Euro 2024: The squad learns lineup from website; coach faces backlash

It has been clarified why the Serbian national team players reacted so emotionally after seeing a smartphone screen before their match against Denmark. For the first time, they learned the starting lineup on the Euro 2024 website. Coach Dragan Stojković had not informed them about the starting eleven beforehand.

Evaluations are already underway in Serbia following the unsuccessful performance at Euro 2024. Expectations were high, yet the Balkans team was eliminated after three group-stage matches. They did not secure a victory, and their two points were insufficient to advance. Serbia earned these points in drawn matches against Slovenia and Denmark.

Fans from the Balkans are highly agitated by the national team's repeated failures in major football tournaments. One individual blamed for the failures is coach Dragan Stojković, who has been managing the national team since 2021.

Dragan Stojković is known for his emotional, sometimes even extravagant behaviour. Before the last match against Denmark, he kept all his charges on edge. He did not reveal the starting lineup to the players until one and a half hours before the game.

This explains why the players reacted so emotionally when they looked at the smartphone screen in the stadium. They saw Serbia's starting lineup for the first time on the official tournament website.

Only after publishing the lineup online did coach Dragan Stojković decide to reveal it to the players. The secrecy did little to help, as Serbia did not manage to secure a victory to stay in Euro 2024.

The situation seems absurd and is another issue for the coach, who is heavily criticised after the tournament.