Last night we attended the Serbia versus Italy in a Euro Cup Qualifying Match at Red Star Stadium here in Belgrade. It was exciting to see one of the greatest soccer teams in the world, Italy, live with great seats at almost mid-field. It was an entertaining game but Serbia only managed a 1-1 tie. The extra point did help however as next week is the final round of group play. The Serbians are 2 points below Estonia and in third place. They play at Slovenija Tuesday and have to win to get second place in the group. The second place team then enters a playoff. The Euro Cup is this summer and hosted by Ukraine and Poland and it would be nice to have Serbia in the competition.
The stadium had a great atmosphere, but Italy quieted the crowd with a goal in the second minute of play. The Serbs fought back however, and with aggressive play, got an equalizer mid-way through the second half. They continued to play hard in the second half, but Italy shut them down and dominated the last 20 minutes. Serbia had no options but long passes to their 6-8 forward, Nikola Žigić. I can see why the Italians are so powerful, Serbia desperately needed a goal to secure the second place finish, but they couldn’t do anything.
Best of luck to the Serbs as they take on their former countrymates in Ljubljiana. I would like to thank Eric and Luiz for the tickets.
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