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Kuzmanovic asks for forgiveness

PRETORIA: Serbia midfielder Zdravko Kuzmanovic pleaded for forgiveness after his senseless handball gifted Ghana victory in their opening World Cup Group ‘D' clash on Sunday.

Stuttgart's Kuzmanovic admitted the fault was all his.

“I hope my teammates can forgive me,” he said sadly. “I didn't speak with my friends, I just thought about it. I'm very sad.

“I made a mistake, it wasn't what I was trying to do, I tried to go for the ball with my head but it hit my hand. It's my mistake and all I can say to my team is: ‘I'm sorry'.

“We deserved at least a point from a draw and because of my error, we have no points.

“We really needed to avoid that, in a World Cup every point counts. We lost and it's really hard for me.

Serbia also saw centre-back Aleksandar Lukovic dismissed for a second booking with just over a quarter of an hour left.

But Manchester United centre-back Nemanja Vidic cast doubt over the validity of his defensive partner's dismissal for a second bookable offence.

“I leave it to you (to say) if it was a red card or not, it was a bit strange,” he said.

Great victory

The win was bittersweet for Ghana's Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac. “Of course for me personally in my job this is a great victory but I'm sorry for the Serbian team,” he said.

“I know many of their players and I could see how saddened they were but I tried to concentrate on my job and perform my duties in a professional manner.

“Maybe we got lucky, they're a very good team and it's difficult to play against them.” — Agencies

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