Slovenia lose to Serbia in second round of Nations League

Belgrade – The Slovenian men’s football team lost to Serbia in Belgrade on Sunday 1:4 in the second round of play in League B of the UEFA Nations League to score two consecutive defeats to start the campaign in the second tier of the competition. Another tough test awaits Slovenia in Oslo on Thursday as they face Norway.

After losing to Sweden 0:2 at home on Thursday, Slovenia were hosted by Serbia at Rajko Mitić Stadium in front of some 15,000 spectators to again leave empty handed.

After one loss and five draws, this was actually the first win for Serbia against Slovenia, who now have three points in Group B4, which is topped by Norway, who defeated Sweden yesterday to score a total of six points.

Slovenia’s only goal was scored by Petar Stojanović in the 30th minute to equalise the score at 1:1, after which Serbia scored three goals, the last one in the stoppage time.

Slovenia’s head coach Matjaž Kek congratulated Serbia for the “deserved and realistically high win”, while criticising his players for the lack of effort, especially in the closing minutes, which he found “inadmissible”.

“We were giving them chances from the first minute on, including by playing irresponsibly. Instead of gaining momentum after scoring the goal, we sank very quickly. I had been thinking about having had enough,” he said.

Kek noted that Slovenia now had to focus on the match in Oslo on Thursday, “saying that the match with Serbia awaits us after that, and then we will see how to proceed.”

Serbia’s head coach Dragan Stojković was happy with the game, saying that the “players showed character and determination” and that “football-wise, everything was ideal for Serbia today”, adding that “we want maximum and this is how it will be in Ljubljana.”

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