Sprightly Serbia shine in Algiers
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
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Algeria 0-3 Serbia
Marko Pantelić opened the scoring as FIFA World Cup finalists Serbia romped to a comfortable friendly victory.
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Algeria 0-3 Serbia
Serbia's preparations for the FIFA World Cup finals received a significant lift as Radomir Antić's side saw off Algeria.
The hosts made a decent start but were behind on 15 minutes when AFC Ajax striker Marko Pantelić profited after Algeria goalkeeper Lounès Gaouaoui came for a cross and missed it. At the other end, Vladimir Stojković made a decent save to deny Karim Matmour an equaliser, and he was called upon again when Nadir Belhadj got a sight of goal as half-time approached.
Algeria – who have also qualified for the World Cup finals in South Africa this summer – were without some regular starters, and went further behind on 56 minutes, substitute Zdravko Kuzmanović punishing the home side's failure to clear a free-kick. A quick counterattack nine minutes later was capped off by a Duško Tošić finish, with the 25-year-old striker putting himself firmly in the shop window having left Portsmouth FC in recent weeks without making an appearance.