MOTD preview: Croatia vs Serbia

Serbia will play Croatia as an independent nation for the first time in history.  The two sides meet for their World Cup qualifiers in Group One, with Croatia tied on points with Belgium at the top of the group and Serbia six points behind them in third.  The two nations were at war with each other only fourteen years ago, and the match will be the first of one of the fiercest rivalries in the world.  For the safety of those attending, Croatia and Serbia have worked together to ban foreigners from attending the game, so no Serbians will be in the stadium, which will be a plus today for Croatia.  Croatia is the better side, and while The Vatreni reached the Round of 16 in the European Championships last summer, Serbia didn’t even qualify for the tournament.  Serbia’s last match was a 3-1 win over Cyprus in a friendly on February 6th, and Croatia beat South Korea 4-0 on the same day.  Croatia have the better players, led by Real Madrid’s Luka Modric, and with Everton’s Nikica Jelavic and Fulham’s Mladen Petric also playing at a very high level.  Serbia aren’t short of stars though, and Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic and Manchester City’s Aleksandar Kolarov being their top players.  Whoever wins though, the match is sure to be exciting, so look out for my halftime and full time reviews, right here on Football Every Day!