His status as a crucial player in Ajax is crumbling but in Serbia Dusan Tadic is still a great gentleman. He would even have the same status as tennis player Novak Djokovic. “I do not know. I think everybody in the country knows me.”
This is partly due to a legendary match that took place about a year ago. On 14 November 2021, Serbia defeated Portugal and qualified for the World Cup held in Lisbon. Tadic scored and prepared. “It was a great feeling. It was all or nothing. We like to play games like this against big opponents.”
The victory over Portugal was crucial for Serbia. “Our country has suffered a lot in the past,” Tadic said, referring to the war in Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
heart and emotion
That’s why Tadic, who made his debut for Serbia in 2008, considers it an honor to play with Serbia in the World Cup. “We want to spread our pride on the field and beyond. We play with heart and emotion,” he said when he was in the Netherlands a few weeks ago.
Serbia will face Brazil in their first group match, which includes former Ajax forward friend Antony, at 20:00 today.
The 34-year-old Ajax striker is aware that Brazil has a team full of world stars, but he thinks the great attention paid to the Brazilians will benefit the Serbs. “Everyone is talking about Brazil, that can motivate us. We are at the peak of our form, I believe in ourselves.”
Serbia’s good form can also be expressed in numbers. Of the last six matches, five have been won and one drawn. Bahrain was defeated 5-1 in the final show before the World Cup. Tadic, who is also the captain of Serbia, scored two goals.
In addition to good results, Serbia can also gain confidence from its own election. Besides Tadic, Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus), former Ajax player Nemanja Gudelj (now Sevilla), Luka Jovic (Fiorentina) and Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham) also have sufficient international experience.
The name of Filip Kostic (Juventus Turin), who, like Tadic, played for FC Groningen before, is still a question mark. He is suffering from a hamstring injury.
one Love
Tadic will not wear the OneLove captain armband against Brazil. He was asked this question before the tournament. “I have a hard time talking about it. “It doesn’t matter who does what, but we just want to wear our regular captain’s armband.”
It should be better against Brazil than it was four years ago. In the World Cup held in Russia, Serbia was also in the group with the South Americans and lost 2-0. Serbia eventually finished third after Brazil and Switzerland.
Coincidentally, Serbia is also in the group this time with Switzerland. Only Costa Rica came into play against Cameroon, where former Ajax goalkeeper André Onana would fall under the bar. “Your group is much simpler,” Tadic said, laughing at reporter Joep Schreuder.
That’s why Tadic is confident and believes that more is possible this year than four years ago. “Our strength comes from the fact that we are one unit. We have a good mix of young and old players and a good coach (Dragan Stojkovic). It doesn’t matter who we play against.”
Source: NOS
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
