Serbia played their maiden international, independently, on 16 August 2006, winning 3-1 away to Czech Republic. They did, however, former part of two now disbanded teams: Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro.
The former participated at nine FIFA World Cups™ between 1930 and 2002, and finished runners-up at the UEFA European Championship twice. Then, at Germany 2006, Serbia and Montenegro lost all three matches in a competitive group to fall at the first hurdle.
While Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montengro wore blue shirts, Serbia adopted a red jersey and the nickname Beli Orlovi (White Eagles).
The road to South Africa
When the draw for the first phase of European Zone qualifying was made, the consensus was that Austria, Romania and Serbia were competing for second place behind France. However, although Les Bleus edged the Beli Orlovi 2-1 in Saint-Denis in their second outing, Radomir Antic's team won their next five preliminaries to establish a four-point lead atop of the section. They retained it by drawing 1-1 at home to the French. That result left Serbia needing victory from their penultimate qualifier with Romania to make sure of a place at South Africa 2010, and they achieved it in emphatic fashion with a 5-0 success in Belgrade.
The star players
Widely regarded as one of the best centre-backs in the world, Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic is a rock at the heart of the Serbian backline. Fierce in the tackle and strong in the air, the 28-year-old was named the 2008/09 English Premier League's player of the season. Multifunctional midfielder Dejan Stankovic has played international football since 1998 and now captains his country, while Marko Pantelic and Milan Jovanovic carry a threat in attack.
The coach
Radomir Antic's playing career included an impressive eight-year spell with Partizan, and stints in Turkey, Spain and England, but it was at the coaching reins that he truly began to excel. He led Zaragoza, Real Madrid and Oviedo prior to landing at Atletico Madrid, who he improbably guided to a La Liga/Copa del Rey double in his first season in 1995/96. Antic had three spells at the Atletico controls, but had been out of the game for four years when he was appointed Serbia coach in 2008. However, thanks to his tactical expertise and ability to elicit the best from his charges, the Serbians charged through to South Africa 2010.
Previous FIFA World Cups
* Serbia will be appearing at the FIFA World Cup independently for the first time in South Africa.
* They formed part of the Yugoslavia side that appeared at nine editions of the competition, and the Serbia and Montenegro team that competed at Germany 2006.
What they said
"We're thrilled to have booked a place in South Africa. We've proven ourselves to be a strong team. I am sure that we will play the best we can and not let our fans down at the World Cup," Serbia forward Nikola Zigic.
- Source: Fifa.com
About the National Flag of Serbia
State flag and national (civil) flagThe state and national(civil) flags are prescribed by the Law of 19 May 2009:
III. THE DESIGN AND THE USE OF THE FLAG
The State and the National flag
Article 17.
The flag of the Republic of Serbia exists and is used as the State flag and the National flag, in proportions 3:2 (length to height).
The State flag
Article 18.
The State flag is a horizontal tricolour with equally high fields, from top to bottom: red, blue and white, with overall the lesser coat of arms set towards the hoist at 1/7 of the total flag length.
The National flag
Article 19.
The National flag is a horizontal tricolour with equally high fields, from top to bottom: red, blue and white.
Željko Heimer, 22 May 2009
The state flag, the most commonly used in Serbia, is horizontally divided red-blue-white with the national coat of arms shifted to the hoist (state flag). When Montenegro seceded from the federation, someone, somehow decided that the state flag should be hoisted in front of the UN building. Restaurants, gas stations, sport supporters, all automaticaly started to use the flag with the coat of arms.
Civil vessels on rivers Danube and Sava use the state flag, with some minor exceptions using the flag without the coat of arms.
The civil flag (narodna zastava, lit., "people's flag) of Serbia is horizontally divided red-blue-white, in proportions 2:3.
The law regulates very clearly when the state flag is used and when the "national flag" is used, although the wording may easily be interpreted that state flag may be used in almost all occasions instead of the plain flag.
Ivan Sarajčić & Željko Heimer, 22 May 2009
The state flag was raised in a ceremony in front of the National parliament building. With this, Serbia made a symbolic conclusion to the process of taking over its jurisdiction as a sovereign state, based on a Serbian parliament decision dated June 5, 2006.
Milan Jovanović, 27 July 2006
Vertical Flag Design
Vertical state flag of Serbia - Image by Željko Heimer, 31 May 2005
As I was informed by Milan Heldrih from Zemun, Serbia, the new state flag of Serbia is used also in a vertical variant. As far as I am aware, the verical variant is not prescribed anywhere, but apparently it is used nevertheless in somewhat unexpected design.
Namely, the vertical flag is the tricolour red-blue-white from observer's left to right, with the coat of arms set in the canton, so that its vertical axis matches the edge between the red and the blue fields and moved towards the top, approximately to 1/3 of the length.
Milan noticed also several variations, including the proportion variations from the usual 2:3 (matching the horizontal flag), 1:2 (matching the flag of Serbia and Montenegro) and even as long as 1:5 for vertical banner-like hoisting.
The flag seems to be mass produced (and used) in Serbia, and it probably not solely by one manufacturer, as the variants may prove. Milan repoirts that the flag is used amnong other places on the state TV headquarters (1:5 variant), the Customs Office (1:2), buildings of some municipal courts in New Belgrade and some less official places such as the Zepter Bank, Hotel Beograd Interkontinental, a bakery shop in Lazarevac etc. As table flags these are used in the government buildings, as shown in various newspapers on the photos on the working desk of Vojislav Koštunica, the Prime Minister, and Boris Tadić, the President.
Željko Heimer, 31 May 2005
Origin of the Serbian flagThe Serbian tricolour dates from 1835, and is based on the Russian colours.
Željko Heimer, 22 May 2009
Location of Serbia on the World Map
World Cup 2010 Games where you can see the Serbian Team in action:
Match 8
| 13/06/2010 16:00 | Tshwane/Pretoria Stadium | Serbia vs | Ghana |
| Match 21 | 18/06/2010 13:30 | Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth Stadium | Serbia vs | Germany |
Match 40
| 23/06/2010 20:30
| Nelspruit Stadium | Serbia vs | Australia |
Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Brazil
Cameroon
Chile
Côte d'Ivoire
Denmark
England
France
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Honduras
Italy
Japan
Korea DPR
Korea Republic
Mexico
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Paraguay
Portugal
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
Switzerland
United States
Uruguay
