Serbia - Netherlands 1-2: Meerdink Scores Twice

The Marakana was louder last night than it had been three days earlier, when Serbia were sent off after a loss to Greece. According to B92, the stands held 15,600 spectators, while Telegraf put the figure at close to 15,000. Veljko Paunovic made as many as seven changes to the starting lineup from the Greece match, with Luka Jovic and Dusan Tadic both dropping to the bench, only to become the night’s leading men before the final whistle.

Serbia held their own against the visiting favorites for the first half hour. Then, in the 28th minute, Aleksa Terzic was caught out by a one-two from the Dutch, was left behind the play, and brought down Somerville with a sliding challenge inside the box. The referee pointed to the spot without hesitation, and Mexx Meerdink kept his cool from the penalty spot, even though Vanja Milinkovic-Savic dove the right way. Eight minutes later the Serbian goalkeeper made amends, when Meerdink slipped a brilliant pass through to Dumfries in front of an open goal, but Vanja narrowed the angle and saved it.

Paunovic made two changes at halftime that immediately shifted the course of the game. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Dejan Joveljic made way for Tadic, who also took over the captain’s armband from Andrija Zivkovic, and Jovic. It took only a minute for that trust to pay off. Sasa Lukic tried to cut out a ball in the penalty area, but it ran straight to Jovic, who took his time and slotted it into the net to make it 1-1 in the 46th minute. VAR checked the position and confirmed there was no offside.

The joy at the Marakana did not last long. The Netherlands went straight back on the front foot, and in the 53rd minute Van Bommel struck the outside of the post from a cross on the right. Then, in the 69th minute, Meerdink was on target again. He latched onto a ball in the box and finished into the bottom corner to put the Netherlands back in front, his second goal for the national team just three days after his debut. Serbia pushed for an equalizer until the end, and Jovic came closest of all, heading a Tadic corner narrowly wide in the 78th minute.

The match finished 1-2 for the Netherlands, who now have four points after two rounds in Nations League Group A2, while Serbia remain on zero. The Orlovi have now lost three matches in a row on Ljutice Bogdana Street, the first time that has happened in the stadium’s history.

Paunovic pointed to the effort his side put in, telling TV Arena Sport after the match:

It could have been better, and we have to congratulate the Netherlands, but also our boys for their effort. We squeezed everything out of ourselves. There’s been huge progress compared to the first match. We tried to come back twice, and we managed it once. I believed we could give our crowd something to be happy about, and there were significantly more of them than before the Greece game.

The turnout, he suggested, was proof that belief in the squad had already started to return.

The coach singled out Jovic in particular, who got his chance off the bench after a long spell out of the starting lineup, and made the most of it immediately.

“My methods are trust and support. I’m glad he came on to share that goal with me,” Paunovic said.

Ahead of this match we reported that Nemanja Lucic was out of the squad while Tadic was back in it, and it was Tadic who took the captain’s armband once he came on. Two difficult away matches follow now: first against Germany on October 1 at 8:45 p.m. in Munich, then against the Netherlands on October 4 in Eindhoven, where Serbia have to find their first points in the group.

The overall impression was better than against Greece, that much cannot be disputed. The defense again made one major mistake in each half, and that was exactly the difference between a point and none against opposition of this caliber. There is barely any time to make amends, with Germany waiting in just three days.