Serbia national football team

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Serbia

Nickname(s)	Beli Orlovi (White Eagles)
Association	Football Association of Serbia
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Radomir Antić
Captain	Dejan Stanković
Most caps	Savo Milošević (102)
Top scorer	Savo Milošević (37)
Home stadium	Stadion Crvena Zvezda
FIFA code	SRB
FIFA ranking	14
Highest FIFA ranking	8 (May 1998)
Lowest FIFA ranking	47 (December 2005)
Elo ranking	16
Home colours Away colours
First international
Czech Republic 1 – 3 Serbia (Uherské Hradiště, Czech Republic; 16 August, 2006)
Biggest win
Azerbaijan 1 – 6 Serbia (Tofik Bakhramov Stadium, Azerbaijan; 17 October 2007)
Biggest defeat
Argentina 6 – 0 Serbia (Germany, Germany; 16 June 2006)
World Cup
Appearances	10 (First in 1930)
Best result	Semi Finals 1930, 1962
European Championship
Appearances	5 (First in 1960)
Best result	Final 1960, 1968

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. Both FIFA and UEFA consider the Serbia national team the direct descendant of the Serbia & Montenegro national football team, the FR Yugoslavia national football team and, by proxy, the SFR Yugoslavia national football team.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Heritage from Yugoslavia 1.2 The beginnings and the 1998 FIFA World Cup 2 Tournament records 2.1 World Cup record 2.1.1 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification 2.2 European Championship record 2.3 Recent call-ups 2.4 World Cup 2006 squad 3 Competitions 3.1 2006 World Cup 4 Statistics 4.1 Most appearances 4.2 Leading goalscorers 5 Record against other countries 6 Notable matches 7 Nickname 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

[edit] History

This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this section if you can. (March 2009)

[edit] Heritage from Yugoslavia

It was previously known as the Yugoslavia national football team from January 15, 1992 until February 4, 2003, and then as the Serbia and Montenegro national football team until June 3, 2006 when Serbia declared independence as the successor state to the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. It was officially renamed the Serbia national football team on June 28, 2006, while the Montenegro national football team was created to represent the new state of Montenegro.

Between 1921 and 1992, the team did not exist as we know it today, since Serbia was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918-1943) and later on, of the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia (1945-1991). The Serbia national team existed from 1919 to 1921, but ceased to exist following the creation of the first Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

However, the Football Association of Serbia is a FIFA member since 1921 and a UEFA member since its creation in 1954. The Serbia national team is recognized, thanks to a mutual consent between both FIFA and UEFA, as the direct descendant of the Yugoslavia national team. Hence, the new national team formed in 1992 inherited of the full status, results, and achievements from Yugoslavia, which was not the case for any other country resulting from the breakup of Yugoslavia. Consequently, it did not have to apply to obtain a FIFA and UEFA status.

A similar situation happened following Montenegro's decision to secede following a referendum held on May 21, 2006. Once more, Serbia inherited of the Serbia and Montenegro full status, and did not have to apply for a FIFA and UEFA status, while Montenegro was obligated to do so.

[edit] The beginnings and the 1998 FIFA World Cup

Although the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was formed on April 28, 1992, its teams were banned from all international sporting events, including the national football team. Consequently, the national team did not play its first game as a new country before December 23, 1994, a friendly match played in Porto Alegre and in which Brazil won by the mark of 2-0. This was the first ever team composed of Serbian and Montenegrin players exclusively, while Slobodan Santrač, a former Yugoslavia national team player, was named the team's first ever manager. The next game was played only three days later, this time in Buenos Aires, resulting in 1-0 loss to Argentina. Despite two losses in two games, the team was honoured to play its first two games ever against such football powerhouses.

Also due to the United Nations international sanctions, the team could not take part in the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification, nor the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying process.

On March 31, 1991, the team recorded its first official win in history, a 1-0 friendly against Uruguay, simultaneously marking the team's first ever home game, played at Stadion Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade, and the first ever goal scored, courtesy of Savo Milošević. Slightly more than one year later, the team records its first ever win in a FIFA World Cup qualifying tournament in what would also appear to be its first game in such a tournament, a 3-1 win over the Faroe Islands. Shortly after, the team would also record its biggest win in history, once again against the Faroe Islands, 8-1. Yugoslavia would finish second in Group 6, just behind Spain, meaning it had to go through the play-off system in order to qualify. Yugoslavia was paired up with Hungary, and what was believed would be a tough matchup turned out to be an easy win for Yugoslavia, 7-1 in Budapest and 5-0 in Belgrade, for an aggregate score of 12-1. This was enough to secure Yugoslavia its first ever FIFA World Cup appearance as a new country.

