Serbia back in contention at World Cup

DENNIS PASSA, AP - 32 minutes ago
PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa (AP) -- Serbia's first win since 1962 over old foe Germany at the World Cup just might provide the inspiration for the Balkan team to reach the second round.
After a 1-0 loss to Ghana in its opening match, Serbia was criticized for indifferent play with pundits near and far writing off the side as unlikely to advance.
But Serbia's 1-0 win over Germany on Friday has thrown open Group D and left all four teams still in the running for the final 16.
The Serbs play Australia on June 23 in Nelspruit in their final group match.
"This victory means we decide our own fate," Serbia coach Radomir Antic said. "We were energetic. This is a quality that we as Serbs have not shown so far. If we want to achieve more, we have to be even more confident."
At Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Milan Jovanovic scored one minute after Germany striker Miroslav Klose was sent off. Jovanovic side-footed a shot past goalkeeper Manuel Neuer in the 38th minute to leave both teams with three points in the group.
Serbia was part of former Yugoslavia when it beat Germany in the 1962 quarterfinals, its only previous victory at the World Cup over the three-time winners in six attempts.
This seventh meeting between the countries ties the World Cup record held by Sweden and Brazil.
Antic spoke of the "psychological impact" of the win.
"This victory will help us to regain the style of playing that is our style," he said. "I think that this team represents its people because it is energetic, ready to fight and even to a certain extent, its arrogance."
Antic wasn't being arrogant about his chances against Australia, a team routed 4-0 by Germany in its opening match and reportedly hit by player dissension over outgoing coach Pim Verbeek's personnel choices in the opener.
"We will have four days to consider how to approach the next match," Antic said. "Frankly, I have not thought about it."
On Friday, Antic, as expected, picked Neven Subotic to replace the suspended central defender Aleksandar Lukovic and made two other changes. Milos Ninkovic surprisingly came in for striker Marko Pantelic, and Zdravko Kuzmanovic started for Nenad Milijas.
By playing Ninkovic, Antic strengthened his midfield, leaving Nikola Zigic as the only striker.
"We wanted to make the midfielders stronger," Antic said. "We made the second row more strong and we used it."
Antic always knew his team could come back from its loss to Ghana.
"I admitted that we can have a bad day," Antic said. "In football, there are always mistakes that can happen. For sure this shows that we believe more in ourselves."

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