Record crowd roars hosts Serbia to victory
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Article summary
Serbia 5-1 Slovenia
A group-stage record crowd of 11,000 is thrilled as the hosts, who fell behind early on, hit four second-half goals for an opening win.
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Article body
- Mladen Kocić's double inspires hosts Serbia to 5-1 comeback Group A win
- Crowd of 11,000 at opening game is group stage record
- Next Group A games: Slovenia v Portugal (Thursday), Portugal v Serbia (Saturday)
UEFA Futsal EURO 2016 hosts Serbia came from behind to delight the 11,000 Arena Belgrade crowd with an opening Group A win.
Igor Osredkar's well-worked goal from a free-kick silenced the home crowd early on, but Slovenia's sixth foul allowed a Slobodan Janjić to equalise via a double penalty – the roar was now full-throated. After Mladen Kocić made it 2-1 in the first minute of the second half, there was no looking back for the hosts, with the No10's strike to make it 4-1 the pick, and Marko Pršić scoring from inside his own half.
The key
Mladen Kocić's cool strike at the start of the second half, not to mention his fine finish to make it 4-1.
Crowd's the star
The sell-out crowd of 11,000 is a record for a UEFA Futsal EURO group stage game and fourth all-time.
Slovenia must respond
Slovnia started the 2014 finals by beating Italy, who went on to win the title. Now Slovenia must respond against Portugal on Thursday, though the odds are against them.
Reaction:
Mladen Kocić, Serbia
Slovenia are a very disciplined team so it was not easy. Especially as we played in the first half below our abilities. With this kind of support you must not lose. This huge win will probably take us to the quarter-finals.
Igor Osredkar, Slovenia captain
We cannot complain about our performance in the first half. But later on … I really don't know, probably out concentration was not so high any more, the goal to make it 2-1 destroyed our play and then everything just went wrong. Playing in front of 11,000 spectators is great