Jovanovic on quest to help Serbia

MILAN JOVANOVIC is on a mission to make the grade at Anfield – but his first priority is firing Serbia to World Cup glory.

The 29-year-old striker will join Liverpool after the tournament on a free transfer from Standard Liege.

Jovanovic spent most of his early career in Russia with Shakhtar Donetsk and Lokomotiv Moscow before moving to Liege in 2006.

He soon became a fans' favourite, scoring 14 goals in his debut season and earning the nickname 'The Snake' for his movement.

Back in January, Jovanovic was named as the Jupiler League's Player of the Year and in total he scored more than 70 goals for the Belgian side.

"The saga over my transfer has taken a long time and it has been spoken about in practically every transfer window, but in the end I wanted to stay until the end of my contract at Standard," he said.

Signing his Anfield contract was the easier part of the swicth; now comes the hard part which is winning a place in the first team.

He adds: "They might have had a poor season but Liverpool are still Liverpool. There will still be a squad of 20 players of the highest quality and everyone waiting for the chance to show what they can do.

"There will be a lot of games and everyone will have the chance to play, and I really see this as the place where I want to be. The thought of playing at Anfield is an incredible inspiration for me."

Serbia will need Jovanovic on top form if they are going to have any chance of progressing from Group D which also includes Australia, Germany and Ghana. However, in topping a qualifying group that contained France, they gave notice that in South Africa, they will not be an easy touch.

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