Serbia & Montenegro

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A second appearance at the World Cup finals since the break-up of the former Yugoslavia is the reward for Serbia & Montenegro's unbeaten run to pole position in Group 7. Reducing heavyweights - and eventual finals seeds - Spain to second was no mean feat for Ilija Petkovic's resilient side who conceded just a solitary goal in ten qualifiers. Mladen Krstajic of Schalke superbly captained the defence throughout their surprising run with only Raul capable of breaching a record-breaking backline in the 1-1 draw in Madrid. It hardly needs to be said then that the team's strength is built upon the foundation of a solid defence, expertly marshaled by goalkeeper Dragoslav Jevric and defender Nemanja Vidic who is being chased by Liverpool and Fiorentina.

The plaudits, though, for having Europe's meanest defence perhaps masks a campaign in which they managed a puny six victories, and only two of those against nations in the top four. More familiar to fans is the team's strike force made up of Savo Milosevic of Osasuna and Athletico Madrid's Mateja Kezman who is always capable of getting a goal after watching his defence soak up the pressure.

Serbia & Montenegro drew twice with playoff victors Spain and only beat third-placed Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0 in the deciding round thanks to a Mateja Kezman goal after seven minutes. Kezman will need to be at his goal-poaching best if UEFA's lowest ranked qualifiers are to progress to the knockout phase in a tough-looking Group C.

Coach: Ilija Petkovic (SCG)
FIFA Ranking: 47

Serbia & Montenegro Matches

Match #	Date & Time	Group	Teams		Result	Venue
6	Sun 11th Jun 15:00	C	SCG	NED	0 - 1	Leipzig
21	Fri 16th Jun 15:00	C	ARG	SCG	6 - 0	Gelsenkirchen
38	Wed 21st Jun 21:00	C	CIV	SCG	3 - 2	Munich

Match times shown are local times for Germany (CEST/GMT+0200). Click on match date/time to view match statistics.

Past World Cup performance

- as Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Second Round: 1998
- as Yugoslavia
First Round: 1950, 1982
Second Round: 1974
Quarter Finals: 1954, 1958, 1990
Semi Finals: 1930
Fourth Place: 1962

Key Players

Mateja Kezman
Mladen Krstajic

World Cup 2006 Qualification

Qualified as winners of European Group 7 without losing a game and conceding only one goal.

Squad

						Total		World Cup 2006
#	Posn	Name	DOB	Club		Caps	Goals	Pld	Goals	OG	YC	RC
1	GK	Jevric Dragoslav	08-07-1974	Ankaraspor	TUR	44	0	3	0	0	0	0
2	MF	Ergic Ivan	21-01-1981	Basel	SUI	3	0	2	0	0	0	0
3	DF	Dragutinovic Ivica	13-11-1975	Sevilla FC	ESP	28	0	1	0	0	1	0
4	MF	Duljaj Igor	29-10-1979	Shakhtar Donetsk	UKR	41	2	3	0	0	1	0
5	DF	Vidic Nemanja	21-10-1981	Manchester Utd.	ENG	20	1	0	0	0	0	0
6	DF	Gavrancic Goran	02-08-1978	Dynamo Kyiv	UKR	29	0	3	0	0	2	0
7	MF	Koroman Ognjen	19-09-1978	Portsmouth	ENG	28	1	2	0	0	2	0
8	FW	Kezman Mateja	12-04-1979	Atletico Madrid	ESP	50	17	2	0	0	0	1
9	FW	Milosevic Savo	02-09-1973	Osasuna	ESP	102	35	3	0	0	0	0
10	MF	Stankovic Dejan	11-09-1978	Inter	ITA	62	11	3	0	0	1	0
11	MF	Djordjevic Predrag	04-08-1972	Olympiakos	GRE	38	1	3	0	0	0	0
12	GK	Kovacevic Oliver	29-10-1974	CSKA Sofia	BUL	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
13	DF	Basta Dusan	18-08-1984	Crvena Zvezda	SCG	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	DF	Djordjevic Nenad	07-08-1979	Partizan	SCG	18	1	2	0	0	0	0
15	DF	Dudic Milan	01-11-1979	Crvena Zvezda	SCG	13	0	2	0	0	1	0
16	DF	Petkovic Dusan	13-06-1974	OFK Beograd	SCG	12	1	0	0	0	0	0
17	MF	Nadj Albert	29-10-1974	Partizan	SCG	46	3	3	0	0	2	1
18	MF	Vukic Zvonimir	19-07-1979	Partizan	SCG	26	6	1	0	0	0	0
19	FW	Zigic Nikola	25-09-1980	Crvena Zvezda	SCG	14	4	2	1	0	0	0
20	DF	Krstajic Mladen	04-03-1974	Schalke 04	GER	49	2	3	0	0	1	0
21	FW	Ljuboja Danijel	04-09-1978	VfB Stuttgart	GER	18	1	2	0	0	0	0
22	MF	Ilic Sasa	30-12-1977	Galatasaray	TUR	33	6	1	1	0	0	0
23	GK	Stojkovic Vladimir	28-07-1983	Crvena Zvezda	SCG	0	0	0	0	0	0	0