Milosevic shuts door on angry Tadic's Serbia future
BELGRADE (Reuters) - Dusan Tadic's Serbia career is over after the winger slammed coach Radovan Curcic for leaving him out of this month's friendlies with Poland and Estonia, said national team director Savo Milosevic.
The Southampton player told Belgrade's Beta news agency on Monday that he did not want to represent his country again while Curcic was in charge and accused the 44-year-old of "humiliating and disrespecting" him.
However, former Aston Villa striker Milosevic had no sympathy for the 27-year-old.
"Tadic is wrong if he thinks his national team status will change in the future after what he's done," Milosevic was quoted as telling the Tanjug news agency.
"The national team doesn't need the likes of him. There is no place for individuals who think they are God's gift and Tadic's gesture shows Curcic was right to axe him.
"He's shown that he only cares for himself and not the team. Serbia need players who are prepared to work together for a common cause," added Milosevic who scored 37 goals in 102 internationals during his playing career.
The Balkan nation, who have not qualified for a major tournament since the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, play Poland in Poznan on Wednesday and Estonia in Tallinn six days later.
Tadic, who has scored five goals in 34 games for Serbia, criticised Curcic for omitting him.
"I play in the world's strongest league and then I find out in the newspapers that I am no longer good enough to play for the national team," he said, referring to the English Premier League.
"Someone could have at least called me and told me over the phone. This is humiliating and disrespectful, hence I will no longer play for Serbia while Curcic is in charge.
"I don't think Curcic is up to the task. I'd like to be more positive but a coach who has not been in charge of a top team aiming for titles does not have the potential, the authority or the knowledge to lead a national team to victories," added Tadic.
Curcic replaced Dick Advocaat during Serbia's failed 2016 European Championship qualifying campaign when the Dutchman quit after taking one point from the opening three games.
The new coach was unable to revive the team and they finished fourth in their group behind Portugal, Albania and Denmark.
(Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic; Editing by Tony Jimenez)