Stojkovic to miss Bulgaria friendly

Stojkovic to miss Bulgaria friendly

Published Nov. 12, 2010 10:08 p.m. ET

Serbia coach Vladimir Petrovic left goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic out of his squad to play Bulgaria in a friendly next week, fearing more trouble by Serbian fans.

Last month, the Italy-Serbia European Championship qualifier was abandoned in Genoa after Red Star fans rioted over Stojkovic's move to rival Belgrade club Partizan in the offseason.

Italy has been awarded a 3-0 win by UEFA because of the violence and Serbia was ordered to lock its fans out of one home qualifier.

Serbia's Football Federation said Friday it would not appeal the verdict "because it would have no positive effect."

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Petrovic also left out Liverpool midfielder Milan Jovanovic because he has not been playing at his English club.

Petrovic chose six newcomers, including goalkeeper Bojan Jorgacevic of Belgium's Gent, midfielders Adem Ljajic of Fiorentina, Ivan Radovanovic of Bologna, Marko Miric of Spartak Subotica, Veseljko Trivunovic of OFK Belgrade and Milos Dimitrijevic of Rad Belgrade.

"The time has come for us to turn the page after Genoa," Petrovic said. "This is an ideal opportunity to try some new players ahead of our qualifiers against Northern Ireland and Estonia in spring."

Petrovic included Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic in the squad despite the defender's reported desire to retire from the national team.

Midfielders Milos Krasic of Juventus and Zdravko Kuzmanovic of Stuttgart miss the tie because of injuries.

Serbia squad:

Goalkeepers: Bojan Jorgacevic (Gent), Zeljko Brkic (Vojvodina Novi Sad)

Defenders: Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea), Pavle Ninkov (Red Star Belgrade), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United), Neven Subotic (Borussia Dortmund), Aleksandar Lukovic (Zenit St. Petersburg), Slobodan Rajkovic (Vitesse), Aleksandar Kolarov (Manchester City)

Midfielders: Gojko Kacar (Hamburg), Nenad Milijas (Wolverhampton), Radosav Petrovic (Partizan Belgrade), Marko Miric (Spartak Subotica), Zoran Tosic (CSKA Moscow), Adem Ljajic (Fiorentina), Veseljko Trivunovic (OFK Belgrade), Ivan Radovanovic (Bologna), Milos Dimitrijevic (Rad Belgrade), Miralem Sulejmani (Ajax)

Forwards: Nikola Zigic (Birmingham), Dragan Mrdja (Sion).
 

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