Serbia dismissed its head coach, Slavoljub Muslin, opening immediate speculation from Serbian media that Fire head coach Veljko Paunovic is at or near the top of the list to replace him for its World Cup run in 2018.
Paunovic has one more guaranteed year remaining on his contract and any move now would require some form of compensation coming back to the Fire, but the interest would seem to make sense given Paunovic’s success while coaching Serbia’s U20 side to a World Cup title in 2015.
Reports out of Serbia cited the federation’s displeasure with Muslin’s team selection, tactics and refusal to play young players, some of which were members of Paunovic’s victorious U20 side.