Former Manchester City defender Aleksander Kolarov will captain the Serbian national team when they file out in an international friendly against Nigeria next Tuesday according to the coach Mladen Krstajic.
The 32-year old, now with Serie A side AS Roma, played for City for seven years and was, at a time, teammates with Super Eagles’ forward Kelechi Iheanacho at the Etihad before moving to Roma in 2017.
Serbia will face Morocco at the Olimpico stadium in Turin on March 23 before taking on Nigeria on the 27th in London.
Krstajic also named Manchester United midfielder, Nemanja Matic the team’s assistant captain.
Krstajic who stripped Branislav Ivanovic, the team’s former skipper of the captaincy, stated clearly he wasn’t sure the Locomotiv Moscow defender will be part of his World Cup squad to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
“The captain of the national team will be Kolarov, and his deputy Matic. That’s my idea. I talked to former captain Ivanovic,” Krstajic told Serbian news site kurir.rs.
“He gave a lot to the national team and he remains with us. I spoke with Branislav openly, and these are some things that are solved internally.”
On the game against Nigeria, Krstajic hinted he will not change his formation against the Super Eagles but will bring in some new players.
“I do not hide the game system, but it will not change in relation to the previous one. Only some players will change.
“The most important thing is to make a good atmosphere, every match is important for us, because Serbia expects the best of us. We live in a country that is hungry for success.”
