Football: Serbia seal top spot

Serbia sealed top spot in group D after seeing off Mexico. Photo / Getty

Serbia qualified top of Group D with a 2-0 win over Mexico in the Fifa Under-20 World Cup game at Otago Stadium tonight.

Two first-half goals worked the trick for the Serbians, who must not be under-estimated in the knockout stages.

They play with strength and a good amount of skill, and their direct approach can be unnerving to teams wanting more time on the ball.

Serbia made a stunning start when they scored the opening goal after just two minutes.

A soaring long throw-in found the head of Sergej Milinkovic, who popped the ball on a plate for Nemanja Maksimovic to head into goal.

Mexico looked marginally the better team for the rest of the second half but Serbia went two goals ahead a couple of minutes before the break.

Andrija Zivkovic, arguably Serbia's best player at this tournament, fired in an accurate free kick to give the Europeans the dominant hand.

The second half featured a couple of stunning saves from Serbia goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic, and some near-misses from the frustrated Mexicans.

Serbia 2 (Nemanja Maksimovic 2, Andrija Zivkovic 43)
Mexico 0
HT: 2-0