5. Serbia vs Croatia (Group A)
Serbia have been woeful in qualifying for the World Cup and won't even make the playoffs. A match with fierce rivals Croatia does get the juices flowing though. Serbia fans were banned for their trip to Croatia in March in which the home nation won 2-0. Croatian fans will not be able to attend this match. Croatia currently sit 3 points behind Belgium for leadership of Group A with Belgium not guaranteed 3 points from their trip to Scotland on Friday. Croatia will at least want to match their result in this game before the two sides collide in Croatia next month. Derby County legend Igor Štimac is the current head coach of Croatia whose squad has a number of talented and well-known players. The Premier League is represented by Nikica Jelavi (Everton) and Dejan Lovren (Southampton) but other stars include Eduardo, Mario Mandžuki, Luka Modri, Ivica Oli and Ivan Rakiti. 17-year old Dinamo Zagreb star Alen Halilovi is also in the squad with 2 caps to his name. Serbia are coached by the fiery Siniša Mihajlovi who saw a red card or two in his time including at Euro 2000 when Yugoslavia drew 3-3 with Slovenia. Mihajlovi has coaching experience with Bologna, Catania and Fiorentina in Italy. Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovi captains the nation, whilst Manchester City pair Aleksandar Kolarov and Matija Nastasi also make the squad. Serbia may still want to hang onto 3rd place for FIFA World Ranking points and seeding for future tournaments but most-importantly their fans would love to see them beat their hated neighbour Croatia. Expect lots of fouls and a fiery affair between these two rival nations.
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Barrie's View is a football stat man focusing mainly on the English Premier League. Barrie also contributes to other large football blogs, including Back Page Football and Football Talk, and has been cited by the USA Today.
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