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Serbia once again head into a major tournament hoping to transcend their ‘surprise package’ tag. Players and fans alike will have allowed their dreams to run wild ahead of Dragan Stojković’s first tournament finals as manager in the last World Cup, however they were ultimately left disappointed as they picked up just one point.
Confidence should still be high in the Serbian camp after sweeping Sweden aside (3-0) in their last warm up game. Scoring goals often looks easy for Serbia with the likes of Luka Jović, Aleksandar Mitrović and Dušan Vlahović in their ranks - a sentiment that was echoed in their last major tournament appearance, where they scored more goals than any side in their group - including Brazil - before failing to qualify! Even so, just one win could be enough for Serbia to progress from the group, with Ukraine progressing on three points in Euro 2020.
They have the small task of opening the campaign against the outright pre-tournament favourites, Gareth Southgate’s England. The beaten finalists from Euro 2020 have had a typically tumultuous buildup to the tournament with mixed friendly results, although the feeling may be one of cautious optimism as this side includes some of Europe's biggest talents such as Galáctico Jude Bellingham, and Bayern’s Harry Kane.
Having reached two semi-finals from three tournament appearances between the World Cup and Euros, Southgate made it clear that he feels this is his “last chance” to win anything as the England manager. Having sailed through the group stage without conceding a goal in his first crack at this tournament (W2, D1), hopes are high that the Three Lions can roar into the knockout rounds with relative ease ahead of their first-ever meeting with Serbia.
Players to watch: Despite now plying his trade in the Saudi league, Serbia’s Mitrović played a huge role in getting his side here, scoring a third of their total goal haul during qualifying (G5). Trying to outdo him will be Kane, who ended his first club season here in Germany just five goals shy of Robert Lewandowski’s all-time Bundesliga record goal tally of 41.
Hot stat: Six of England’s last seven Euro tournament games have produced under 2.5 goals after 90 minutes.
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