Werder defender Milos Veljkovic gets his European Championship campaign underway on Sunday, when his Serbia side face EURO 2020 runners-up England in Gelsenkirchen at 21:00 CEST. On Monday, a similarly tough task awaits Romano Schmid, SVW new boy Marco Grüll and the rest of the Austria team as they take on France (also 21:00 CEST).
“We’re really looking forward to being back after 24 years,” said Milos Veljkovic ahead of his side’s opening game against the Three Lions. “They are one of the favourites to win the EUROs, so we’ll have plenty of defending to do and we’ll have to come through some tough periods,” explains the 28-year-old, who is nonetheless looking forward to the opportunity to cause an upset. But Serbia will only be able to take that chance, warns Veljkovic, if “we manage to make a mark on the match and play our own game.”
The more superstitious amongst tonight’s viewers might see it as a good omen that the match is being played at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen. Veljkovic has won on four of his seven visits to the ground in a Werder kit – a positive run he will be hoping to continue in the red of Serbia.
Two Green-Whites will be rubbing shoulders with some of the titans of European football on Monday, 17th June. Romano Schmid and our new signing Marco Grüll’s Austria will take on 2022 World Cup runners-up France in Group D at 21:00 CEST. The game will be played at the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Düsseldorf.
Head coach Ralf Rangnick’s side go into the tournament on a run of seven games unbeaten, even if the 1-1 draw against Switzerland in their final friendly wasn’t the result they wanted. “The important thing is what happens in the tournament itself,” emphasised Werder midfielder Schmid.
France may have a side stacked with top players including Kylian Mbappé and Antoine Griezmann, but Austria have no intention of rolling over. On the contrary, Romano Schmid said: “We’re all confident, because we know that we can cause problems for any opponent. We want to take this confidence with us into the tournament and we’re really looking forward to it.”
