Paunović reshuffles Serbia squad ahead of Germany and Netherlands duels: Mimović promoted to senior team, Milošević and Nikolić released

Serbia head coach Veljko Paunović has made changes to the squad list ahead of two difficult away Nations League fixtures — against Germany in Munich on October 1 and against the Netherlands in Eindhoven on October 4 — as the Serbian sports portal HotSport reports.

Serbia come off two defeats in their two opening home matches, against Greece and the Netherlands, and the coach is looking for fresh blood in the squad.

The headline news is the promotion of Ognjen Mimović, right-back, from the U21 national team (led by Zoran Mirković) to the senior side. Mimović played in the U21s’ 3-0 friendly win over Iraq at the Karađorđe stadium, a match Paunović watched from the stands together with staff member Nuno Gomes, HotSport writes. This is not his first call-up to the first team: Paunović had also invited him for the friendlies against Cape Verde and Mexico in May/June.

Stefan Bukinac goes the opposite way, leaving the senior team to join Mirković’s U21s, who play two friendlies against Russia on October 2 and 5 at 6:00 p.m. in Stara Pazova.

Meanwhile, Jovan Milošević and Lazar Nikolić have been released from national team duty and return to their clubs, Braga and Vojvodina. Both were on Paunović’s original list for the four Nations League matches — Milošević as a striker and Nikolić as a defender — but will not be part of the squad for the away duels against Germany and the Netherlands.