THE HISTORY
This is Serbia's first World Cup in its present state, having gained independence from Montenegro following the last tournament in 2006, where they were eliminated in the groups after being drawn with Holland, Argentina and Ivory Coast.

Formerly Serbia had been a part of Yugoslavia, who appeared most recently in the finals in 1998, where they reached the knockout stages with a talented yet divided and ageing squad.

The breakup of the Communism Bloc and the Balkan wars that followed in the early 1990s disrupted football in the region severely, and split a country that had the best of players from Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia to pick from.

Despite producing excellent individual talents, Yugoslavia have never made it beyond the semi-finals, a feat achieved in the inaugural World Cup in 1930 and again in Chile in 1962.

THE CURRENT SITUATION
Despite finishing top of their qualifying group ahead of France, opinion in Serbia is mixed, yet there is great pride that they will be competing in their first World Cup under coach Radomir Antic.

If they can avoid internal disputes and keep key players fit, Serbia should reach the knockout stages, but theirs is a difficult group - Germany, Ghana and Australia all await - meaning they may have to beat England in the second round to reach the last eight.

With Branislav Ivanovic and Man United's Nemanja Vidic in defence, they will not concede many goals, in fact they conceded just once in qualifying. Question marks do hover over goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic though, dropped from Wigan's side before they were beaten 8-0 at Stamford Bridge on the Premier League's final day.

Midfielder Dejan Stankovic and wingers Milos Krasic and Milan Jovanovic provide the creative spark, while with 6ft 8in Nikola Zigic up front, they will always threaten from set pieces.

BRANISLAV IVANOVIC
Established on the international scene before he was established for Chelsea, no-one played more minutes for Serbia in qualifying than the 26-year-old who not only formed a formidable central defensive pairing with Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic, he also weighed in with three goals.

Set-piece defending and attacking is a strength of this team and no-one should underestimate how high the regard is for this season's Premier League winner back in his own country.

Branislav made his international debut five years ago and will go to South Africa with 30-plus caps but this is his first major international tournament, although he did captain Serbia to the final of the European Under 21 Championships.

THE NON-CHELSEA ONE TO WATCH
Milan Jovanovic, Standard Liege. The tricky left-sided player will be at Liverpool next season, so the World Cup offers a chance to see what he will bring to Anfield. The 29-year-old scored five times in eight qualifiers.