Serbian coach: Responsible for the team’s defeat in the World Cup qualifying and will resign as head coach

Hupu News on October 12th: Serbian national team coach Dragan Stojkovic officially announced his resignation as coach after the team lost 0-1 to Albania in the World Cup preliminaries. The 60-year-old head coach said at the post-match press conference: "This defeat should not have happened, and I take full responsibility for it."

Currently, Serbia has seven points from five games in Group K of the World Cup qualifiers, ranking third, behind the leader England (15 points) coached by Tuchel and second-place Albania (11 points). In order to qualify for the play-offs, Serbia, the 2022 World Cup team, is facing tremendous pressure. They will face Andorra, the bottom of the group, next Tuesday.

According to Serbian media reports, former national team player Veljko Paunovic is expected to take over as head coach.

Stojkovic has coached the Serbian national team since 2021 and has led the team in more than 50 games. As a player, he was the legendary core of the former Yugoslavia national team and played for clubs such as Red Star Belgrade, Olympique Marseille and Nagoya Grampus. After retiring, he served as club president and head coach. He coached in Japan and China for many years and accumulated rich international coaching experience.