Top clubs in Europe have consistently had Sergej Milinkovic-Savic on their wishlists for quite a while now, and his finish against Norway in Serbia’s UEFA Euro 2021 qualifier explains the faith often invested upon him.
The Lazio midfielder came off the bench against Norway, and displayed nerves of steel to score a magnificently calm chipped finish, as he put Serbia ahead in the first half of extra time.
As Dusan Tadic rolled the ball down his path inside the six-yard box, the big Serbian dummied a lash at it with his weaker left foot, but opted for a well-disguised chip down the middle of the goal.
Norwegian custodian Rune Almenning Jarstein having already made the dive, could only helplessly watch the ball look over him.
Serbia went on to win the match 2-1, and eliminated Norway’s hopes of featuring in the European Championships to be held next year.
Milinkovic-Savic has been a mainstay in the Lazio midfield for a number of years now, as the versatile 25-year-old is in his sixth season with the Italian club.
He is known for his ability to play in a plethora of varying positions in midfield, such as either as an attacking midfielder or a “trequartista”, or a holding midfielder: although he is mostly deployed by club manager Simone Inzaghi as a “mezzala” or a central midfielder.
The Serbian has a variety of attributes which make him a very desirable prospect for top European clubs: he combines his physicality and vision in central midfield along with the finishing ability and creativity of an attacking midfielder.
He is capable of finding the goal regularly with either of his feet and his head, combined with his ability to either shoot from distance or to make late runs into the box make him a very consistent goalscorer for his club from midfield, and one of the many elite exports that the Serie A can offer.