The 1998 FIFA World Cup seeding had Yugoslavia ranked on 21st position, but the Yugoslav national football team was received in France as one of the shadow favorites for the highest place at the World Cup. The justification for such estimation was partially found in the names of the Yugoslav players, members of great European teams and proven footballers. The draw puts the team in Group F alongside Germany, the United States, and finally, Iran. Yugoslavia wins its first game by the mark of 1-0 against Iran thanks to a goal from defender Siniša Mihajlović. The next game is a heartbreaker for Yugoslavia. After leading Germany 2-0, last game's hero, Mihajlović, scores an unlucky own goal following a German freekick, and Oliver Bierhoff equalises at 2-2 with only about ten minutes to the match. Nonetheless, Yugoslavia responds in the next game against the United States and wins 1-0 due to an early goal in Nantes. Yugoslavia made easy work of Group 6, but despite an excellent record, the game against Germany would prove costly as Germany wins the group thanks to a better goal differential.

Due to its second position, Yugoslavia sees itself face the Netherlands in the Round of 16. Yugoslavia enters in the match with a sole attacker, but its defensive tactics prove unsuccessful as Dennis Bergkamp puts the Netherlands in front in the 38th minute. Immediately following the start of the second half, Yugoslavia pressures the Dutch, who inevitably concede a header from Slobodan Komljenović. However, the turning point of this match would be a penalty shot awarded to Yugoslavia after Vladimir Jugović was fouled in the penalty area. Predrag Mijatović's shot dazzled Edwin van der Sar, but not the crossbar, and the scoreline remained the same at 1-1. Such an event demoralized the Yugoslavs, as the Dutch took the initiative. In the late seconds of the game, as everybody was preparing for extra time, Edgar Davids shot towards the Yugoslav net from a distance of 20 meters and beat goalkeeper Ivica Kralj, to the pure disbelief of the Yugoslav players and fans. This marked the end of Yugoslavia's run in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, since there was not much time left to do anything.

Unlucky events forced Yugoslavia out of the tournament, but the team definitely demonstrated its great ability and proved it had a spot among the world's best teams. This was also reflected in the FIFA World Rankings following the 1998 FIFA World Cup, in which Yugoslavia was constantly ranked in the Top 10 for a long period of time.

[edit] Tournament records

[edit] World Cup record

• 1930 to 1990 – Was part of SFR Yugoslavia.
• 1994; Could not enter ; Banned because of international sanctions due to Yugoslav wars (as Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)

Year	Round	Position	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	GF	GA
1998	Round of 16	9	4	2	1	1	5	3
2002	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
2006	Group stage	32	3	0	0	3	2	10
Total	2/3	-	7	2	1	4	7	13

[edit] 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification

Team v • d • e Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Serbia 7 6 0 1 15 5 +10 18  France 5 3 1 1 7 6 +1 10  Lithuania 7 3 0 4 6 6 0 9  Austria 6 2 1 3 7 9 −2 7  Romania 6 2 1 3 7 10 −3 7  Faroe Islands 5 0 1 4 1 7 −6 1

Austria  – 5 Sep 3 – 1 10 Oct 2 – 1 1 – 3 Faroe Islands  1 – 1 – 12 Aug 9 Sep 0 – 1 0 – 2 France  14 Oct 10 Oct – 1 – 0 5 Sep 2 – 1 Lithuania  2 – 0 1 – 0 0 – 1 – 0 – 1 14 Oct Romania  9 Sep 14 Oct 2 – 2 0 – 3 – 2 – 3 Serbia  1 – 0 2 – 0 9 Sep 3 – 0 10 Oct –

[edit] European Championship record

• 1960 to 1992 –Not applicable; Was part of SFR Yugoslavia.
• 1996 – Could not enter ; Banned because of international sanctions due to Yugoslav wars (as Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)

Year	Round	Position	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	GF	GA
2000	Quarterfinals	7	4	1	1	2	8	13
2004	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2008	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	1/3	-	4	1	1	2	8	13

