Kostic feared to have suffered ligament damage in Serbia´s defeat to England

Serbia wing-back Filip Kostic is feared to have suffered ligament damage during his team’s 1-0 defeat to England at Euro 2024, coach Dragan Stojkovic has revealed.

England made a winning start to their Group C campaign on Sunday as Jude Bellingham’s early header was enough to decide a cagey game in Gelsenkirchen.

It was a challenge involving Bellingham that led to the end of Kostic’s game, the Juventus man requiring treatment after falling awkwardly and being substituted after 43 minutes.

Serbia now face Slovenia and Denmark in their remaining group-stage games, but Kostic is a major doubt to continue at the tournament and could be set for a long spell on the sidelines.

“Kostic felt a strong pain in the outside part of his left knee and we fear that he could have ligament damage,” Stojkovic said at his post-match press conference. “He will undergo medical tests on Monday, let’s hope it’s not as bad as it looks.”

Serbia 0-1 England

It wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win in tournament football.

Three points for England. Denmark up next. #EURO2024 | #SRBENG pic.twitter.com/QcPc4p8Vo9

— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) June 16, 2024

Though England held Serbia to just six shots (one on target) amounting to 0.18 expected goals (xG), Stojkovic felt his team deserved to take something from the match.

“We managed to corner the English team and I think we didn’t deserve to lose,” Stojkovic said.

“I told my players I was proud of their performance and about everything but the result. Now all we can do is to rest and get ready for what is probably the most important match of the group stage against Slovenia.”