Victory marks Milosevic milestone
Saturday, 4 September 2004
By Aleksandar Boskovic at the Stadio Olimpico
[1] Serbia and Montenegro eased past San Marino in Serravalle to get their FIFA World Cup qualifying Group 7 campaign off to the perfect start.
Class tells
[2] Zvominir Vukic opened the scoring in the first meeting of these nations and Nenad Jestrovic added two more as the visitors made their class tell in a high tempo game with an impressive array of short passing.
Early goal
[3] It did not take long for Serbia and Montenegro to get on the scoresheet either as Vukic shot in from 12 metres. Savo Milosevic, winning a record 85th cap, then went close to adding a second. The CA Osasuna striker was desperate to mark the landmark appearance with a goal of his own but was denied on 12 minutes by a great reaction save from San Marino goalkeeper Federico Gasperoni, after a header from five metres out.
Jestrovic on target
[4] The second goal did come moments later though, as Jestrovic headed into the corner of the net, taking advantage of a wonderful cross from Ognjen Koroman. And six minutes after that the busy Gasperoni was once again called into action to deny Milosevic from ten metres. Dejan Stankovic also threatened before the break, while San Marino's sole chance came through a long-range effort by Alessandro Della Valle, well saved by Dragoslav Jevric.
Slower tempo
[5] The second 45 minutes was a far more relaxed affair as Serbia and Montenegro eased off the gas. Milosevic went close to scoring the goal he craved twice before he was substituted on 68 minutes. San Marino could have pulled one back on 72 minutes when Marco Domeniconi found himself through on goal with just the goalkeeper to beat, but his shot did not trouble Jevric.
Final flourish
[6] The final word came from Serbia and Montenegro, though. With just eight minutes remaining Jestrovic pounced for his second after Gasperoni could only parry out a blistering free-kick from Mladen Krstajic, leaving him to tap in from just three metres out. The visitors will now go into their short trip to Bosnia-Herzegovina next month full of confidence, while San Marino visit Lithuania on Wednesday.
Savo Milosevic is now Serbia and Montenegro's most capped player