Another Serbian Failure

Editor's Note: I want to be clear, when I played high school soccer, I wasn't very good. But the lessons imparted to me lasted a lifetime. I still love soccer.

At the beginning of my Senior year, our High School Soccer team was projected out to be one of the best in the county. We had 5 kids that were the cornerstones of our team. Unfortunately, each one of the 5 kids' parents were born in different countries:

1. Danilo - Serbian

2. Gerald - German

3. Joe - Russian

4. Kevin - American

5. Tony - Czechoslovakian

Now to everyone's shock, Tony quit the team after the first game. Though he was the best player on the team, his Dad wanted him to get a college scholarship... as the Kicker on the Football Team.

Editor's Note: Then Tony blew out his knee 2 weeks later.

Though we had a good team, we didn't have a great team. Our successes were mostly due to the kids' talent coming in from their local Club Teams as opposed to any city successes. As that year meandered on, we beat teams with American Kids and lost to teams with Foreign Kids.

The first game of the state playoffs came and we were upset 3-1 to a team that we had already beaten convincingly during the regular season.

The captains on the team seemed genuinely distressed, but not Danilo. Why not Danilo? He had a game the next week for his Serbian Club Team. BHS Soccer was almost like practice for him.

But this was the late 80's, many teens on the team didn't even know where Serbia was on a map. Danilo often spoke of his Serbian Heritage and was greeted with eye rolls and shrugs, but once, a teammate figured out his arrogance and said "oh, you're Yugoslavian."

That went over very badly.

In my head, Serbia is a nation of assh@les, just like Danilo. No wonder those other countries couldn't break away fast enough.

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So as FIFA World Cup 2026 is just a hundred days away, where is Serbia?

Map is slightly inaccurate, but accurate enough for soccer purposes.

Serbia, you were one point away from qualifying behind Albania? That's too bad. Albania was basically an anarchist state in 1997, how'd you lose to those guys? You beat Andorra? Well good for you.

Is Croatia going? They won Group L.

Is Bosnia going? We'll find out March 31.

Is North Macedonia going? We'll find out March 31.

Is Kosovo going? We'll find out March 31.

Is Slovenia going? No.

Is Montenegro going? No.

You are basically the 5th or 6th best team that came out of the old Yugoslavia. (Montenegro is really bad.)

The best team to come out of the former Yugoslavia? Clearly Croatia:

Croatia in World Cup:

1998 - 3rd

2002 - 23rd

2006 - 22nd

2010 - DNQ

2014 - 19th

2018 - 2nd

2022 - 3rd

Serbia in World Cup:

1998 - 10th

2002 - DNQ

2006 - 32nd

2010 - 23rd

2014 - DNQ

2018 - 23rd

2022 - 29th

The best player to come out of Yugoslavia since the breakup of the country? Croatian Luka Modric, by a large margin, no one else would even be in the conversation.

Oh, Danilo.....

Oh, Danilo.....

I can't find Danilo.....