Serbia under pressure to deliver after Czech fiasco

Brought crashing down to earth at several major events after winning the EHF EURO 2012 silver medal on home court, Serbia aims to rekindle its newly-found penchant for success when they take on neighbours Montenegro (29 October) and Israel (2 November) in their opening Group 4 qualifiers for the EHF EURO 2016 in Poland.

The section also includes Iceland and Serbia’s interim coach Dejan Peric, who stepped in to fill the void after Vladan Matic stepped down following a fiasco in the play-offs to the World Championship 2015, knows that only a perfect start will do.

Serbia failed to reach January’s tournament in Qatar after spilling an eight-goal first leg advantage in their playoff against the Czech Republic, having previously crashed out in the EHF EURO 2014 Preliminary Round.

"I’ve picked my team based on the traits of our opponents as well as the current form of our players," Peric told the Serbian Handball Federation after naming his 18-man squad.

"I'm my own harshest critic and hence I will ask for nothing less than full commitment of every player on that list because playing for the national team is a question of pride.

"Age will not be a factor because my only interest is whether a player is good enough or not. Both opening games will be specific in their own ways and my players know what they have to do."

Peric can be buoyed by the good form of left back Momir Ilic, who is firing on all cylinders in the VELUX EHF Champions League for his Hungarian club Veszprem, as well as pivot Rastko Stojkovic who is one of the pillars at Meshkov Brest in Europe’s elite club competition.

However, Serbia could sorely miss veteran goalkeeper Darko Stanic after the 36-year old paused his international career.

With the starting centre back also an issue, Peric has plenty of work to do in order to make a winning start in the European Championship qualifiers.

"As far as goalkeepers are concerned, we are counting on Strahinja Milic’s good form for Vardar while Miroslav Kocic moved to their Skopje arch rivals Metalurg after a great season at Vojvodina Novi Sad.

"Dejan Milosavljev is one for the future and the youngster deserved his call-up," said the coach.

"When it comes to centre backs, we have 39-year old Dalibor Cutura and his younger brother Davor (34). They have never played together but each of them has characteristics suitable for our rivals in the opening two rounds.

"They have a wealth of experience and the personalities to ensure the rest of the pack play up to their potentials."

Apart from Ilic and Stojkovic, Serbia will need some of their other stalwarts to deliver if they are to take a maximum four points from the Montenegrins and the Israelis, namely the Melsungen MT back court duo of Momir Rnic and Nenad Vuckovic as well as Wisla Plock winger Ivan Nikcevic.

Peric said he was looking forward to the opening clash with Montenegro and a reunion with his old friend Ljubomir Obradovic, who is currently coaching Serbia’s neighbours.

"I rate him so much and was always happy to see him do well wherever he worked. Montenegro are in the hands of a very good coach and they won’t make it easy for us. We have played several tough matches with them and I am sure another one is coming up."