechia and South Korea are also waiting for them.
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Source: Nova.rs; Photo: ATA Images