{"id":193060,"date":"2025-11-17T00:14:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T22:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/?p=193060"},"modified":"2025-11-17T00:14:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T22:14:09","slug":"serbia-bids-farewell-to-dismal-qualifiers-with-a-win-paunovics-substitutions-spark-a-comeback-and-his-first-victory-as-head-coach-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/serbia-bids-farewell-to-dismal-qualifiers-with-a-win-paunovics-substitutions-spark-a-comeback-and-his-first-victory-as-head-coach-video\/","title":{"rendered":"SERBIA BIDS FAREWELL TO DISMAL QUALIFIERS WITH A WIN: Paunovi\u0107\u2019s substitutions spark a comeback and his first victory as head coach! (VIDEO)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Serbia bid farewell to the dismal 2026 World Cup qualifiers with a win. In Leskovac, Veljko Paunovi\u0107 recorded his first triumph as head coach after a second-half comeback against Latvia \u2013 2:1 (0:1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Eagles were walking on the edge of embarrassment, going into halftime with a deficit after a goal by Vladislavs Gutkovskis, only to complete a turnaround within 15 minutes of the second half thanks to Paunovi\u0107\u2019s substitutions during the break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two excellent assists from Andrija \u017divkovi\u0107 were used by Aleksandar Katai and his namesake Stankovi\u0107 for their debut goals in the national team and something they will remember for the rest of their lives. Especially the son of the legendary Dejan Stankovi\u0107, who burst into tears in a flood of emotions\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was the only thing worth mentioning at the end of an unsuccessful qualifying cycle in a match to forget, in which we were far from the required level \u2014 both in play and attitude. However, on sheer quality, Paunovi\u0107\u2019s men managed to secure the victory, primarily for confidence and momentum for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, the tally in Group K is devastating: Serbia finished third with 13 points, one fewer than Albania, which will go to the playoffs, while flawless England qualified directly for the World Cup with 24 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paunovi\u0107 made as many as seven changes compared to the match against England at Wembley, giving a chance to individuals who previously had little playing time (Gruji\u0107, Jovi\u0107, Radonji\u0107\u2026), but no improvement was visible, at least judging by the first-half analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

DEBUT GOAL IN THE SERBIAN JERSEY: Aleksandar Stankovi\u0107<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we showed a solid performance on the Island, relative to the strength of the opponent, tonight in Leskovac we thoroughly embarrassed ourselves in the first 45 minutes. The Eagles came out onto the Dubo\u010dica pitch as if punished, without will or desire, and it was clear that the body language was not good. And when that\u2019s the case, nothing will go your way, even if the rival is from the lower tiers of European football.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We thought the weak Latvians would surrender on their own, but they shocked us with a counterattack right at the start. Captain Filip Kosti\u0107 was easily beaten, Janis Ikaunieks sent the ball into the six-yard box, and Nikola Milenkovi\u0107 was late to mark Gutkovskis, who slammed it into the net for 0:1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That goal shook us so much that we could have gone into halftime two goals down. We didn\u2019t, thanks to Predrag Rajkovi\u0107, whose two saves in two seconds prevented total humiliation, showing incredible reflexes. We practically threw away the first 45 minutes except for one chance by Nemanja Radonji\u0107, and it was clear that something had to change \u2014 maybe even a \u201chair-dryer treatment\u201d in the locker room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paunovi\u0107 sent on Ognjen Mimovi\u0107 in addition to Katai and Stankovi\u0107, kept Radonji\u0107, Sa\u0161a Luki\u0107 and Strahinja Pavlovi\u0107, and immediately hit the mark. \u017divkovi\u0107 created everything, dribbled past defenders, and laid it off for Katai to equalize with his first touch just four minutes into the second half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MORE TOPICS:<\/mark><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWE MUST NOT ALLOW NEW VICTIMS\u201d: Medical science students called on Dijana Hrka to suspend her hunger strike!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

STATE DEPARTMENT SAYS: \u201cRemoving Russian control over NIS increases Serbia\u2019s energy security\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE SERBIAN IS THE WORLD CHAMPION: Jovan Cvetanovi\u0107 defeated the Frenchman in the final and won gold in jiu-jitsu!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PROFESSOR JOLER RESIGNED AFTER 20 YEARS: Due to police repression and violation of autonomy, he left the Novi Sad Academy of Arts!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

TODAY IS THE HOLY UNMERCENARY HEALERS DAY: On this day, it is good to do heavy work, be sure to read this prayer for healing!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source:<\/strong> Sportal Foto: <\/strong>ATA Images<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Serbia bid farewell to the dismal 2026 World Cup qualifiers with a win. In Leskovac, Veljko Paunovi\u0107 recorded his first triumph as head coach after a second-half comeback against Latvia \u2013 2:1 (0:1). The Eagles were walking on the edge of embarrassment, going into halftime with a deficit after a goal by Vladislavs Gutkovskis, only […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":193062,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[86,9594,9595,9162],"class_list":["post-193060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport","tag-fudbal","tag-kvalifikacije-za-mondijal","tag-srbija-letonija","tag-veljko-paunovic","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Serbiantimes.info EN","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193060"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":193065,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193060\/revisions\/193065"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}