Arok warns Socceroos of Serbia threat

Former Australia boss Frank Arok believes his home country, Serbia, could cause the Socceroos real problems from set-pieces at the World Cup.


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Frank Arok led Australia from 1984 to 1990
After facing Germany and Ghana, Australia meet Serbia in their final Group D game and the match could prove vital in what is considered one of the stronger groups in this year's competition.

And Arok, who managed Australia from 1984 to 1990, believes preventing Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic and Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic from providing an aerial threat from set-pieces will be the key to success.

"It will be decided by corner kicks and free-kicks," he told the Sydney Morning Herald. "If I was the Australian coach, I would put them under pressure, maybe play two small, quick, guys up front and spread it out, because the big guys at the back for Serbia don't like that.

"The big danger for Australia will be the two guys [Vidic and Ivanovic] who play in England. They don't have good strikers, but these guys are so dominant in the penalty area. They'll come up for corners and free kicks, and they are so dominant in the air. It's going to be a close game, but an ugly game, and one free-kick can decide everything."

Source:soccernet.espn.go.com/

Serbia charges 15 with murder of French soccer fan

BELGRADE (Reuters) - The Serbian authorities have charged 15 people with the premeditated murder of a French soccer fan in Belgrade last September, the state prosecutor said on Tuesday.

Brice Taton, 28, sustained multiple head and chest injuries when Partizan Belgrade fans attacked him with iron bars and baseball bats on Sept. 17 before a Europa League match against Toulouse. He died 12 days later despite several operations.

"The group mercilessly attacked Taton, fully aware of the severity and illegality of their act," said a statement issued by the Serbian State Prosecutor's office.

If convicted, the defendants face up to 40 years in prison, the maximum sentence under Serbian law.

Police have arrested 13 suspects, including one they consider the main perpetrator of the attack on Taton in front of a central Belgrade bar. Two suspects remain at large.

The death of the French soccer fan prompted President Boris Tadic and the government to launch a campaign to root out violence in sport as well as racist attacks and those on foreigners and minority groups such as Roma or homosexuals.

Taton was the first foreigner to die in soccer-related violence in Serbia, though about a dozen Serbs have died or been seriously injured in similar incidents in the last decade.

Source:in.reuters.com/a