Serbia and Montenegro head coach Ilija Petkovic has guided the ‘Plavi’, or the Blues, to the World Cup Finals in style, coming into the tournament as one of Europe's surprise packages.

They beat off stiff competition in Group 7 from Spain, Bosnia Herzegovina and Belgium to claim an automatic qualifying berth as Group 7 winners.

Serbia & Montenegro are making their first appearance at a World Cup Finals since they dropped the name of Yugoslavia in 2003.

The Yugoslav team made the semi-finals at the very first World Cup in 1930 in Uruguay, taking the lead against the hosts, but ended up crashing to a 6-1 defeat to the eventual champions.

Yugoslavia appeared at six further World Cup Finals, most recently with a highly rated side in France ‘98 where they lost 2-1 to the Netherlands in the last 16.

In qualification for the World Cup 2006, Serbia and Montenegro were one of eight European teams to remain undefeated throughout the qualifying campaign, winning six of their 10 fixtures and drawing the other four, scoring 16 goals and only conceding 1 goal, in their 1-1 away draw to Spain.

After twice holding closest rivals Spain and drawing away in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ilija Petkovic's cohorts sealed direct qualification with a decisive home victory over their Bosnian neighbours in their last match.

They shocked many when they usurped Spain to win their European qualifying group with an unbeaten record, and some don't doubt that even being drawn in, without doubt, the hardest group in the Finals, Group C alongside Argentina, the Netherlands and Côte d'Ivoire, also known as the “Group of Death”, the Serbs have the chance to cause a major shock in the group stages of the tournament.

Defence is the ultimate key for Ilija Petkovic's side, allowing just a single goal in their 10 qualifying games, easily the best record in Europe. Manchester United's newest signing Nemanja Vidic and Schalke's Mladen Krstajic the core of the rearguard that will determine the success of the Eastern European’s. Portsmouth's Zvonimir Vukic will also be key if the Serbs are to get anything going forward.

Krstajic will look forward to the match with Argentina which will be played at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen, the same stadium where Krstajic plays his club football.

Up front they have a great player in Atlético Madrid and former Chelsea striker Mateja Kezman who has been their leading goalscorer over the last couple of years and the biggest weakness could be in midfield where sometimes creativity is lacking.

Mateja Kezman was yet again on target in the Plavi’s most recent match, a 1-0 away win over fellow World Cup finalist’s Tunisia on March 1.

One of the potential dark horses at the World Cup this summer in Germany, Serbia and Montenegro will also field a fairly inexperienced line-up in Germany, but many have bright prospects for them to possibly shock the group and keep either Argentina or Holland out of the knockout stages.

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Serbia & Montenegro Match Fixtures in the World Cup 2006

11-June-2006	Serbia & Montenegro v Holland	15:00 BST
16-Jun-2006	Argentina v Serbia & Montenegro	15:00 BST
21-June-2006	Côte d'Ivoire v Serbia & Montenegro	21:00 BST

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Historic Facts

First International appearance: Serbia and Montenegro 2 - 2 Azerbaijan (Podgorica, 12 February 2003)

Largest win: Faroe Islands 1 - 8 Yugoslavia (Toftir, Faroe Islands; 6 October 1996)

Worst defeat: Netherlands 6 - 1 Yugoslavia (Rotterdam, Netherlands; 25 June 2000)

World Cup Finals Appearances: 1998 (Used to play as Yugoslavia, which has more appearances)

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Serbia & Montenegro Match Results - Europe World Cup Qualifiers, Group 7

Date	Match	Result
12-Oct-2005	Serbia & Montenegro - Bosnia-Herzegovina	1:0 (1:0)
07-Sep-2005	Spain - Serbia & Montenegro	1:1 (1:0)
04-Jun-2005	Serbia & Montenegro - Belgium	0:0
30-Mar-2005	Serbia & Montenegro - Spain	0:0
17-Nov-2004	Belgium - Serbia & Montenegro	0:2 (0:1)
13-Oct-2004	Serbia & Montenegro - San Marino	5:0 (2:0)
09-Oct-2004	Bosnia-Herzegovina - Serbia & Montenegro	0:0
04-Sep-2004	San Marino - Serbia & Montenegro	0:3 (0:2)

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