Serbia Manager Steps Down Immediately Defeat to Albanian Team
The Serbian manager made caps for Yugoslavia between 1983 to 2001
Dragan Stojkovic resigned as manager of Serbia right following his side's 1-0 qualification defeat by the Albanian national team on Saturday
Rey Manaj scored the only goal to make it back-to-back defeats for Serbia after last month's 5-0 heavy defeat by the English team
It leaves them in third place in their qualifying group, with England top on fifteen points and Albania second on 11 points, having played a match extra
"I had a conversation with the president and general secretary and I offered my resignation," Stojkovic stated at a post-match press briefing
"I personally did not anticipate this loss. I am a person who accepts complete accountability and is entirely accountable."
Serbia's next match is away at the Andorran team on Tuesday
The manager was appointed Serbia boss in 2021 and guided them to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where they ended up last of their group with just a single point from three matches
Saturday's match was relocated from Serbia's capital to the southern town of Leskovac because of safety concerns, with the two countries having a lengthy background of political tensions
The result implies that England can guarantee a spot for next year's World Cup in United States, Canada and Mexico with a win over the Latvian side in Riga on Tuesday
