sport / sports
ENGLESKA Srbija takmičenje otvara sa Engleskom, koja je već sada favorit broj 1 za titulu. „Gordi Albi- on“ nikada nije bio prvi na kontinentu, a najbo- lja prilika bila je na EP 2020. kada je Engleska na svom „Vembliju“ poražena od Italije po- sle penala. Potez za pohvalu napravio je Fud- balski savez Engleske koji je na klupi ostavio Gereta Sautgejta, umesto da po tradiciji od- mah smeni selektora. Engleski sastav vredan je 1,1 milijardi evra i slobodno možemo da ka- žemo da naš rival ima dvojicu od top 5 igrača u Evropi. To su Hari Kejn, koji je sa Ostrva po- begao upravo u Nemačku. Za njega će stadi- oni u Minhenu i Gelzenkirhenu biti kao dvori- šte iza kuće. Nemačka je druga domovina i za Džada Belingema, koji je ime stekao za tri se- DANSKA Sve što je danski fudbal postigao dugu- je SFR Jugoslaviji, takoreći. Sankcije su nas sprečile da igramo na EP 1992. godine u Švedskoj, Danci su otišli umesto nas i po- stali su šampioni Evrope. Tada su u finalu pobedili Nemačku sa 2:0. SLOVENIJA Naši drugi rivali su, kao i Srbija, takođe če- kali 24 godine da zaigraju na EP, još od ta- kmičenja u Belgiji i Holandiji 2000. I tada smo bili zajedno u grupi, a odigrali smo je- dan od mečeva o kojima se i danas priča. Igrali smo pod imemom Jugoslavija, a Slo- venci su posle sat igre vodili sa 3:0. Pri to- me, ostali smo i bez Siniše Mihajlovića, koji je dobio dva žuta kartona. A onda je počeo rolerkoster u belgijskom gradiću Šarlroa. Kada smo videli da stojimo na ivici prova- lije, krenuli smo na sve ili ništa i golovima Sava Miloševića (2) i Ljubinka Drulovića stigli do 3:3. Jedan interesantan podatak: tadašnji kapiten Jugoslavije bio je niko dru- gi do aktuelni selektor Dragan Stojković. Od tada sreli smo se još četiri puta. U kva- Na prethodnom EP danski fudbaleri su pri- kupili simpatije svih navijača. Njihov start se umalo nije završio tragično. Na meču sa Finskom slavni Kristijan Eriksen je doživeo srčani udar na terenu. Hodao je tada tan- kom linijom između života i smrti i samo ga je pravovremena reakcija lekarske ekipe spasla. Eriksen se u međuvremenu opora- vio, ugrađen mu je defibrilator i on će kao fudbaler Mančester junajteda predvoditi
ENGLAND Serbia’s tournament opens against Eng- land, which is already the top favourite to take the title. The proud English have nev- er been the best on the continent, hav- ing come closest on home soil back in Euro 2020, when England lost to Italy on penal- ties at the famous Wembley Stadium. The English Football Association made a com- mendable move by retaining the servic- es of Gareth Southgate as national team manager, instead of following the tradi- tion of replacing the head coach immedi- ately. The England squad has a combined price tag of 1.1 billion euros, and we can state freely that our Euro 2024 rival has
zone provedene u Borusiji iz Dortmunda. Be- lingem je i pre nego što je fudbalski prohodao stigao u Nemačku, da bi proletos za 103 milio- na evra prešao u kraljevski Real iz Madrida. Bio je to pun pogodak i Španci su u njegov ugo- vor ubacili klauzulu da je slobodan ako se po- javi klub spreman da plati tačno milijardu evra! I da ne zaboravimo – kada bude igrao protiv Srbije, Belingemu će biti tek 20 godina. Po- red Kejna i Belingema, Englezi imaju još troji- cu fudbalera vrednijih od 100 miliona dolara – Bukajoa Sakua, Fila Fodena i Deklana Rajsa. Poslednji put sa Englezima sastali smo se još 2003, tada pod imenom Srbija i Crna Gora. Bio je to prijateljski meč u kojem smo poraženi sa 2:1. Našu reprezentaciju vodio je Dejan Sa- vićević, a Engleze Sven Goran Eriksen. Dansku protiv Srbije. Danska nam je poslednjih godina bila rival tri puta. Dva puta u kvalifikacijama za EP 2016. godine i jednom u pripremama pred takmičenje na Svetskom prvenstvu u Ka- taru. Nismo uspeli da osvojimo ni bod pro- tiv selekcije sa severa kontinenta – izgu- bili smo sa 3:1, 2:0 i 3:0. Sastav Danaca je procenjen na 325 miliona evra, a selektor Kasper Hjul- mand može da se pohvali ujedna- čenim timom, bez izrazitih zvezda. Ipak, možemo da izdvojimo Andre- sa Kristensena, beka Barselone, za- tim Pjera Emila Hojberga iz Totenhe- ma, Joakima Andersona, člana Kristal Palasa, Martina Jensena iz Brentforda... lifikacijama 2012. u gostima smo poraže- ni sa 2:1, dok je u Beogradu bilo 1:1. Sloven- cima smo se revanširali 2022. u Ligi nacija – na „Marakani“ je bilo 4:1 za Srbiju, u re- vanšu u Ljubljani – 2:2. Slovenački tim je procenjen na oko 130 miliona evra, a tač- no polovina odlazi na vrednost dvojice su- perstarova – golmana madridskog Atletika Jana Oblaka i dvadesetogodišnjeg vunder- kinda Benjamina Šeška, koji igra u Nemač- koj, u Lajpcigu. SLOVENIA Like Serbia, our second rival has also wait- ed 24 years to compete in the European Championship, ever since the Euro 2000 tournament that was co-hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands. We were also in the
life only saved by the timely reaction of the medical team. Eriksen, who has since re- covered and been fitted with an implanta- ble defibrillator, will lead Denmark against Serbia as a Manchester United player. We have competed against Denmark three times in recent years: twice in the qualifi- ers for the 2016 European Championship and once during preparations for the World Cup in Qatar. And we didn’t even manage to secure a single point against this squad from the north of the continent – losing 3:1, 2:0 and 3:0. The Denmark squad has an estimated value of €325 million, while head coach Kasper Hjulmand can boast of a balanced team, without distinct stars. We can nevertheless two players ranked among the top five in Europe. They are Harry Kane, who “fled” the island precisely for Germa- ny. Playing in the stadiums in Munich and Gelsenkirchen will be like playing in his own backyard. Germany is al- so like a second homeland to Jude Bell- ingham, who made a name for him- self over the three seasons he spent at Borussia Dortmund. Bellingham ar- rived in Germany before he’d even be- come a fully professional player, only to transfer to Real Madrid for a whop- ping fee of €103 million in the summer of 2023. The signing proved to be a to- tal hit, with the Spaniards even includ- ing a clause in his contract stating that
he is free to join any club that’s prepared to pay precisely one billion euros! And let’s not forget that Bellingham will still be just 20 years old when he plays against Ser- bia – he will celebrate his birthday on 29 th June. Apart from Kane and Bellingham, the England squad includes three other play- ers with price tags exceeding 100 million dollars: Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden and De- clan Rice. The last time we did battle with the England team was back in 2003, then as the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. We lost that friendly match 2:1. Our national team was managed at the time by Dejan Sav- ićević, while the great Sven-Göran Eriksson was at the helm of the England team.
DENMARK We could say that Danish football owes everything it has achieved on the interna- tional stage to the SFR Yugoslavia. Sanc- tions prevented us from competing in the 1992 European Championship in Sweden, with the Danes taking our place and ending up being crowned European champions, beating Germany 2:0 in the final. Denmark’s national team gained the sympathy of all fans at the last Europe- an Championship. The team’s start al- most ended in tragedy when famous play- er Christian Eriksen suffered a heart attack on the pitch during the opening match against Finland. He found himself walking a tightrope between life and death, with his
single out the likes of FC Barcelona defend- er Andreas Christensen, Tottenham Hot- spur’s Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, Crystal Palace defender Joachim Andersen and Brentford midfielder Mathias Jensen.
then drew 1:1 in Belgrade. We took revenge against the Slovenians in the 2022 UEFA Nations League – the result at Belgrade’s Marakana was 4:1 for Serbia, while the re- turn leg in Ljubljana ended 2:2. The Slovenia squad has an estimated val-
ue of approximately 130 million euros, with precisely half of that total accounted for by two superstars: Atlético Madrid goalkeep- er Jan Oblak and 20-year-old wonderkid Benjamin Šeško, who plays in Germany for RB Leipzig.
same group back then, and played one of those matches that are still talked about to this day. We were competing as Yugosla- via, and after an hour’s play the Slovenians held a 3:0 lead, while we’d also been left a man short after Siniša Mihajlović picked up two yellow cards. And then began the “roller coaster” in the Belgian city of Char- leroi. Once we realised that we were tee- tering on the brink of a humiliating defeat, we took an all or nothing approach that led to goals by Savo Milošević (2) and Ljubinko Drulović and a result of 3:3. One interest- ing fact: the captain of the then Yugoslavia team was none other than current manag- er Dragan Stojković. We have since competed four more times. In the Euro 2012 qualifiers, we lost 2:1 away,
Slovenija je, kao i Srbija, čekala 24 godine da zaigra na EP, još od takmičenja u Belgiji i Holandiji 2000. godine Like Serbia, Slovenia has waited 24 years to compete in the European Championship, ever since Euro 2000
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