A makeshift France side were held to a 1-1 draw by Serbia in a friendly after Aleksandar Kolarov drilled in a ferocious free kick for the home side to cancel out a Paul Pogba opener on Sunday.
Having beaten Spain 1-0 in Paris on Thursday, France dominated long spells of the match on a warm evening after their coach Didier Deschamps fielded seven fresh starters.
A dour opening came to life when versatile midfielder Pogba fired the French ahead in the 13th minute, tapping in at the far post Yohan Cabaye’s low corner which bobbled past a static Serbian defence.
The home team’s keeper Vladimir Stojkovic then kept out a stinging effort by Remy Cabella, one of Deschamps’s most impressive replacements, having also parried a Pogba shot with France looking sharper early in the second half.
But the visitors fizzed out in the last 30 minutes and their goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was powerless when Manchester City left back Kolarov unleashed a scorcher from 30 metres into the bottom left corner with 10 minutes left.
Serbia missed an injury time sitter to turn the match on its head when Lloris palmed away a ricochet from a goalmouth scramble.
“We should have been 2-0 up and having missed two good chances, we struggled in the closing stages,” Deschamps told a news conference.
“Kolarov scored a beautiful goal but we could have done better.”
