Serbia held on to 1-0 win over Costa Rica. Aleksandar Kolarov scored on a free kick at the 60 minute mark to give his team the edge in the first match on day four of the 2018 World Cup.
98’: Now, It’s Over
After another stoppage to take a look at a swipe by Aleksandar Prijovic — he’s given a yellow card — the referee blows his whistle and ends a hectic eight minutes of stoppage time.
95’: Last-Minute Chance for Costa Rica
Christian Bolaños gets free off a deflection for a shot six-yards-out, but sends it over. He was offside anyway.
93’: Getting Testy
After Serbia fails to gain anything from a four-on-one counter attack, Nemanja Matic gets into it with a member of the Costa Rican staff and players on both teams come together. After a delay for VAR to take a look at the situation, no further action is taken.
90’: Five More Minutes
Five minutes of added time has been given, which seems like two minutes too many, but Costa Rica won’t mind.
87’: Penalty? No
Aleksandar Mitrovic is tackled in the box by Giancarlo Gonzalez and appeals for the penalty, but it isn’t given.
79’: Neither Team Looks Comfortable
The roles have reversed here in Samara, but neither team looks fully comfortable. Serbia isn’t used to parking eight men behind the goal and defending, while Costa Rica isn’t used to controlling the ball and stringing together passes through the middle.
69’: Costa Rica Still Looking for First Goal
Costa Rica is controlling the ball more than they have all game, but it hasn’t amounted to much yet. Frequently-loaned Arsenal attacker Joel Campbell has come on for Marco Ureña.
60’: Bolaños in for Costa Rica
Needing to show some creative spark now that they’re down a goal, Costa Rica brings in winger Christian Bolaños for Johan Venegas. Bolaños immediately serves up a couple of good crosses.
56’: GOAL!!! Serbia Up, 1-0
It looked perfectly set up for Aleksandar Kolarov, and it was! From about 28-yards-out, his famous left leg whipped a free kick over the wall and into the right side of the net, past a diving Keylor Navas. The free kick came after Aleksandar Mitrovic was taken down by David Guzman, earning Guzman a yellow card.
50’: Best Chance for Serbia Falls Short
The best chance of the match so far comes to Aleksandar Mitrovic, who plays a 1-2 and slips in behind the Costa Rican defense. But his shot from the penalty shot is parried wide by Keylor Navas.
46’: Second Half Under Way
Senegalese referee Malang Diedhiou gets the second half under way. Will both teams be content with a point, or will somebody push for a winning goal?
Halftime
Both teams have played about as expected, as Serbia attempted to put crosses into the box for their strong attackers, while Costa Rica has been content to defend and wait for a counter attack. Hopefully we see something in the second half to unlock this match.
43’: Offside?
A spectacular bicycle kick attempt from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic is saved by Keylor Navas, but the assistant referee raised his flag for offside. The replay showed that Milinkovic-Savic was clearly onside.
39’: Costa Rica Missed Chance
Marco Ureña has the first Costa Rican chance in awhile, as Dusko Tosic’s slip gives Ureña a shot from the top of the box, but he puts it harmlessly over.
33’: Serbia Yet to Capitalize
Serbia has had a few half-chances, but haven’t been able to get a good shot off. They’re pretty constantly attacking down the right side, mostly through Dusan Tadic and Branislav Ivanovic. On the positive side, over the last 10 minutes they’ve shut down every Costa Rican counter attack attempt before it could begin.
22’ First Yellow Card
The first yellow card of the match goes to Francisco Calvo after he slid in late on Dusan Tadic.
17’: Serbia Asserting Itself
Serbia is controlling the ball more, looking to get it wide and fizz a cross or low ball into the box. Costa Rica has tried a number of times to slip Marco Ureña in behind the Serbian defense, and has come close on a few of them.
12’: Missed Chance for Costa Rica
Giancarlo Gonzalez popped free on a corner kick, but his back post header sailed well over. Afterwards, his head in his hands said it all.
3’: Exciting Game Early
Both teams have whipped dangerous balls into the box, and both have put headers on goal.
1’ We’re Off!
Costa Rica is in red and blue, Serbia is in white. After a scare that he was injured during warm-ups, Serbian captain Aleksandar Kolarov is out on the field.
Match Lineups
Costa Rica
1 Keylor Navas
3 Giancarlo González
6 Óscar Duarte
2 Johnny Acosta
20 David Guzmán
5 Celso Borges
15 Francisco Calvo
16 Cristian Gamboa
21 Marco Ureña
11 Johan Venegas
10 Bryan Ruiz
Serbia
1 Vladimir Stojkovic
3 Dusko Tosic
15 Nikola Milenkovic
11 Aleksandar Kolarov
6 Branislav Ivanovic
21 Nemanja Matic
20 Sergej Milinkovic-Savic
4 Luka Milivojevic
9 Aleksandar Mitrovic
22 Adem Ljajic
10 Dusan Tadic
Serbia vs. Costa Rica Top Story Lines
• Costa Rica is probably the worst team in Group E, but they won’t be intimidated. In 2014 they were drawn into a group featuring world powers Uruguay and Italy, and England, and Los Ticos topped the group. They even defeated Greece in the round of 16, before going down to the Netherlands on penalties.
• Five Costa Ricans ply their trade in Major League Soccer, including possible starters David Guzman and Marco Ureña.
• Despite leading Serbia to the top of their World Cup qualifying group, manager Slavoljub Muslin was fired in October, with confusing player selection and tactical rigidity cited as the reason. Instead, Serbia will be led by Muslin’s assistant, Mladen Krstajic, who only ended his playing career in 2011 and has never managed a team before.
• Serbian defender Branislav Ivanovic’s next appearance will be his 104th for his country, passing Dejan Stankovic to become the most capped Serbian player.
• Keep an eye on Sergej Milinković-Savić, a 23-year-old midfielder who plays for Lazio. He’s been linked to most of the European giants, and it is likely that one of them will soon pony up a ridiculous sum for his services.
Some Pregame Reading
• With a population of fewer than 5 million, Costa Rica is one of the smallest countries competing in this World Cup. Read about how they, Panama and Iceland are able to compete with world powers.
• The video assistant referee system has already played a huge part in this tournament. Learn how it works before it comes into play in this game.
• The Guardian has a nice story about Costa Rican defender Oscar Duarte, and how he is able to bring often feuding neighbors Costa Rica and Nicaragua together.
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