Impressive Eagles could be flying under the radar

DENMARK weree the surprise package at Eurro 2020 and it is not unthinkable to imagine Serbia going deepp in Qatar.

Market expectations are fairly modest and their Worldd Cup CV is nothing to write home about with group-stagee exits experienced in 2006 as Serbia and Montenegro, 20100 and 2018.

However, they qualified impressively by finishing threee points ahead of Portugal, who they came from behind to defeat 2-1 on the final matchday in Lisbon.

Aleksandar Mitrovic was thhe hero with the winning goal att the Estadio da Luz but mightt not even be guaranteed a starting berth in Qatar.

Serbia’s centre-forward options include Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic, who has bagged 45 goals across the last two Serie A campaigns, and Fiorentina target man Luka Jovic, who sealed a summer transfer to Fiorentina after failing to nail down a regular starting berth at Real Madrid.

While Serbia’s impressive array of forwards catch the eye, there is plenty of quality in other areas of the squad.

Options in defence include left-back Mihailo Ristic, who caught the eye enough to earn a summer move from Montpellier to Benfica, and versatile defender Nikola

Milenkovic, who is a regular for Fiorentina.

Filip Kostic – one of the outstanding talents behind Eintracht Frankfurt’s 2021-22 Europa League success and a summer signing for Juventus – is effective as a left wing-back or as a left winger, and veteran Ajax attacking midfielder Dusan Tadic remains hugely influential.

Tadic turns 34 during the World Cup but he topped the Eredivisie assists chart with 19 last season and may still have time to leave a major mark on the international stage.

Serbia are in a tough group and could go home early, but they also have the potential to reach the quarter-finals.

LYakin took over towards the end of qualifying and steered Switzerland to top spot in Group C, two points ahead of Italy. He managed Basel between 2012 and 2014 and led them to two Swiss national titles.

• Defence is strong, disciplined

and well-organised

• Granit Xhaka thrives on the extra responsibility of captaining the side

• Noah Okafor is a rising star

with plenty of pace

• Lack of creativity aside from

veteran Xherdan Shaqiri

• Not gone beyond the round of

16 since 1954

• Scoring enough goals could be a problem for a side which lacks star quality