Serbia name full-strength squad for trip to Aviva Stadium

Local legend Dragan Stojković has been a revelation since accepting the national job just a week before the campaign openers in March.

Serbia will be at full-strength for next month’s World Cup qualifiers against Luxembourg and Ireland, with manager Dragan Stojković drafting Malmo’s Veljko Birmancević into his 31-man squad announced today.

The Serbs are joint-top of Group A, level on seven points with Portugal, whom winless Ireland visit on September 1.

Stephen Kenny’s side then host Azerbaijan and Serbia before a crowd of 25,000 at Aviva Stadium on September 4 and 7, after which they’ll only have three qualifiers left.

Local legend Stojković has been a revelation since accepting the national job just a week before the campaign openers in March.

Lured by a €1m bonus for leading the team to the Qatar-hosted finals next year, he oversaw wins over Ireland (3-2) and Azerbaijan (2-1) either side of a 2-2 draw against Portugal.

Next up for The Eagles is a friendly against Qatar and qualifier with Luxembourg in Belgrade, three days before they visit Dublin.

Birmancević played two friendlies in January and has now earned his first competitive call-up. The winger has been instrumental in Malmo's march to the brink of the Champions League group stages, scoring against HJK Helsinki, Rangers and in Wednesday’s 2-0 first playoff victory over Ludogorets.

Also new to the squad is Benfica’s Mile Svilar. At 18, he became the youngest-ever goalkeeper to feature in the Champions League in 2017, playing in the 1-0 defeat to Manchester United. He represented his homeland of Belgium until U21 level before switching allegiance two years ago.

Dusan Tadic, who snubbed summer interest from Inter Milan to stay at Ajax, will captain the side.

Ireland and Portugal will both name their squads on Thursday for the upcoming international window.

SERBIA SQUAD:

Goalkeepers: Marko Dmitrović (Sevilla), Predrag Rajković (Reims), Mile Svilar (Benfica), Marko Ilić (Kortrijk).

Defenders: Strahinja Pavlovic (Monaco), Milos Veljkovic (Werder Bremen), Stefan Mitrovic (Getafe), Uros Spajic (Krasnodar), Matija Nastasic (Schalke), Nikola Milenkovic (Fiorentina);

Midfielders: Nemanja Gudelj (Sevilla), Nemanja Maksimovic (Getafe), Uros Racic (Valencia), Sasa Lukic (Turin), Marko Grujic (Porto), Ivan Ilic (Verona), Filip Djuricic (Sassuolo), Sergej Milinkovic Savic ), Dusan Tadic (Ajax).

Wingers: Marko Petković (TSC), Darko Lazović (Verona), Nemanja Radonjić (Olympique Marseille), Filip Kostić (Eintracht Frankfurt), Mihailo Ristić (Montpellier), Filip Mladenović (Legija), Aleksa Terzić (Fiorentina).

Attackers: Andrija Zivkovic (PAOK), Luka Jovic (Real Madrid), Veljko Birmancevic (Malmo), Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham), Dusan Vlahovic (Fiorentina).