Slovenia v Serbia: Euro 2024 – live | Euro 2024

Half-time reading:

HALF-TIME: Slovenia 0-0 Serbia

45 min We’ll have one additional minute and Serbia have a corner, which they take short; Zivkovic then crosses, but at the back post, Mitrovic can’t get a head on it.

43 min Again, it’s take Srrbia half an hour to get going, but they’re starting to hum now, Lukic beating one man then swiping a shot from the edge, Oblak fisting clear easily enough.

42 min Here come Serbia down the right, Zivkovic crossing and Drkusic doing just enough to keep Vlahovic away from it in the middle then, at the back post, Mitrovic outmuscles Karncic but Oblak, right on top of him, smothers his shot

39 min “The longer this game goes on,” reckons Dean Kinsella, “the better England’s win over Serbia looks. And the tougher their up-coming game against Slovenia appears. Two very competent organised teams.”

Yup – I wonder if they less fancied teams are peaking now, whereas players who play in the “big” leagues and competed in the European knockouts are hanging on. I do, though, think England can be much better than they were because there’s a better team in that squad than the one Southgate’s found.

37 min But here come Slovenia! Elsnik plays an inadvertent one-two off a defender, collects the return-pass and sashays into the box. But the ball is running slightly across him, such that when he leathers it, though his connection is true, the touch of fade takes it crashing against the post! But it breaks to Sesko, who sets himself to curl into the top corner from 10 yards … but he can’t find sufficient draw, the effort flying wide! Those were two extremely presentable chances in the context of what we’ve seen so far.

36 min This is not a good game, but it’s not a terrible one either.

34 min That is, of course, a reflection on the miserable effort they made of rebuilding Wembley. what’s sad about the England portion of the tournament, though, is that St James’ Park aside, the grounds they’ve chosen are all new-builds, presumably because the authorities don’t realise people come to the game to experience intensity, not wifi.

33 min “With regard to travelling fans at Euros,” says John Brennan, “For the next one if (big IF) Ireland qualify, I’d like to see at least one of their games played in Manchester or Liverpool instead of all the games being played in Dublin. I think the novelty of being at a different venue increases the atmosphere whereas if all games are in Dublin, it becomes not that much different from a qualifier (epecially as Dublin will be pretty much an outpost and will likely see travelling fans just coming in for a day around games). It was much commented in Ireland how the Irish fans at Rugby World Cup in France made for a much different atmosphere than you would normally get at home games in Dublin.”

I agree. In 1966 they fiddled it so England played every game at Wembley and I’d not be surprised to see that happen again. But it’s not a ground conducive to atmosphere, and if they were to play elsewhere, we’d see something very different and a whole lot better.

31 min And his ball in’s a belter, spitting and curling into the danger zone and bouncing with Mitrovic peeling away from his wrestling match with Bijol to wave a head at it. but he can’t impart proper contact and the ball goes behind for a goalkick.

31 min Vlahovic is beginning to influence proceedings and helps Serbia win a corner down the right, Tadic to take will plenty of scuffling inside the box.

29 min ““Bug swutches’?” wonders Paul in Glesga. “I didn’t know Ally McCoist was from New Zealand…”

Trudat, they do like their chups there. I wonder if there’s a connection.

27 min Bit of Serbia possession, a nice ball into Vlahovic, well controlled, allowing them to build – again down the left. And they eventually work a crossing opportunity, wasted by Tadic, but when they go again, Mladenovic crosses towards the near-post area and Vlahovic, on the dive, acquaints brow with ball … but directs his header more or less straight at Oblak.

25 min Stojanovic stretches down the right, so Mladenovic trims his legs for him. Yellow card.

24 min “Although footballers (especially keepers and central defenders) are bigger than they were,” says Simon Sweetman, “most of this is in line with increases in height generally. What with that and the increased speed you might argue that the pitches are too small.”

