Mitrovic: Against Bulgaria we took a point and qualified, but we were criticized as if we lost – BG Football – National Team

Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic was a guest on the Wish&Goal podcast, touching on many topics and also talking about the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The popular football player with the nickname “Mitrogol” explained that he lives with the feeling that the national team of Serbia does not have the support it deserves. And this was seen in the past European qualifications, where Bulgaria was also their opponent.

“I think people only believed in the team before the World Cup in Qatar. The win in Portugal in the qualifiers at the time was the key, we played great throughout the campaign. I’ve been part of the national team for a long time now and in big periods I’ve seen how they always challenge us , as if individuals were waiting for something bad to happen. I’m talking about 90 percent of society. They were trying to create a problem, even though it doesn’t exist! And we never had a better national team as far as the guys are concerned , the atmosphere. They wanted to bring intrigue among us,” adds the 29-year-old health worker in the interview, reprinted by the “Telegraf” newspaper. “We felt that if our collective was not as strong, the results would not have been as good, Mitrovic pointed out, adding: “We have fulfilled all the objectives in the previous three cycles and that is a big thing. Apart from the game, the manner and the results justified the goals. We played better in the qualifiers for the World Cup, but we also started strongly now. And at Euro 2024, even if we pass the group, people will certainly say that we are not playing well, that the group is not strong and so on”.

However, Serbia twice failed to secure victories against Bulgaria in Group G, narrowly escaping defeat in Razgrad with a 1-1 equalizer nine seconds from time. The last meeting of the entire campaign was at the new “Dubochitsa” stadium in Leskovac and ended 2:2, and Bulgaria was leading 2:1 ten minutes before the end. Therefore, he was also asked to analyze the entire campaign.

“We played an excellent match against the Hungarians, we had 90 percent possession of the ball at our feet. We actually lost after two shots from the opponent and received an avalanche of criticism. Against Bulgaria we took a point that was much needed to qualify, the comments were as if we had lost. The Bulgarians came with new coach, extremely motivated. We have a lot of potential and we’ve always been missing something,” explained the striker, who currently plays for Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia.

However, the Serbs received a rather complicated group at the finals in Germany, where they will have to argue in stream C together with the teams of England, Denmark and Slovenia. The first two teams from each group, as well as four of the six third-placed teams, advance, the opening match for them is on June 16 at the “Arena auf Schalke” stadium in Gelsenkirchen against England.

“I hope that we have gained experience and intelligence and at the same time we have learned how to take a key step on the way to success as a team. We have continuity and the coach has been with us for a long time, so he knows us perfectly,” concluded Mitrovic. / BTA