Nemanja Matic has threatened to quit the Serbia national team after criticising his teammates following their 4-1 thrashing by the Czech Republic on Friday.
The defeat in Ostrava handed Serbia their second consecutive loss and came after the nation failed to qualify for the 2016 European Championships following their fourth-placed finish in their group.
And Matic admitted after the friendly game against the Czech Republic he had warned Serbia coach Radovan Curcic he could retire from international football because of concerns about his compatriots' attitude both on and off the pitch.
"I always try to lead by example but some people don't want to see that," the Chelsea midfielder said.
"The attitude of some players is unacceptable, not just on the pitch but off it too and it was obvious from the moment we got together on Monday.
"I told our coach there is no point in me carrying on with the national team if things don't change."
Along with their failure to book their place at next year's Euros in France, Serbia also missed out on playing at the 2014 World Cup and the 2012 European Championships.
Knowing they would not qualify for next year's tournament, Serbia beat bitter rivals Albania 2-0 in October to restore some of their pride, but Matic admitted he still wanted to know why his compatriots had let the nation down earlier in the qualification process.
"When our personal reputations were on the line we did everything right," he said.
"But I'd really like to know whether some of my team mates apply the same poor working ethic at their clubs as they do in the national team most of the time."
No comments:
Post a Comment