The water polo national team of Montenegro is impatiently waiting for the start of the Olympic tournament, said the member of the "sharks", Aljoša Mačić.
"Ajkule" will play their first match on Sunday (16:35), and the rival is Croatia.
"The Olympic Games are an experience, something we all dreamed of when we were younger and built our careers on. We are looking forward to the opening ceremony and the start of the tournament. We have a young team with a lot of debutants. All this is unreal, but we are slowly getting used to it and focusing on the most important thing, which is the group stage and the match with Croatia," said Mačić, who is participating in the Games for the first time in his career.
Croatia is the current European runner-up and world champion.
"We beat them the last two times. We know how to play with them. There are no unknowns. I believe it will be a tough match. Even though they are the favorites and the world champions, I hope to win."
The group with Montenegro and Croatia also includes Romania, USA, Greece and Italy. Australia, Japan, Spain, Hungary, Serbia and France are in the second.
"All teams can reach the next stage, which was not the case before. France, as the host, is one of the teams that can surprise," Mačić believes.
Mačić knows the advantage of the "sharks".
"We are not under pressure like in the previous Olympics. We are a young team, we can surprise our opponents with our energy, pace and swimming. We will fight, we believe like everyone else in passing," concluded Mačić.
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