Savicevic sets out his stall

Serbia and Montenegro have announced their squad for the friendly match against Bulgaria on Saturday and the UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifier against Wales four days later, amid fears the latter game may be postponed.

Two fixtures
Coach Dejan Savicevic confirmed today his selection to face Bulgaria in Krusevac and Wales in Belgrade on 2 April. The Wales match has been placed in doubt due to concerns over security in the city after the recent assassination of prime minister Dr Zoran Djindjic on 12 March led the government to declare a state of emergency.

Savicevic hopes
UEFA will make a final decision on the game tomorrow, but Savicevic was hoping that his side would be given the go-ahead. " I expect very interesting and hard matches," he said. "I hope that we can play both of them, against Bulgaria as a test and against Wales for three very important points."

Suspended stars
Should the games go ahead, Serbia and Montenegro will welcome back Sinisa Mihajlovic and Darko Kovacevic who were suspended for the last qualifying game, while Mladen Krstajic, Zoran Mirkovic and Ivica Dragutinovic will return from injury.

Debut opportunities
There may be debuts in store for two players after FK Partizan defender Nikola Malbasa and FK Crvena Zvezda midfield player Nenad Kovacevic both received their first call-ups. Savicevic said of his squad: "These are the best players in Serbia and Montenegro today and I belive in them. We must work as if we were expecting to play two matches and then see what happens. These next few days could be very important for us - we can decide our destiny in the competition, I believe, successfully."

Serbia and Montenegro squad
Jevric, Zilic, Lazetic, Trobok, Mirkovic, Djordjevic, Mihajlovic, Krstajic, Gavrancic, Dmitrovic, Dragutinovic, Malbasa, Stankovic, Nenad Kovacevic, Brnovic, Duljaj, Vukic, Boskovic, Mijatovic, Darko Kovacevic, Milosevic, Ljuboja.