Victorious Serbia ‘deserved their luck against Brazil’

Serbia U-20 coach, Veljko Paunovic, has attributed the 2-1 win over Brazil in the FIFA U-20 World Cup final to providence and hard work.

A Nemaja Maksimovic extra-time goal gave Serbia its first-ever FIFA U-20 World Cup title at the expense of five-time champions Brazil.

Maksimovic had earlier set up Stanisa Mandic to put Serbia ahead before substitute Andreas Pereira sent the game to extra time with an equaliser for Brazil but a swift Serbian counter-attack earned them the victory.

“Were we lucky?” Paunovic asked rhetorically.

“Yes, we were lucky. But you have to deserve your luck and we worked extremely hard. We are a team that plays as one and, in the end, I think the team that wanted most to win this trophy has won it. It will give us confidence for the future but we must continue building, and rebuilding our football and our society.”

Paunovic applauded the support his team got throughout the competition.

“First and foremost, I want to thank our people and our country, and acknowledge the support we’ve had in New Zealand from all over the world,” he said.

“And I want to dedicate this trophy to my father, who passed away six months ago. This is for him. I also want to congratulate Brazil – a great team, an amazing team. They deserve to be have this trophy too. We have learned a lot from them and I want to really congratulate them for the amazing football they played today.”

In the third-place match, Adama Traore was the hero as Mali clinched bronze, scoring two and setting up a third in a 3-1 win over 10-man Senegal at North Harbour Stadium.

Traore, who won the adidas Golden Ball for his efforts, shaped his team’s play, distributing balls, setting the tempo and providing structure to the African side’s build-up play.

The 19-year-old Lille player’s four goals and three assists played a major part in making the West African country the surprise package and crowd favourites of the tournament and earned him the well-deserved accolade of player of the tournament.

List of other award winners

Adidas Silver Ball: Danilo (Brazil)

Adidas Bronze Ball: Sergej Milinkovic

Adidas Golden Boot: Viktor Kovalenko (Ukraine) – 5 goals, 2 assists

Adidas Silver Boot: Bence Mervo (Hungary) – 5 goals, 0 assists

Adidas Bronze Boot: Marc Stendera (Germany) – 4 goals, 3 assists

Adidas Golden Glove: Predrag Rajkovic (Serbia)

FIFA Fair Play Award: Ukraine