Number	Name	DOB	Club	Caps	Goals	Debut
Goalkeepers
1	Vladimir Stojković	July 29, 1983 (1983-07-29) (age 25)	Sporting CP	25	0	v Czech Republic, 16 August 2006
12	Vladimir Dišljenković	July 2, 1981 (1981-07-02) (age 28)	Metalurh Donetsk	6	0	v Norway, 31 March 2004
21	Bojan Isailović	March 25, 1980 (1980-03-25) (age 29)	Gençlerbirliği	2	0	v Poland, 14 December 2008
Defenders
2	Antonio Rukavina	January 26, 1984 (1984-01-26) (age 25)	1860 München	16	0	v Finland, 2 June 2007
3	Ivica Dragutinović	November 13, 1975 (1975-11-13) (age 33)	Sevilla	46	0	v Greece, 13 December 2000
5	Nemanja Vidić	October 21, 1981 (1981-10-21) (age 27)	Manchester United	40	2	v Italy, 12 October 2002
6	Branislav Ivanović	February 22, 1984 (1984-02-22) (age 25)	Chelsea	23	4	v Italy, 8 June 2005
13	Ivan Obradović	July 25, 1988 (1988-07-25) (age 20)	Partizan	7	1	v Faroe Islands, 6 September 2008
20	Aleksandar Kolarov	November 10, 1985 (1985-11-10) (age 23)	Lazio	6	0	v Russia, 28 May 2008
15	Neven Subotić	December 10, 1988 (1988-12-10) (age 20)	Borussia Dortmund	4	1	v Romania, 28 March 2009
23	Aleksandar Luković	October 23, 1982 (1982-10-23) (age 26)	Udinese	12	0	v Poland, 15 March 2005
Midfielders
4	Gojko Kačar	January 26, 1987 (1987-01-26) (age 22)	Hertha Berlin	9	0	v Kazakhstan, 24 November 2007
7	Boško Janković	March 1, 1984 (1984-03-01) (age 25)	Genoa	24	5	v Norway, 15 November 2006
10	Dejan Stanković	September 11, 1978 (1978-09-11) (age 30)	Internazionale	83	13	v South Korea, 22 April 1998
11	Nenad Milijaš	April 30, 1983 (1983-04-30) (age 26)	Wolverhampton Wanderers	10	2	v Faroe Islands, 6 September 2008
16	Zdravko Kuzmanović	September 22, 1987 (1987-09-22) (age 21)	Fiorentina	19	2	v Finland, 2 June 2007
17	Miloš Krasić	November 1, 1984 (1984-11-01) (age 24)	CSKA Moscow	22	2	v Norway, 15 November 2006
18	Miralem Sulejmani	December 5, 1988 (1988-12-05) (age 20)	Ajax	6	0	v Macedonia, 6 February 2008
14	Milan Jovanović	April 18, 1981 (1981-04-18) (age 28)	Standard Liège	17	7	v Finland, 2 June 2007
Strikers
8	Danko Lazović	May 17, 1983 (1983-05-17) (age 26)	PSV Eindhoven	29	8	v Brazil, 27 March 2002
19	Nikola Žigić	September 25, 1980 (1980-09-25) (age 28)	Valencia	36	14	v Norway, 31 March 2004
9	Marko Pantelić	September 15, 1978 (1978-09-15) (age 30)	Hertha Berlin	26	3	v Poland, 16 November 2003
22	Dragan Mrđa	January 23, 1984 (1984-01-23) (age 25)	Vojvodina	2	0	v Poland, 14 December 2008

