Mitrovic: Nice test ahead, we are better than Saudi Arabia

STARA PAZOVA - Speaking to reporters ahead of a friendly match against Saudi Arabia, captain of the Serbia men's national football team Aleksandar Mitrovic said on Monday he believed Serbia were the favourites and the better team even though Saudi Arabia had qualified for the World Cup.

"A nice test for us in front of our fans - we will try to get a win and fulfil the wishes of the head coach," Mitrovic said at the Football Association of Serbia Sports Centre in Stara Pazova.

After losing 3-0 to Spain in Villareal on Friday, Serbia will host Saudi Arabia in Backa Topola on Tuesday evening.

"We want to get to the level of Spain, England and Argentina," Mitrovic said.

"It is clear that those teams are tough opponents for us, but that is the level we want to be on and the opponents we want to compete against. That gives us a more realistic picture than the smaller games - they, too, are important, but high-level games are what we are aspiring to," said Mitrovic, who until recently played his club football at Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal Riyadh.

Commenting on his role in the national team, he said:

"I try to spend a lot of time with younger players, also outside the pitch, and to give some advice. I am confident I can still contribute and I am feeling good. This season has been a bit more difficult, perhaps the most difficult one in terms of injuries," the 31-year-old striker said.

"I enjoy every moment. Some might even be fed up with watching me because I was a young lad when I came," he also said.