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Gelsenkirchen (Germany).In desperation, even goalkeeper Pedrag Rajkovic had risen to shoot, and in the final corner in the 95th minute, Luka Jovic was the smartest of all, heading it in and beating Jan Oblak. Until then, he had been unbeatable, having rescued Serbia from an almost certain defeat in Munich and frustrated Slovenia in an unbearable way when they already felt that victory and even qualification were theirs.
The bleak image of the Slovenian players was a testament to the heavy, unexpected and unacceptable blow they suffered near the end of the match, which they dominated with a goal from Kannic in the 68th minute to go 1-0.
The Celje right-back, 29 years old, has 30 caps and has only scored once for his country until Thursday when he scored a goal that could have made history, but it was not enough. Slovenia’s first victory in the history of the European Championship still hangs in the balance. They also qualify for the second round. On the last day they play England. A shadow crosses his path.
Fans and players were ecstatic, Serbia was still alive. Their first point still kept them in the fight, but they needed to beat Denmark on the final day. He had no choice. And waited for the marker. As he felt in the match, unable to finish his shot before the final peak, an unexpected opportunity came.
Slovenia initially locked up Serbia. More ambitious, aware that victory is perhaps a surefire way to the last 16, given that they were underdogs against England in the previous round, a win on Thursday was all but certain of qualification after a promising first-round draw with Denmark.
Slovenia’s persistence was evident from the start. Serbia was waiting for her. Slovenia launched the attack. He centered, circulated in the opponent’s area, strengthened the movement from midfield to forward, but only completed a few times in the first half, the most obvious one being Mlacal against Rajkovic. The Mallorca goalkeeper’s reaction was very quick. Savior.
Serbia felt the pressure, turned out well… and reacted. Less than half an hour later, the complexion of the duel changed. Vlahovic’s header, easily caught by Jan Oblak, was a sign. The next signal from Mitrovic in the corner that no one could clear was a confirmation. The game had changed. There were still some moments for both of us. Because even if the draw was close to the limit, either of them could have won.
If Slovenia had to win, it was even more so for Serbia, which had been beaten in its first match by Jude Bellingham and whose association had decided to abandon the match after fans insulted its citizens in a duel between Croatia and Albania the day before, angered by Dusan Tadic’s comments about replacing him (he later apologized to his coach and teammates) and threatened to attack.
In that chaotic environment, Serbia went from less to more against Slovenia with Tadic back in the starting lineup. After the adjustment, he controlled the opponent better, and although Elsnik’s shot hitting the post and Cesco’s rebound caused new scares, it was within the range allowed by Dragan Stojkovic’s team, which finally calmed their opponents.
He fell for a long time to Jan Oblak, who had already doubled the lead in the first half, hindering the duel with Mitrovic. The Atletico Madrid goalkeeper, who had his 40th goal of the season against Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia, did even better and had to face the attacker again early in the second half.
After an hour, Slovenia rose again, counterattacked and took the lead, Kannik got the ball back in his own territory, pushed forward, crossed the midfield line, connected with Elsnik on the other side, but now without the ball, continued to run to another area, and he finally finished after a pass from his teammate. A goal, a win, maybe a ranking? It’s not enough. Maybe he was also unfair to Serbia.
Again, in another area, they were still able to equalize, with another shot from Mitrovic hitting the crossbar. The striker unfortunately missed too many chances, his shots were insignificant and his efficiency was unrecognizable. Oblak played fiercely for his side and made the score 1-1 before the end. Jovic achieved this goal from the last corner kick when no one believed in them anymore and the coach himself, Dragan Stojkovic, sat on the bench and assumed the result.
– data sheet:
1 – slovenia: Cloud; Kannik, Drkušić, Bjor, Janza; Stojanovic (Verbic, m.76), Elsnik (Brekalo, m.91), Gnezda Cerin, Mlakar (Stankovic, m.63); Sporar, Sesko (Vipotnik, m.76).
1 – Serbia: Rajkovic; Velikovic, Milenkovic, Pavlovic; Zivkovic (Bilmancevic, 82); Ilic, Lukic (Milikovic Savic, 64); Mladenovic (Gacinovic, 46); Tadic (Samardzic, 82); Vlahovic (Jovic, 64); Mitrovic.
Goal: 1-0, m. 68: Kannik. 1-1, m. 95: Jovic.
Referee: Istvan Kovac (Romania). He showed yellow cards to Serbian athletes Mladenovic (25m), Lukić (54m), Jovic (92m) and Gasinovic (93m) and Slovenian athlete Vibotnik (76m).
Event: The second day of Group C of the UEFA Euro 2024 was held at the Munich Stadium in front of around 66,000 spectators. Effie/Infrared
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