[edit] Recent call-ups

Name	DOB	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut	Most recent call-up
Defenders
Igor Đurić	February 22, 1985 (1985-02-22) (age 24)	SC Heerenveen	4 (0)	v Bulgaria, 19 November 2008	v Ukraine, 11 February 2009
Nemanja Pejčinović	November 4, 1987 (1987-11-04) (age 21)	Rad	1 (0)	v Poland, 14 December 2008	v Poland, 14 December 2008
Nenad Tomović	August 30, 1987 (1987-08-30) (age 21)	Genoa	1 (0)	v Poland, 14 December 2008	v Poland, 14 December 2008
Miroslav Vulićević	May 29, 1985 (1985-05-29) (age 24)	Vojvodina	1 (0)	v Poland, 14 December 2008	v Poland, 14 December 2008
Midfielders
Ivan Ergić	January 21, 1981 (1981-01-21) (age 28)	Free agent	11 (0)	v Uruguay, 15 May 2006	v Bulgaria, 11 November 2008
Saša Ilić	December 30, 1977 (1977-12-30) (age 31)	Red Bull Salzburg	41 (6)	v Northern Ireland, 16 August 2000	v Faroe Islands, 6 September 2008
Zoran Tošić	April 28, 1987 (1987-04-28) (age 22)	Manchester United	14 (0)	v Finland, 8 September 2007	v Ukraine, 11 February 2009
Miloš Ninković	December 25, 1984 (1984-12-25) (age 24)	Dynamo Kyiv	1 (0)	v Sweden, 1 April 2009	v Sweden, 1 April 2009
Dušan Tadić	November 20, 1988 (1988-11-20) (age 20)	Vojvodina	1 (0)	v Poland, 14 December 2008	v Poland, 14 December 2008
Strikers
Aleksandar Jevtić	March 30, 1985 (1985-03-30) (age 24)	Red Star Belgrade	1 (0)	v Poland, 14 December 2008	v Poland, 14 December 2008
Miloš Bogunović	June 10, 1985 (1985-06-10) (age 24)	Partizan	1 (0)	v Poland, 14 December 2008	v Poland, 14 December 2008
Danijel Aleksić	April 30, 1991 (1991-04-30) (age 18)	Vojvodina	1 (0)	v Poland, 14 December 2008	v Poland, 14 December 2008

[edit] World Cup 2006 squad

[edit] Competitions

[edit] 2006 World Cup

See also: 2006 World Cup qualification (UEFA)

Serbia and Montenegro began their 2006 World Cup campaign by finishing first with an undefeated record in their qualification group ahead of favourites Spain. The Serbia and Montenegro team also allowed only one goal in the 10 matches, the best defensive record out all 51 teams participating in qualification.

In the group stage, Serbia and Montenegro lost their opening game to joint group favourite, the Netherlands. The final score was 1-0 after Arjen Robben scored the only goal of the game. They also lost their second game to Argentina 6-0, the country's worst ever international result. With the team's two losses and with Netherlands and Argentina winning both their games, Serbia and Montenegro could no longer qualify for the knockout matches, and was playing for pride alone in their final group game against Côte d'Ivoire. Despite having a 2-0 lead for much of the first half, the Elephants managed to come back and win 3-2, leaving Serbia and Montenegro with a disappointing 0-0-3 World Cup run.

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Most appearances

#	Name	National Team career	Caps	Goals
1	Savo Milošević	1994–2008	102	37
2	Dragan Stojković	1983–2001	84	15
3	Dejan Stanković	1998–present	83	13
4	Predrag Mijatović	1989–2003	73	28
5	Slaviša Jokanović	1991–2002	64	10
5	Siniša Mihajlović	1991–2003	64	9
7	Mladen Krstajić	1999–present	59	2
7	Zoran Mirković	1995–2003	59	0
9	Darko Kovačević	1994–2004	58	10
10	Dejan Savićević	1986–1999	56	19

Statistics do not include Serbian players who have played for the SFR Yugoslavia national team exclusively.

As of 06 June 2009.^[1]

• Players in bold are still active/available for selection.

[edit] Leading goalscorers

#	Name	National Team career	Goals	Caps	Average
1	Savo Milošević	1994–2008	37	102	0.36
2	Predrag Mijatović	1989–2003	28	73	0.38
3	Dejan Savicevic	1986-2003	19	56	0.34
4	Mateja Kezman	2000-2006	17	49	0.35
5	Dragan Stojković	1983–2001	15	84	0.18
6	Nikola Žigić	2004–present	14	35	0.40
7	Dejan Stanković	1998–present	13	83	0.16
8	Darko Kovačević	1994–2004	10	59	0.17
9	Slaviša Jokanović	1991–2002	10	64	0.16
10	Siniša Mihajlović	1991–2003	9	63	0.14

Statistics do not include Serbian players who have played for the SFR Yugoslavia national team exclusively. Last updated: Serbia 1–0 Austria, June 06, 2009.

