The first thing the England players are likely to notice is “the banging”, “the noise”, especially as they embark down that famously long tunnel. It’s certainly what Harry Kane remembers, as one of the few squad members to have played in the Marakana.
“Pretty hostile environment,” Kane smiles now. “Just walking from the changing room to the pitch. It feels like a mile-long walk. There are a lot of fans, you hear a lot of noise, a lot of banging. That was pretty hostile.”
That long walk may then end with an abrupt sharpening of England’s entire World Cup qualifying campaign. The extremes of the setting are almost fitting because this game could be the most significant of the entire group. Serbia’s tricky 1-0 win away to Latvia put them within five points of England with a game in hand, while pulling away from the rest.
“If we win the game, we’re really close to securing qualification,” Kane summed up. “If we don’t, it makes the next camp a lot trickier.”
Consequently, Kane admits there’s an old-fashioned sense of build-up among the camp. It’s a bit like how big qualifiers used to feel in the 1980s, which is actually the last time that England played in Belgrade. A 1987 qualifier for Euro ’88 brought a 4-1 victory.
The stakes of this are only heightened by the state of the relationships between the countries. It is part of Serbian fan culture to make every match loud and intimidating, but recent history will only amplify the atmosphere here.
The Nato bombing of 1999 understandably colours most opinion about western Europe, to the point that Nemanja Vidic made a point of not wearing a poppy when at Manchester United. That has informed Serbia’s alignment with Vladimir Putin, while the self-determination of Kosovo is one of the primary political topics in the country. There, the UK is celebrated – with children named after Tony Blair – which probably indicates a lot about contrasting attitudes on the Serbian side. Belgrade features some pristine graffiti displays about attacking Kosovo again.
The context of this match has been further complicated by protests against the government, which were taking place in Belgrade city centre at 2pm on the eve of the game. The state initially wanted to stage this match in the more remote city of Leskovac, primarily to dilute public gathering.
The Football Association, however, put their foot down. Fans had already organised travel. The general secretary of the Serbian federation, Branko Radujko, even had a note of caution in the matchday programme: “We are still under special monitoring of Uefa. Every inappropriate reaction, insult or incident could cost us dearly on our path to the USA, Mexico and Canada, including the possibility of having to play a decisive match with Albania behind closed doors.
“That is the reason I sincerely and seriously call on you: let us cheer from the heart but let it be fair.”
There has meanwhile been some discussion in the England camp about the prospect of racial abuse, given that the under-21s suffered that experience in 2012. Kane rightly just pointed to the protocols in place when asked, and said they’re primarily “focused on the match”.
That’s where the intensity of the occasion may make this all the more interesting for England’s own development as much as their qualification ambitions. Thomas Tuchel must ensure that his players shut all of that out, but that very necessity may finally bring out something more in his side.
There has been a slight sense of drift from the German’s time so far, which hasn’t yet produced a sparkling or even especially convincing display. Kane admitted that there have been times where England “could have got the ball into the box a bit quicker”. “We were in good areas and sometimes maybe we circulated it too much and it became a bit slow.”
That is something that comes with greater intensity, however, and that might have been dependent on the nature of England’s fixtures so far. Tuchel has had five games so far with two of those against Andorra. Kane says there were matches where England were “almost playing against ourselves, in a way”.
“The teams we’re playing against are almost happy to lose 1 or 2-0, and not cause us too much of a threat, whereas [Tuesday] is going to be completely different. Serbia are a really good team, we saw that in the Euros so it’s a really good test, hopefully we can show the best side of us, the best version of us, that’s with the ball, without the ball.”
Tuchel meanwhile evocatively described it as like playing “through chewing gum”.
“The best of us” is evidently a key message, though, as the manager stridently echoed it: “I think it will bring out the best in us that we are here in Belgrade.”
Hence Tuchel playing down the idea of having to put Jordan Henderson in due to his experience. He does not believe the modern player is fazed by this. He also has a full squad, with even Marc Guehi fit despite Saturday’s issues.
Tuchel does expect Serbia to sit deeper but said the team had focused a lot of their preparation on the pressing, especially with how Serbia try to set traps. “We had a tactical training session to get our adjustments right – how we initiate the pressure, where to initiate the pressure, and that’s what the talk was all about.
“We need to speak a lot in central defence. Then it’s very fluid because the back three widens up extremely wide.
“They will attack us a bit more aggressively. It’s important that we match this emotional approach and intensity.”
Whatever the formations, a physical battle is virtually guaranteed. “Their centre-backs are big, they’re strong,” Kane said. “Even their strikers, they like to have aerial duels. They like to play off second balls. They like to be physical. From that point of view, I expect a really physical game. In terms of the directness you’re maybe seeing in all leagues.”
Hence the manager discussing long throws and long kicks on the eve of the match. It is nevertheless possible that Tuchel’s England actually need a game like this to properly become Tuchel’s England.
“Sometimes when you get through these types of games together, especially as a team, especially as a newish team, like we are, that’s how you build experiences,” Kane said. “That’s how you build togetherness, obviously ideal situation, we want to have a comfortable game and win clearly but we know that’s not always the case, so there might be times we have to stick together tomorrow [Tuesday], there might be times we have to defend as a team and ultimately find a way to win, when you do do that against these types of oppositions in these stadiums, I feel like that builds an extra layer of togetherness that you can’t form without playing.”
This match might reveal a lot. Tuchel is looking forward to his team striding up, albeit with one caveat.
“The tunnel is not so agreeable! Of course. But that’s what it’s all about now. That’s the beauty of it and if you want to go to a World Cup and to play for the national team, experiencing this is the beauty.
“Tomorrow is one of these nights. Lights are on. Big crowd and an emotional sportive country. And we’re up for it. It is their stadium and we are here to steal all three points.”
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