World Cup 2018 is here with plenty of energy and excitement. For Maccabi Tel Aviv’s keeper Predrag Rajikovic it’s going to be extra special as he is part of the the Serbia National Team who advanced to the prestigious tournament. This will be the first time that the young shot stopper will be able to see the competition up close and personal and be a part of the action while representing his home country.
Serbia is in an interesting group with Neymar’s Brazil, Switzerland and Costa Rica. Their first match will take place on Sunday at 15:00 and just ahead of Serbia’s World Cup opener, we spoke to Rajikovic about his feelings heading into the competition in Russia.
Do you feel the excitement?
“Of course I’m excited and its a big honor to be a part of this amazing event. I can’t wait for the tournament to begin.”
This will be your first World Cup:
“For me this is something extraordinary. I’m fairly young and like I said it’s a huge honor to be here and it’s also good for my career to be part of the World Cup.”
Tell us a little bit about what’s going on with your national team:
“There is a sense of being a part of the national team and you can say that we are generally a young team as most of the players are about my age. We are all looking forward to the start of the competition to represent our country to the world and especially to the Serbian people. We want to show everyone what we can do.”
“There’s a lot of interest surrounding the World Cup in Serbia,” Rajikovic added. “Everyone is talking about football and about the tournament. Before we flew to Russia, so many people came to the airport to support us and wish us luck. The whole country will be eating and breathing football over the upcoming month.”
What are your chances to advance out of the group stage?
“It’s not an easy group, but we certainly have a chance. We have a good squad with quality players who play for strong club teams. I think we have a chance to get to the Round of 16. The first match will be very important. At this type of tournament you never know what will happen. There can be many surprises and I hope that there will be some pleasant surprises for us, that we can impress and do some great things at this World Cup.”
Who do you believe is the favorite?
“This is the biggest competition there is. First off, I hope that we can make it to the Round of 16 and this is something very important for me personally and for the national team. As for a favorite, I think that Brazil, who we are facing in the group stage is very good as well as Argentina and Spain.”