[edit] Record against other countries

Opponent	Games	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals For	Goals Against	Goal Differential
Argentina	4	1	0	3	4	12	-8
Armenia	2	1	1	0	3	0	+3
Austria	2	2	0	0	4	1	+3
Azerbaijan	4	2	1	1	10	5	+5
Belgium	4	2	1	1	5	3	+2
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2	1	1	0	3	0	+1
Bulgaria	3	1	1	1	7	3	+4
Brazil	3	0	1	2	1	4	-3
China PR	3	3	0	0	5	0	+5
Colombia	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Côte d'Ivoire	1	0	0	1	2	3	-1
Croatia	2	0	2	0	2	2	0
Cyprus	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2
Czech Republic	4	3	0	1	6	7	-1
Ecuador	1	0	0	1	0	1	-1
Egypt	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
El Salvador	1	1	0	0	4	1	+3
England	1	0	0	1	1	2	-1
Faroe Islands	5	5	0	0	21	2	+19
Finland	4	2	1	1	4	3	+1
France	2	0	0	2	1	5	-4
Germany	3	0	1	2	3	5	-2
Ghana	1	1	0	0	3	1	+2
Greece	2	1	1	0	3	1	+2
Hungary	2	2	0	0	12	1	+11
Iran	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Israel	1	0	0	1	0	2	-2
Italy	3	0	3	0	3	3	0
Japan	4	1	0	3	1	3	-2
Kazakhstan	2	1	0	1	2	2	0
Korea Republic	6	2	3	1	5	4	+1
Lithuania	4	4	0	0	11	1	+10
Luxembourg	2	2	0	0	8	2	+6
FYR Macedonia	4	3	1	0	10	5	+5
Malta	4	4	0	0	18	1	+17
Mexico	3	2	1	0	6	2	+4
Nigeria	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3
Northern Ireland	2	1	1	0	3	2	+1
Norway	3	1	1	1	2	2	0
Paraguay	1	0	0	1	0	2	-2
Poland	5	0	2	3	8	11	-3
Portugal	2	0	2	0	2	2	0
Republic of Ireland	3	1	1	1	3	3	0
Romania	3	2	0	1	5	4	+1
Russia	8	1	4	3	6	8	-2
San Marino	2	2	0	0	8	0	+8
Slovakia	3	2	1	0	5	1	+4
Slovenia	4	0	4	0	6	6	0
Spain	5	0	3	2	5	8	-3
Sweden	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2
Switzerland	4	1	3	0	5	4	+1
Tunisia	2	2	0	0	4	0	+4
Ukraine	4	0	0	4	1	6	-6
United States	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Uruguay	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1
Wales	2	2	0	0	4	2	+2

