Heading home, Serbia had no answer to 'powerhouse' Brazil
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Serbia threw caution to the wind and everything they had at fast, slick and disciplined Brazilian defence but came up short and were punished by brilliance at the other end, coach Mladen Krstajic acknowledged.
“That’s how it goes in football. We have to up our game.
“We took more risks in the second half. We had our chances but we were punished,” Krstajic added.
Serbia did indeed have their moments and put Brazil under concerted pressure before Silva’s strike from a Neymar corner after 68 minutes put the result beyond them and freed the Brazilians up to dazzle and tease with their possession.
But Brazil’s defence had rarely in truth looked more than mildly troubled, a fact Krstajic acknowledged
“When you’re defending, you have to be disciplined,” he said. “And this just shows how powerful Brazil really is.”
While Brazil go on to be — again — one of the favourites for the World Cup in Russia, Serbia head home from their first major international tournament since the 2010 World Cup.
“The players gave their all,” said Krstajic, a former international defender who was promoted to coach from assistant when Slavoljub Muslin was sacked last October after leading the side to qualification for Russia.
“We came to the World Cup to show our true colours after eight years of missing out on major tournaments,” he said.
“We can be very satisfied with our performance,” he went on, highlighting the toll taken on his players by heavy schedules for their clubs over the preceding season.
The turning-point of their campaign, however, after an opening 1-0 win over Costa Rica was the 2-1 defeat by the Swiss after leading before conceding a winner in the last minute
“We knew they were a tough opponent,” Krstajic said. “What happened happened. We lost 2-1. That’s life.”