Return to the place of the horror story - 18 years later...
They play the derby on the third day of the European Championship at 21:XNUMX in Gelsenkirchen Serbia and England.
The "Eagles" dream of a surprise against the first favorite of the Euros, "proud Albion" to perfectly open the championship from which much is expected on the Island.
Serbia will play the match against a powerful rival in the stadium where it experienced one of the biggest disasters in history - interestingly, on the same date.
It was June 16, 2006 in Gelsenkirchen, and Serbia (then known as Serbia and Montenegro) was defeated by Argentina 6:0 at the World Cup.
In addition to the city, stadium and date, it is also repeated that this selection is again in group C, and the match will again be led by an Italian referee - then Roberto Rossetti, now Daniele Orsato.
Pixie: Ah, why don't we attack Albion
Of course, today's composition of the "eagles" has no points of contact with the one who watched the magic of the young man Lionel Messi, Juan Roman Riquelme, Carlos Teves and comrades, and now they will have an additional motive because Serbia will appear for the first time as an independent country in the Euro.
- Some players weren't born when we played the last time - we deserved to be here, now it's time to make a step forward - said the selector Dragan Stojkovic.
From the statements of the once great football player, it seems that Serbia is entering against the first favorite without much fear...
- Why don't we attack them? I believe it will be an open match, we respect them. We also respect ourselves. We will do everything to open the match as we want, regardless of the power of the English - Pixi is clear.
Southgate and Pickford: The start is the most important
England does not hide that it dreams of winning Europe for the first time in its history, but its players know how important a good start is for that.
- The most important thing is to win the first game and get out of the group. We must not look too far - warned the goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
England will look to build on their impressive run of form at the last European Championship, having lost just one of their last 18 games at the continental championships, excluding penalty kicks.
- I know that we have a tough opening game ahead of us and we will do our best to win. It is a privilege to be at such a big tournament, people saw how the Germans and Spaniards played in the first half against Croatia. There are a lot of great teams. Our focus is to get through the group first, because that is the first step for something more," said the England coach. Gareth Southgate.
A selection with many great masters, such as Phil Foden, Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Bukaja Sake and many others are on their first exam.
Bonus video:
