Dear Serbian national team,

Dragan, Dušan, Aleksandar, Sergej, Vanja, Stefan, Nemanja, Nikola, Strahinja and all our boys, I am optimistic that you will all become world champions on the eve of Saint Nicholas, the most famous saint in Serbia.

I don't want to pressure you, but imagine the joy in every Serbian house on December 19th when you do: the people you love most, lots of good food and drinks on the table and Serbia as world champions - no one becomes talk about politics, nobody's gonna talk about war, nobody's gonna talk about any problem they've ever had. At that moment, everyone will only be talking about you, and from that moment on, every boy who will be born in Serbia in the coming months will surely have one of your names.

I don't want to put any pressure on you, but can you imagine how proud you will be in this moment? Knowing you made a nation so happy?

I don't want to pressure you, but when I drop my daughters off at daycare or pick them up to take them home, I see boys and girls as young as three or four years old looking forward to seeing how you shocked the world this winter. They may not know how many games it takes to reach the final or where Qatar is, but they believe our team is the best.

I don't want to put any pressure on you, but I also believe that you are the best and I am very confident that you will win the World Championship this year. I don't want to put any pressure on you, but I'll see you on the balcony of the Belgrade City Hall on December 19th.

All the best,

Alexander

This article was originally published on 90min.de as Faces of Football: Serbia - a letter to the national team.