With virtually the last touch of the game, Serbia scraped out a draw against Slovenia to keep its Euro 2024 hopes alive. Luka Jovic’s header on a corner was the latest equalizer in the history of the European Championship. In doing so, he pulled out what could be a pivotal point for Serbia after falling to England in its first game. It is heartbreak for Slovenia, which has never won a game in the history of the Euros. The 1-1 result keeps it all to play for with each of these teams, regardless of what happens in Thursday’s England-Denmark contest.
The first half went without a goal, though. Serbia came the closest as Timi Max Elšnik thundered a ball off the Slovenia post. As has been the case with many of the Balkan nations at Euro 2024, the game had a frenetic pace. Despite drawing its first game against Denmark, Slovenia looked much stronger on Thursday. Even though Serbia had several chances, Slovenia matched with opportunities of its own.
Then, in the second half, it was a brilliant break to put Slovenia ahead. One long switch led to another for Slovenia. After Benjamin Sesko forced a save out of the Serbia goalkeeper, his side pushed forward in the 69th minute. Žan Karničnik started the move by foraying forward from his right-back spot. Elsnik, who hit the post in the first half, received the pass from Karničnik on the left side. He delivered an inch-perfect cross to the back post where Karničnik was alone. He tapped the ball in to send Slovenia supporters into an uproar.
Three minutes after that opening goal, Serbia rattled the crossbar. Aleksandar Mitrovic wrestled free from a Slovenia defender to get to the end of a cross. His first-time effort slammed off the crossbar and away from danger.
If the Mitrovic’s shot off the woodwork was any indication, Serbia was using cross after cross. By the end of the game, Serbia mustered 33 crosses into the Slovenia box, the most among any team at Euro 2024 in one game. Eventually, one of those was going to find a clinical finish. Yet, the time in which it happened was unbelievable. In the dying seconds of the fifth minute of stoppage time, Serbia sent the goalkeeper up in search of a tying goal from a corner. The in-swinging ball met the head of Luka Jovic, who guided the ball beyond Jan Oblak.
The goal has major ramifications in Group C. Serbia, which lost to England in the first matchday, picked up its first point of the tournament. With a fixture against Denmark in the final game, a win would likely be enough to get Serbia into the knockout stages. Even if it finishes third behind England and Slovenia, four points would put it among the top third-place teams in the tournament.
For Slovenia, it was seconds away from that four-point threshold. Instead, the draw extends the wait for the side’s first win at the European Championships. Worse off, Slovenia concludes its group-stage play against England, which opened the tournament as the favorite to win it all. In all likelihood, Slovenia needs at least a draw to give itself any chance of reaching the knockout stage at a major international competition for the first time.
PHOTOS: IMAGO