I can buy that, but I also think we’re seeing improved technical ability in the big lads, which makes a difference. And while I don’t think pitches are too small, I remember watching Man City take Madrid apart last season – or is it the season before last now? – and with Rodri and Stones station on the edge of the box, I just couldn’t see a space through which Real could get out.

23 min The corner is again dreadful, and Rajkovic collects then clears.

22 min Slovenia move down the left but as soon as they attempt a difficult pass they give it away. No matter: Sesko regains possession almost immediately, forcing Pavlovic to scurry back and concede a corner.

20 min “I do hope that football isn’t going the way of other sports,” writes Richard O’Hagan. “At 6’”5 I’ve never had any interest in basketball, because there must be something fundamentally wrong with a game where I would be the short guy. It’ll be a very dull world if every contact sport only involves those who are a foot over average height and 50kgs over average weight.”

I dunno about that – sport is about the unequal distribution of physical resources, and the athleticism and skill we see in, say, basketball is amazing. But I do think a beauty of football is that is is less discriminatory in that aspect.

18 min Serbia’s build-up has, so far, been focused down the left. But to create space, they might try hutting bug swutches, as Ally McCoist might say, because so far they’re not managing to stretch their opponents.

17 min Serbia progress down the left, Tadic making a cunning run inside to accept possession in space. But when the ball comes into the box, Zivkovic is crowded out, and this has been pretty low-quality fare thus far.

15 min Hey, Daddy, I want an early goal. I want you to get me an early goal right away.

13 min So far, it’s Serbia who’ve had more of the ball but Slovenia who’ve threatened more, and a long ball pumped over the top causes further consternation Valjojovic just about seeing it back to Rajkovic, whose indecisiveness will not have gone unnoticed.

11 min Email! It’s not only football that’s seeing an increase in unit-rich teams,” writes Martin Wright. “It’s become a feature of basketball (so now, not just tall, but also a certain type of brick-made house); hurling in Ireland is dominated by Limerick who are huge; as well as the well-documented change in the physique of rugby players. I hope football can resist the ‘a good big ‘un will beat a good little ‘un’ maxim…”

Only if it’s true which, realistically, it isn’t. The best little lads will of course still do what they do, but my sense is we’ll see fewer of them as time progresses.

9 min Which is dreadful, and Serbia clear.

8 min And that could’ve been one! Mlakar escapes his marker and gets in behind, right-centre of the box; the ball finds him and he has a proper sight of goal, but can only shoot into Rajkovic’s boot. Decent save, but not much composure in the finish, which needed something a bit cuter, so Slovenia must settle for a corner.

7 min It’s pretty messy for far, but both teams are playing with intensity and tempo. I’d not be surprised to see goals here, nor cards.

6 min There’s a lot of “Kosovo … Serbia!” chanting. People.

5 min Unlike against England, when Serbia had Vlahovic behind Mitrovic, today it’s Mitrovic behind Vlahovic.

4 min Serbia give it away in midfield, not for the first time, and Sporar seizes upon it, breaking forward and finding Cerin … whose shot is blocked.

2 min Ah, there’s more from our man in München, and hell be ecstatic to learn I agree. Footballistically, 24 teams is silly, but realitilily, it means banging atmospheres and aggressive football.

1 min And immediately, Serbia charge about, Zivkovic spreading left to Mladenovic, who wastes no time in sticking an early ball into the box. Neither Vlahovic nor Mitrovic can get on the end of it, but that’ll be how Stojkovic wants them to get their goals.

1 min Aaaand away we go!

Here’s my review of Scotland v Switzerland and my preview of Denmark v England.

This is bang-on. A central European host has allowed fans to come from all over, and it feels like every team has had proper support. I’m sure the accordant atmosphere has impacted on the gloriously feral nature of the football we’ve seen so far.

It’s hot as you like in Munich, which might mean a game slower than those we’ve seen to this point. Or it might mean the players flog themselves even harder. Anthem time.

