Krstajic on Brazil: Nothing is impossible

Serbia coach Mladen Krstajic claimed Brazil “have some weak spots” after his side’s 2-1 defeat to Switzerland left them needing a win against the Group E favourites to make sure of their place in the World Cup knockout phase.

Xherdan Shaqiri’s last-minute winner completed Switzerland’s comeback after Aleksandar Mitrovic had given Serbia the lead with just five minutes played in Kaliningrad, before Granit Xhaka scored a superb second-half equaliser.

The result leaves Krstajic’s men with three points from two group games and only victory over Brazil will guarantee their progression to the last 16 at a World Cup for the first time in Serbia’s history as an independent nation.

Krstajic gave a confident assessment of his side’s chances, telling reporters: “From day one, when we saw the draw and the group, many thought Brazil was the favourite to win the group and the championship.

“We need a win on matchday three and we will focus and do whatever we can. Nothing is impossible in life.

“We respect their status as favourites but they have some weak spots that we will try to exploit.”

The Serbia coach admitted that Xhaka’s thunderbolt in the 52nd minute rocked his side, but claimed he did not give up hope of taking all three points from the game.

“We were disturbed by Swiss equaliser,” he said. “We were equal to them, maybe they had more possession but at 1-1 we tried to go on the attack – we substituted a defensive midfielder for an attacking midfielder.

“We can be satisfied with the first half. We went 1-0 up at the right time tactically and technically we were sound. We conceded a naïve goal when we were on the front foot and they countered us.”

He refused to discuss the goal celebrations by Shaqiri and Xhaka, who both made gestures evoking the Albanian flag in reference to their Kosovan heritage and Serbia’s refusal to recognise their birthplace as a sovereign state.

Krstajic said: “I don’t have any comments. I don’t deal with these things, I am a man of sports.”