[edit] Notable matches

Date	Competition	Venue	Opponent	Final score	Attendance
December 23, 1994	FIFA Friendly	Estádio Olímpico Monumental, Porto Alegre	Brazil	0:2	35,000
March 31, 1995	FIFA Friendly	Stadion Crvena Zvezda, Belgrade	Uruguay	1:0	28,000
May 26, 1996	Kirin Cup	Olympic Stadium, Tokyo	Japan	0:1	51,000
October 6, 1996	World Cup 1998 (Q)	Svangaskarð, Toftir	Faroe Islands	8:1	1,000
November 10, 1996	World Cup 1998 (Q)	Stadion Crvena Zvezda, Belgrade	Czech Republic	1:0	52,000
December 28, 1996	FIFA Friendly	Estadio José María Minella, Mar del Plata	Argentina	3:2	20,000
April 30, 1997	World Cup 1998 (Q)	Stadion Crvena Zvezda, Belgrade	Spain	1:1	54,000
October 29, 1997	World Cup 1998 (Q)	Stadion Albert Flórián, Budapest	Hungary	7:1	13,000
November 15, 1997	World Cup 1998 (Q)	Stadion Crvena Zvezda, Belgrade	Hungary	5:0	54,000
May 25, 1998	FIFA Friendly	Stadion Crvena Zvezda, Belgrade	Nigeria	3:0	50,000
June 14, 1998	1998 FIFA World Cup	Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne	Iran	1:0	31,000
June 21, 1998	1998 FIFA World Cup	Stade Félix-Bollaert, Lens	Germany	2:2	42,000
June 25, 1998	1998 FIFA World Cup	Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes	United States	1:0	36,000
June 29, 1998	1998 FIFA World Cup	Stadium Municipal, Toulouse	Netherlands	1:2	34,000
September 29, 1998	FIFA Friendly	Estádio Governador João Castelo, São Luís	Brazil	1:1	92,000
August 18, 1999	EURO 2000 (Q)	Stadion Crvena Zvezda, Belgrade	Croatia	0:0	54,000
October 9, 1999	EURO 2000 (Q)	Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb	Croatia	2:2	39,000
June 13, 2000	UEFA Euro 2000	Stade du Pays de Charleroi, Charleroi	Slovenia	3:3	10,000
June 18, 2000	UEFA Euro 2000	Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège	Norway	1:0	24,000
June 21, 2000	UEFA Euro 2000	Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges	Spain	3:4	23,000
June 25, 2000	UEFA Euro 2000	Feijenoord Stadion, Rotterdam	Netherlands	1:6	52,000
June 2, 2001	World Cup 2002 (Q)	Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow	Russia	1:1	65,000
February 13, 2002	FIFA Friendly	University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale	Mexico	2:1	45,000
March 27, 2002	FIFA Friendly	Castelão, Fortaleza	Brazil	0:1	60,000
April 17, 2002	FIFA Friendly	Fortress Stadium, Smederevo	Lithuania	4:1	20,000
October 12, 2002	EURO 2004 (Q)	Stadio San Paolo, Naples	Italy	1:1	48,000
November 20, 2002	FIFA Friendly	Stade de France, Saint Denis	France	0:3	65,000
February 12, 2003	EURO 2004 (Q)	Stadion Pod Goricom, Podgorica	Azerbaijan	2:2	8,000
June 11, 2003	EURO 2004 (Q)	Shafa Stadium, Baku	Azerbaijan	1:2	5,000
September 10, 2003	EURO 2004 (Q)	Stadion Crvena Zvezda, Belgrade	Italy	1:1	32,000
October 11, 2003	EURO 2004 (Q)	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	Wales	3:2	74,000
October 9, 2004	World Cup 2006 (Q)	Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium, Sarajevo	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0:0	35,000
November 17, 2004	World Cup 2006 (Q)	King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels	Belgium	2:0	29,000
March 30, 2005	World Cup 2006 (Q)	Stadion Crvena Zvezda, Belgrade	Spain	0:0	55,000
September 7, 2005	World Cup 2006 (Q)	Vicente Calderón Stadium, Madrid	Spain	1:1	52,000
October 12, 2005	World Cup 2006 (Q)	Stadion Crvena Zvezda, Belgrade	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1:0	55,000
June 11, 2006	2006 FIFA World Cup	Zentralstadion, Leipzig	Netherlands	0:1	38,000
June 16, 2006	2006 FIFA World Cup	Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen	Argentina	0:6	52,000
June 21, 2006	2006 FIFA World Cup	Allianz Arena, Munich	Côte d'Ivoire	2:3	66,000
August 16, 2006	FIFA Friendly	Městský Stadion, Uherské Hradiště	Czech Republic	3:1	8,000
March 23, 2007	EURO 2008 (Q)	Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty	Kazakhstan	1:2	23,000
March 28, 2007	EURO 2008 (Q)	Stadion Crvena Zvezda, Belgrade	Portugal	1:1	55,000
June 2, 2007	EURO 2008 (Q)	Olympiastadion, Helsinki	Finland	2:0	35,000
September 12, 2007	EURO 2008 (Q)	Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon	Portugal	1:1	54,000
October 15, 2008	World Cup 2010 (Q)	Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna	Austria	3:1	48,000
November 19, 2008	FIFA Friendly	Partizan Stadium, Belgrade	Bulgaria	6:1	7,000
March 28, 2009	World Cup 2010 (Q)	Farul Stadium, Constanţa	Romania	3:2	15,000

[edit] Nickname

Ever since the first game ever played by Yugoslavia's new team, on December 23, 1994, a 2-0 loss to Brazil, the team wore the name of Plavi, literally translating to the Blues, much like France's famous nickname of Les Bleus. This was notably due to the fact the team wore blue jerseys, which they inherited from the former Yugoslavia national football team.

The trend continued even when the team switched names to Serbia and Montenegro, as flags, anthem, and kits remained virtually the same. However, as Montenegro declared independence from Serbia on June 3, 2006, on the basis of a referendum held on May 21, 2006, the newly formed Serbia national team needed a new nickname, as red replaced blue as the team's primary colour.

Hence, on August 16, 2006, as Serbia played its first international match in history (vs the Czech Republic), B92, a broadcaster with national coverage throughout Serbia, proposed the name of Beli Orlovi (White Eagles).^{[citation needed]} The name referred to the white double-headed eagle found on Serbia's national flag.

[edit] See also

• Serbia national under-21 football team
• Serbia national under-19 football team

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Official

• Football Association of Serbia - Official Site (Serbian)
• Serbian National Football Team (Serbian)
• UEFA team profile
• FIFA team profile

Unofficial

• Beli Orlovi (Serbian)
• Serbian football at xtratime.org

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