Serbia most recently made an appearance at the EUROs in Belgium and the Netherlands in 2000, where the side, formerly as Yugoslavia and captained by the current coach Stojkovic, fell to a 6-1 defeat against the Oranje in the quarterfinals. “It’s been 24 years since we last competed at the European Championships,” explained Veljkovic, who has made 29 appearances for his country so far. “That makes me all the more happy to have been selected for the squad.”
Dragan Stojkovic’s side will kick off their EUROs campaign when they take on England at Schalke’s ground in Gelsenkirchen (16/06), before travelling south to play their remaining group stage fixtures against Slovenia (20/06) and Denmark (25/06) in Munich. “We’re determined to get through the group stage, which obviously won’t be easy,” Veljkovic acknowledged. “I’m really happy that the tournament is taking place in Germany and that my family and friends can follow every game from close by.”
Unfortunately, Olivier Deman was given some less positive news with regards to his European Championship journey. After remaining on the bench for Belgium throughout the most recent international break, Werder’s left-back narrowly missed out on a chance to represent his country at this summer’s tournament, which saw Club Brugge’s Maxim de Cuyper selected in his place. “Oli was a regular starter at Werder at the beginning, but the situation is different now,” explained head coach Domenico Tedesco, who was responsible for breaking the news to Deman. “We’ve always recognised that we have a wide range of options within our squad and have to choose the best of the bunch.”
Romano Schmid and Werder's summer signing Marco Grüll are still waiting to hear their fate with regards to the upcoming tournament. It’s currently unclear as to when head coach Ralf Rangnick will make a final decision, but with the side starting training ahead of the competition on Thursday, 30th May, the pair will need to impress if they want to join Veljkovic at this year’s EUROs. Werder’s captain Marco Friedl is on standby for the Austrian side, and is remaining hopeful that he'll be given a chance to link up with the other two Green-Whites and compete for his country in the summer.
