Antic says Serbia will hit World Cup form

BELGRADE - Serbian coach Radomir Antic believes his side will find the right form in time for the World Cup starting next Friday, the Belgrade daily Press reported.

Antic admitted he had worries about the form shown in friendlies but that everything was geared to peaking at the right time.

During the week-long camp in the Austrian Alps, Serbia lost 0-1 to New Zealand and played a goalless draw with Poland. On both occasions Serbia appeared listless up front and exposed at the back.

“We created situations in which it was harder to miss than to hit,” Antic told the newspaper. “No coach in the world can say he is satisfied when his team fails to score in two matches.”

Serbia plays its final pre-World Cup test against Cameroon in Belgrade on Saturday, before travelling to South Africa and the crucial opener against Ghana on June 13. Serbia also has Germany and Australia in the group.

Antic, the only man to have led the big Spanish three of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, took over the Serbia team in August 2008 following the nation’s catastrophic showing at the 2006 World Cup and failure to qualify for Euro 2008.

He has created a compact, disciplined team which qualified for South Africa on top of its group.

The nation’s euphoria has been dampened following the national team’s pre-World Cup displays, but Antic said: “Everything was subordinated to time the peak of our form for June 13, to reach our level then.

“We managed to do all that we wanted to do… we learned and eliminated some mistakes already against Poland and in football it is often details which decide.”