Stojkovic: We must not let an opportunity like this slip

STARA PAZOVA - The head coach of the Serbia men's national football team Dragan Stojkovic said on Thursday his players must not let slip the opportunity to qualify for EURO 2024.

Serbia will host Lithuania at the Rajko Mitic Stadium in Belgrade on Friday evening on Qualifying Group G Match Day 1.

"Everything is proceeding according to plan and according to the schedule... I am completely satisfied. The atmosphere is excellent, the guys are committed to the challenges that are ahead and I believe that tomorrow they will demonstrate all we are capable of," Stojkovic said at a press conference.

He added that qualifying for the EURO 2024 in Germany was currently the only objective for his team.

"You must always have a realistic objective. We have set the objective of playing in Germany. We know we must take one step at a time. We finished the World Cup qualifiers in a commendable manner. We finished the Nations League in the top spot, which means that there is quality in Serbian football," Stojkovic said.

"We had a slip-up at the World Cup - we fired a shot but missed the target. A new challenge, the EURO, is ahead of us. We must take one step at a time. An opportunity like this must not be let slip," he said.

Serbia captain Dusan Tadic said Lithuania were "a tough team that will try to shut all channels leading to their goal."

"We will attempt to play our kind of football, in an attacking manner. I think we have got over the World Cup and that we have left that behind. We always aspire to be better," Tadic said.