England taunted by Serbia boss as parting shot fired after dire Slovenia draw

Serbia boss Dragan Stojkovic took a parting shot at England after his side were knocked out of Euro 2024.

The Balkan nation received their fate at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday night when they lumbered to an underwhelming goalless draw with Denmark in Munich.

But Stojkovic, who led the only side not to make it out of Group C, knows his team did not do enough to warrant qualification for the knockout stages.

Still, despite praising Denmark, he appeared unimpressed by the Three Lions, stating: "Everyone thought England might be some miracle from another planet but they were nothing like that. The expectations were just different."

Gareth Southgate's men also played out a hugely underwhelming 0-0 draw with Slovenia in Cologne which was enough to earn them top spot.

Their only win came against Serbia in their opener in Gelsenkirchen when Jude Bellingham's first-half header earned them a vital three points. They did not look great that evening but performance levels have since deteriorated following two frustrating draws.

Stojkovic admitted rather modestly that even if Serbia had reached the knockout stages, his team's displays were unlikely to have improved.

He continued: "Even if we won tonight we probably would have behaved in a similar way. That's the end of the story. We are disappointed that we failed to take the step we were missing. The game was even, we were looking for a chance and a goal, but unfortunately we didn't succeed. I am proud of my boys. Serbia showed themselves positively in a very even group.

"Serbia fans should be proud of this team. We were fighting until the last second, and I am grateful to the supporters for cheering us on brilliantly in all three games.

Dragan Stojkovic

The surprising element is that Serbia would actually have snuck second place had they found a late winner against the Danes. Luka Jovic had the ball in the net after his goal-bound effort went in off Joachim Andersen but the goal was chalked off for offside.

Then Sergej Milinkovic-Savic had a great chance to slam home in stoppage time but he didn't get hold of his shot, which trickled into Kasper Schmeichel's grateful grasp.

Serbia's desperation was best typified by captain Aleksandar Mitrovic, who desperately tried to win a penalty late in the game with some dismal diving.

Stojkovic expects to stay on as Serbia head coach despite failing to provide clarity on whether there is a break clause in his contract.

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