'Proud' Petković bids goodbye

Ilija Petković said he was "tired" but "proud" of what he had achieved after stepping down as the last coach of Serbia and Montenegro today.

'Tired'
"My heart is tired, I gave so much and I haven't much energy left," he said at a press conference in Belgrade. "But, I am ready now and I shall be ready in every situation to help my national team and my association. I don't need to speak about my position," he added. "I had a contract and now it's finished. I'm tired. Three years was enough, I gave everything and now I must, really must go on vacation. After that I shall see where I can work."

'Proud'
Petković spoke of his pride at having taken Serbia and Montenegro to the FIFA World Cup, even though his side lost all three of their matches in Germany. "I am proud. We were on the biggest stage, the world saw us; we showed our worst side, but we were there. That's something, please believe me. I have a great respect for all of us. Everybody wants to win, but somebody has to lose.

Not good enough
"I spent so many days and nights finding players who could be better than Holland and Argentina. I prepared tactics, I thought about everything, I changed what I could change. But the truth is on the pitch and they were better than us. We simply don't have enough quality players. I'm sorry, but that's true. If you want to win first of all you have to have good players."

Czech test
The final assembly of the Serbian and Montenegrin Football Association will be held tomorrow. Serbia play their first match against the Czech Republic in Prague on 16 August then kick off their UEFA EURO 2008™ campaign in Belgrade against Azerbaijan on 2 September.