The Eagles have landed

The new 'White Eagles' of Serbia found their wings with a 3-1 win in the Czech Republic that left captain Dejan Stanković feeling "happy like a child".

Nedvĕd farewell
In the first game since the dissolution of the former Serbia and Montenegro, Javier Clemente's side completely overshadowed Pavel Nedvĕd's final game for his country as Danko Lazović, Marko Pantelić and Aleksandar Trišović struck to ensure the new nation a splendid victory ahead of their UEFA EURO 2008™ campaign. "I am happy like a child," said Stanković, who had the honour of becoming Serbia's first captain. Serbian players have played under many national banners before - the Kingdom of Serbs, Croatians and Slovenes; Yugoslavia; and Serbia and Montenegro - but never as a nation in their own right.

Nervous moments
Everything was new in the moments before the match in Uherske Hradiste. There was a palpable sense of nervous expectation as the visiting players got used to their new kit of red shirts, blue shorts and white socks and sang their new national anthem under their new flag. Having gone behind to Jirí Štajner's early strike, Lazović claimed the honour of scoring the first goal for the new team. "Now I can retire," he said. "How can I improve on this? I scored the first goal in the history of my country. Of course I am joking. Now we will be much stronger and better."

Perfect gift
Pantelić put Serbia ahead nine minutes into the second half. "In last few weeks I lived for this match," he said afterwards. "We have given a great present to our nation and it is time for celebrate. But just a little, because very soon we will start the battle for qualifying points." Debutant Trišović wrapped up the win with a goal 20 minutes from time. "My dream is now a reality," he said. "But the most important thing is the way we played together. We showed strength and we will continue to do so. We can and we must get better, but now we have wings."

Clemente satisfied
New coach Clemente added: "I have to be happy because we won a match against a very strong opponent with only two days' preparation. Of course, we made some mistakes but that is normal at the start. All the players deserve a chance and I believe that we will be much stronger in the future." Meanwhile, back at home, the newspapers were singing the praises of the newly christened 'White Eagles'. "Thanks for a brilliant start," ran the headline in the Sportski Zurnal. Clemente will be hoping the press will still be behind him after Serbia's Group A opener against Azerbaijan on 2 September.