…and here they come!

Our teams are tunnelled…

We’ve had some good anthems – antha? – so far. I think Turkey’s was my favourite of the first round of games, but this, from last evening set a new bar.

So where is the game? I imagine Serbia will still be looking to hit Dusan Vlahovic and Aleksandr Mitrovic with crosses. But the presence of Tadic gives them the option of sliding cunning balls down the sides of the Slovenian centre-backs.

Slovenia, meanwhile, will know that back threes can make a team vulnerable behind the wing-backs and between wing-back and centre-back. And they’ll also know that a 4-4-2 – their formation of choice – is perhaps the one best equipped to exploit that. I also imagine they’d like to get Sesko with the ball at his feet and running at defenders – he’s not easy to stop once on the move.

I can’t wait to see how Sesko does today. I actually think we’re seeing a turning point in men’s football at the moment: the increased proliferation of big lads with feet. I hope it doesn’t mean the gradual eradication to diminutive playmakers and such, but if we look at the best teams in the world, they’re increasingly unit-rich.

Also going on:

Slovenia, then. I’ve not been everywhere, but Ljubljana is a beautiful city while Bled and Bohinj are beautiful spots – all over, the ice cream is fantastic. I was a particular fan of the keks and amarena flavours, but really you can’t go wrong.

Yup, on ITV they’re also talking about … England.

I actually wonder if Tadic might be the key figure in this game. At 35, he can’t be expected to charge about and I’m certain that was what Dragan Stojkovic wanted from his players against England. But his touch and intelligence between the lines are ideal for match like this one, and if I was Matjaz Kek, I’d be making special provisions to deal with him.

Looking again at that Serbia team, I assumed that Tadic – the captain – was omitted specifically for the England game, and I’m not at all surprised he’s back for this one. I can’t say I expected Milinkovic-Savic to be left out, but he’s only himself to blame: he’s no longer playing in Serie A, and he did almost nothing in the last game.

Gosh.

Serbia are demanding that UEFA punish Croatia and Albania after accusing their fans of hateful chanting during their Euro 2024 clash in Hamburg on Wednesday.

Jovan Surbatovic, General Secretary of the Football Association of Serbia, said a formal complaint had been submitted, claiming that Croatia and Albania fans chanted “Kill, kill, kill the Serb” during the 2-2 draw.

He even threatened that Serbia, themselves charged by UEFA for incidents during their defeat by England last Saturday, could withdraw from the tournament.

“First of all, I want to thank our fans for their support in the match against England and I hope we will beat Slovenia,” Surbatovic was quoted by Serbia’s PTC.

“What happened is scandalous and we will ask UEFA for sanctions, even if it means not continuing the competition. If UEFA doesn’t punish them, we will think about how to proceed.”

On Monday the Serbian Football Association was charged by UEFA after their supporters displayed a banner that “transmitted a provocative message unfit for a sports event” and for throwing objects inside the stadium.

That charge came after the Kosovo Football Federation complained to UEFA about “Serbian fans displaying political, chauvinistic, and racist messages against Kosovo” during their 1-0 defeat by England.

“We were punished for isolated cases and our fans behaved much better than the others,” Surbatovic said.

“One fan was punished for racist insults and we don’t want it to be attributed to others. We Serbs are gentlemen and we have an open heart.”

Goodness us, on 5 live they’re talking about … Gerrard, Lampard and Scholes.

For Slovenia, it’s simple: they’re unchanged. Serbia, though, make three alteration: on the left of midfield Filip Mladenovic is in for Filip Kostic, whose injury was not a fillip, while in the middle, Ivan Ilic and Dusan Tadic are in for Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Nemanja Gudelj.

Apologies, I was disturbed by a meat delivery and the lack of space left for it by the Fridge Boss. I’ll now write these teams down, then we’ll take a closer look at what they’re all about.

Teams!

Preamble