Football
ESPN staff 9y

Serbia hope to persuade Nemanja Vidic to make international return

#INSERT type:image caption:Vidic, who joined Inter Milan in the summer, retired from international football in 2012. END#

New Serbia coach Radovan Curcic wants former Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic to come out of international retirement.

Vidic, who has struggled for form since moving to Inter Milan in July, retired from the international team after their failure to qualify for Euro 2012.

But Curcic said the player still had plenty to offer and could help Serbia to qualify for a place at Euro 2016.

"Talking about Vidic's qualities would be superfluous, because his consistency down the years have shown that he is one of the best defenders in Europe," Reuters reported Curcic as telling a news conference.

"Of course we would love to have him back -- but we have months to go before our next match, and in the next few weeks we have to talk to several players to see what their plans are."

Curcic, Serbia's former under-21s coach, was promoted to the top job earlier this week. He takes over the reins from Dick Advocaat, who quit after a 3-1 home defeat to Denmark on Nov. 14.

His first games in charge of the senior side will come in Portugal in March and Denmark in June, and he said: "The match against Portugal will be the first of five cup ties, and we have to win all of them if we are to advance to Euro 2016.

"We need all the resources at hand, and therefore we will also talk to Neven Subotic and Adem Ljajic, who parted ways with the national team. But I think the differences they had with the staff are not irreconcilable."

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