Serbia coach Dragan Stojkovic assures Dusan Vlahovic is in ‘incomparably better condition’ than when he arrived at the World Cup from Juventus and is ready to play Switzerland.
The centre-forward has so far only been used as a substitute in the opening game, a 2-0 defeat to Brazil, and was left on the bench throughout the 3-3 draw with Cameroon.
The reason given was the persistent groin injury that the 22-year-old has been carrying for several months at Juventus.
Stojkovic had said only a couple of days ago that he was ‘worried’ at the condition of Vlahovic and his Bianconeri teammate Filip Kostic, who both arrived in Qatar with fitness issues.
Ahead of the decisive showdown with Switzerland tomorrow, the Serbia coach is far more optimistic.
“Vlahovic is ready to play and he is in incomparably better condition than when we first arrived in Doha.”
The striker has nine goals in 18 senior caps for Serbia, while he found the net seven times in 15 competitive games for Juventus so far this season.