Schalke defender refuses to play for Serbia after World Cup snub
Schalke 04 defender Matija Nastasic says he's not ready to play for Serbia after he wasn't called up for the World Cup.
| Matija Nastasic. | Photo: Sandro Halank, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Nastasic admits he is still disappointed about Krstajic's decision not to include him in the squad - especially because he claims that he didn't get an explanation.
"For any player, the World Cup is a dream, but if you're not even told why you're not there even though you're not injured anymore, that's a little mean," Nastasic told Sky.
For months, Nastasic has had no contact with Krstajic. The Schalke defender received a call-up for Serbia's coming games against Lithuania and Romania via Krstajic's assistant coach, but decided not to go.
"That was my decision. At the moment, I'm not ready to go there and join the coach and his staff. We didn't have any good communication before the World Cup. Although I don't have any problems with them now, I didn't want to go there now. For me, it's better to stay here, work and help my club," Nastasic told Sky and added:
"I talked to his assistant coach. He called me, not Krstajic. That's what I'm most disappointed about. It's not that I say now that I'll never play for the national team again. We'll see what happens in the future."
Nastasic has made 27 appearances for the Serbian national team.
