Antic reveals Dragutinovic lose
Serbia coach Radomir Antic believes the loss of defender Ivica Dragutinovic is a big blow to the countries World Cup chances.
The 34-year-old Sevilla player ruptured his Achilles tendon during training with the Spanish side on Thursday and will now miss the rest of the season, as well as this summer’s World Cup.
The veteran was apparently training alone when the incident took place and was rushed to a local hospital in Seville where the injury was quickly diagnosed.
Sevilla players wore t-shirts with Dragutinovic’s name on before their game with Getafe on Sunday night and the La Liga club will now have to try and complete their quest for Champions League football without the influential defender.
Dragutinovic, capped 49 times, was expected to be in the Serbia squad for their World Cup campaign having played a big part in helping the Baltic nation reach the finals of the tournament.
Antic has now revealed that the defender’s injury will cause him big problems when it comes to the tournament this summer.
“This is a big problem for us. Dragutinović means so much on the pitch and in the dressing room in terms of morale. He is our oldest player and somebody whose experience helps.” said Antic.
Serbia are 9/2 with Bwin to make it through from Group D into the second round of the World Cup having been put in the same group as Germany (3/25), Ghana (21/20) and Australia (12/5).
