By Milos Kosic
Serbia’s hopes of reaching the knock out stage of the World Cup ended last Wednesday, after a dramatic 2-1 defeat against Australia. The White Eagles learned the hard way that a dominating team that misses opportunities usually loses the game. Serbia outplayed Australia in the first half, creating numerous chances, but the Aussies regrouped in the second part of the match, neutralizing Serbian attacks. It took only five minutes to completely drown Serbia. Goals by Cahill and Holman left the White Eagles in an almost impossible situation. They needed to score twice in the last fifteen minutes in order to progress into the second round. A late goal by Marko Pantelic was just a glimmer of hope. Serbia started attacking, risking to conceive another goal.
The best opportunity for an equalizer came just a few minutes before the end. Pantelic was left alone in front of the goal, but he sent the ball high above the crossbar. Serbia called for a penalty in added time, after Cahill hit the ball with his hand, but the referee stayed silent.
The White Eagles are now at the bottom of the group, with three points. Their performance was far better than in 2006, when they were the worst team of the tournament, but still, the fans will once again feel that Serbia missed a good opportunity to do something big. They will need to wait four years for the next one.
