After Serbia's loss to Albania, which significantly reduced the Serbian national team's chances of securing a place in the World Cup Play-offs, the president of the Serbian Football Federation, Dragan Dzajic, reacted with disappointment and self-criticism in an interview with the Serbian media outlet Kurir.
"Failure. Big failure. There is no doubt about it. I don't know what we missed. I saw the same thing that ordinary people saw. For a million reasons we could have and we should have played better," Dzajic declared, admitting that the team's performance did not meet expectations. The Serbian president added that, despite the nature of football as a sport with wins and losses, this match has left a bitter taste for him and for the entire country.
"The pain remains. Let's face it, football is football, made up of wins and losses. Surprises are possible. But the sadness and pain still overwhelm me. And it's been a week since the match," he said.
Dzajic described the match against Albania as "more than a football match," implying the emotional and symbolic load it carried for the Serbian national team and fans.
"Not because it can't happen that you lose, but because the match was little more than an ordinary football show. And that's what I regret the most. The people know what I think and what they think," Dzajic concluded.
After this result, Serbia finds itself in a difficult situation in the group, with minimal hopes of qualifying for the next stage of the World Cup, while the loss to Albania remains one of the heaviest blows for the team and its leaders in recent years.
