BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia will head to the World Cup with a youthful team minus any real pressure to reach the knockout stages, having reached their first major tournament in eight years as an independent nation. The squad includes three survivors from the 2010 tournament in South Africa, when Serbia made a group stage exit and then failed to qualify for the next three major finals. Serbia advanced from Europe's Group D ahead of Ireland and Wales thanks to clinical finishing, while looking shaky at the back as they rode their luck in many of the key games. Muslin stuck to his 3-4-3 formation, rather than switch to 4-3-3, or include promising talent but his assistant Krstajic made the tactical U-turn on becoming interim coach last month. Even a kind draw would present Serbia with a tough task to advance to the last 16 but they will at least be expected to play eye-catching football.

Source: The Star November 23, 2017 00:45 UTC