Juventus winger Filip Kostic could miss Serbia’s opening World Cup match against Brazil, confirms coach Dragan Stojkovic, but Dusan Vlahovic is ready to start.
The Group G fixture kicks off on Thursday at 19.00 GMT, in the same group as Switzerland and Cameroon.
There had been concerns for Vlahovic going into the tournament due to a recurring groin inflammation, which saw him miss several Juventus games towards the break for the World Cup.
That issue seems to have been resolved, but now his Juve teammate Kostic is carrying a knock.
“The situation is satisfactory, only Kostic is in doubt for tomorrow’s game,” said coach Stojkovic in his press conference.
Aleksandar Mitrovic was another Serbian player with concerns, but he has been training with the squad for the last three to four days and is ready.
Stojkovic referenced the fact that Italy failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, noting how important that makes Serbia’s presence.
There were also reports in La Gazzetta dello Sport that Brazil had filmed Serbia’s training sessions using drones, which Stojkovic said were improbable.