MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) – Serbia have worked to improve on their slow starts against England and Slovenia in their first two Euro 2024 matches and will look to pressurise Denmark from the first whistle, their manager Dragan Stojkovic said on Monday.
Despite a solid second-half effort against England, Serbia could not break through in their opening Group C loss and only levelled deep in stoppage time against Slovenia in a match during which they were on the back foot for long periods.
“That is one of the issues we are working on and that is something we want to improve and correct,” Stojkovic told reporters on Monday.
“We are not going to give the advantage to the opponents in those (first) 45 minutes.
“Once we grasp the game and we have full control of the ball then things change drastically.”
Denmark sit second in Group C on two points, two behind leaders England, who play third-placed Slovenia in their final game, and one ahead of bottom side Serbia who they face at the Munich Football Arena on Tuesday.
Denmark will progress if they beat Serbia but would go out if they lose and Slovenia do not. If the Danes and Slovenia both draw, they will be split for second and third place via overall goal difference and then other factors.
Serbia can qualify for the next round if they beat Denmark and Slovenia do not defeat England. Serbia will be out if they lose or draw and Slovenia get at least a point.
Stojkovic plans to make changes to his starting line-up and is weighing up whether to use one or two strikers, saying players who come off the bench can be more important than those they replace.
A case in point is Luka Jovic, who came on to score the last-gasp equaliser against Slovenia and keep alive Serbia’s hopes of reaching the last 16.
“I mean the players that stay on the bench and wait for their chances later during the matches,” Stojkovic said. “Even sometimes more so than the ones that start from the beginning.”
Stojkovic expects a tough game against Denmark, who he called a strong, organised side who are good physically and technically.
Serbia will need to contain Christian Eriksen, who netted in Denmark’s opening 1-1 draw with Slovenia, he added.
“I would like to see him on the bench because he’s a very dangerous player, he knows what to do with the ball,” Stojkovic said.
“He’s very precise with a really powerful shot. If he’s going to start, we have to take good care of him.”
(Reporting by Michael Kahn, Editing by Ed Osmond)
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