Nikola Milenkovic is ready to take on the daunting challenge of trying to stop the Brazil attackers, which Serbia will face in the opener Thursday. The Fiorentina star weighed in during a presser from Dubai (via DAZN).
“This is my second World Cup, and I’m naturally more experienced and mature. The preparation was longer four years ago, and that was the nice part. La Seleçao is the favorite, not just in the group, but for the whole tournament. We believe in ourselves and we will focus on our performance. They have great players at every position. Neymar isn’t the only threat. We respect everybody, but we believe that, with our organization, disciplined approach, ideas, and the quality of our players, we can get a positive result.”
The center-back has already faced Brazil in the past.
“It wasn’t a good game, we had to win to advance but we lost two-nil. The circumstances have completely changed now. We had an excellent path to get here. If we play at our usual levels, we can go far.”
Milenkovic dished on what Serbia will try to accomplish in Qatar.
“Our primary objective is to make it past the group stage, then we’ll focus on the ensuing matches. It won’t be easy, but we have to give our best to make our people proud and happy. I’m sure everybody will do his part. Somebody said that we are contenders, and we aren’t bothered by such talk. We are concentrated on us.”
On the injury front, Dusan Vlahovic returned from a thigh problem in the final friendly. Instead, Filip Kostic and Sasa Lukic are questionable to play due to minor muscular issues, TuttoSport informs.
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