Paunovic Banned From Bench vs Germany, Klopp All Fit
Serbia's coach must guide the team through assistants because of a suspension, Stankovic returned to Inter, and Germany say nobody is injured before Friday's Nations League tie.
Asked whether Serbia is ready for Germany, coach Veljko Paunovic answered in Stara Pazova the way you rarely hear the day before a big match: “Are we ready? Right now, no. We are in the process of getting ready. We are closing this cycle now, and where it takes us in March, we will see.”
The Nations League matchday five tie is played on Friday, November 13, at 8:45 pm at Rajko Mitic Stadium in Belgrade. Serbia are bottom of League A Group 2 without a point. Germany are third with five points, behind the Netherlands and Greece, who have eight each. In the first meeting in October, the Germans won 2-0 at home.
Who will lead Serbia from the bench?
Paunovic is suspended and cannot direct the team from the bench, so a communication plan is in place. The coach explained how it will work.
“One of my assistants will lead the communication with the captain and the players on the pitch, but I will also be in contact, in line with UEFA rules. We do not want to do anything that is not allowed.”
The captain is Dusan Tadic, and Paunovic singled him out as the most experienced in the squad: “We have a very healthy group, led by Duca Tadic as the most experienced, who shows through his actions how one should play for the national team. That is very important to me.”
Who is Serbia missing?
The list of absentees grew on the day of the press conference. Aleksandar Stankovic left the camp in Stara Pazova after feeling pain in his right groin during training on Monday. After an examination and further diagnostics, the medical staff found an injury to the adductor muscle of the right thigh, and the Football Association of Serbia announced that the Inter midfielder is returning to his club to recover. He will play neither against Germany nor against Greece. Before him, Dusan Vlahovic, Strahinja Pavlovic and Filip Kostic had dropped out.
Paunovic did not want to reopen the subject of players who are missing, but he said this: “I would not use harsh words if someone is avoiding the national team.” He also mentioned a call he received the day before: “Yesterday Aleksa Terzic called me, he has health problems, and asked whether he could come. I said of course.”
On the style of play, Paunovic announced the intensity Germany imposed in the first match:
“Our plan is to play with the available players, at the high intensity the opponent imposed on us in the first game. We have to match that, if not exceed it. Especially when it comes to winning second balls and transitions, where they are very good. We are thinking about a similar plan to the one in the closing stages of the previous meeting.”
What is the goal, the Nations League or the European Championship?
Paunovic set out his priorities clearly:
“The priority is qualifying for the European Championship. We are not happy to drop out of League A of the Nations League, but these matches came in handy for measuring ourselves, and through them we are raising the level of our game. We are not giving up on the chance to meet our goals in these two matches and be better in both penalty areas. I want us to keep a clean sheet in at least one match, which has not happened so far. That could put us in a position to play a playoff in this division in March, which we are not giving up on. Still, the priority is going to EURO.”
For Friday the goal is narrower: a clean sheet at least once and a better impression than in Germany. “We want to improve the impression from Germany, in front of the Germans themselves, and show ourselves in a better light, competitively and in character,” Paunovic said.
What does Jurgen Klopp say?
Germany coach Jurgen Klopp spoke in Belgrade after Paunovic and said he has no squad problems.
“It was a very good week, nobody got injured. We feel very well prepared.”
He described Serbia as a team whose approach he cannot fully predict:
“We do not know exactly how they will approach the match. What we know is that they have good organization and that it is clear what they want to achieve when they have the ball. Besides that, the first match means nothing to us anymore. We want to show that we made good use of the time we had.”
He also spoke about the empty stands. Because of a UEFA punishment, the stadium will not be full. According to media reports, up to 5,000 children under 15 can attend with teachers and coaches, along with 50 away fans. Klopp said: “We cannot change the circumstances. I always prefer it when the stadium is full. Is that an advantage or a disadvantage? I have not thought about it.”
He was also asked about Borussia Dortmund striker Felix Nmecha, whose goal celebration against Elversberg, a gesture of taking a crown off his head and putting it on the ground, became a talking point. Klopp said he spoke with the player and that Nmecha told him he would no longer celebrate that way. Of him, Klopp said: “He is an extremely warm and kind young man who radiates only positive energy.”
What comes next for Serbia?
After Germany, Serbia travel to Greece in Volos on November 16. At the press conference, Paunovic spoke about both matches together, noting that there is little time for recovery and that players have to be rotated sensibly. Serbia have yet to win a point and have not kept a clean sheet once, so Friday is a chance to change the first of those.
