A session of the Executive Board of the Football Association of Serbia was held on Friday, at which Dragan Stojković officially became the former national team coach.
Piksi proposed his resignation after the defeat by Albania (0:1) in Leskovac, and it has now been officially accepted.
„Following the defeat by Albania and the return of the national team from Andorra to Belgrade, the Executive Board of the Football Association of Serbia, at today’s session in Stara Pazova, made a decision on the mutual termination of the contract with the coach of the A-team national team, Dragan Stojković, without any further obligations of the FSS towards him.
At the same time, a mutual agreement was reached on the termination of cooperation with the members of Stojković’s coaching staff and the director of the A-team.
Members of the Executive Board have authorized President Dragan Džajić and General Secretary Branko Radujko to hold talks with potential candidates for the new coach of our A-team in the coming days. The Football Association of Serbia will inform the public in the coming period about who will lead the national team in the November World Cup qualifiers, against England in London and Latvia in Leskovac.
On this occasion, we want to once again express our gratitude to Dragan Stojković for everything he has done in the past four and a half years as coach — especially in the national team’s qualification for the European and World Championships, as well as for the success achieved in the Nations League. Respecting his great football name, the Football Association of Serbia wishes Dragan Stojković much luck and success in his future professional challenges,“ the FSS website states.
Piksi himself also spoke out, emotionally saying goodbye to the national team. We convey his statement in its entirety:
-After four and a half years, I am no longer in the position of coach of the A-national team of Serbia. First of all, I want to sincerely thank the Football Association of Serbia for the trust shown – it was an honor and a great privilege to lead the national team of my country. Together we managed to achieve a historic result and connect two major competitions after 24 years – the World and European Championships. The goal that I set for myself as a coach, we managed to achieve. I will forever remember the scenes from Lisbon, because that is one of the most beautiful moments in my life and one of the greatest successes of Serbian football in recent history.
-In the Nations League, we also represented Serbia in the best possible way – we qualified for the A division and managed to maintain our status in the elite rank of European football in competition with very high-quality national teams. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who was with and around the A-team – the players, members of the professional staff, the guys from the medical service, the commissary, the marketing and media team – all the people who selflessly worked, helped, and believed in our common idea.
-Thank you to the public and the media for their support during this period. I tried to do everything in my power to give a chance to players who could have chosen another path, to wear the jersey of some other national team – but they decided to play for Serbia. In the past four and a half years, we have promoted a large number of young footballers who, I am convinced, are the future of Serbian football. I wish the successor on the national team bench, whoever that may be, a lot of luck and success. I wish the Football Association of Serbia and the entire football public to continue building an atmosphere of unity and support, because only in this way can we move forward. In me, they will always have an ally, a fan, and a man who is honored to be with his Serbia. Just as I once proudly wore the state coat of arms as a player, so today, with the same zeal and love, I remain with my country – with our team, our football, and our people – states Piksi’s announcement.
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Source: Nova.rs / Telegraf.rs, Photo: Dusan Milenkovic / ATAImages