The goal has been fulfilled - the basketball team of Montenegro will play in the qualifiers for Mundobasket.
In the previous part of the "balloon" in Podgorica, the "Reds" have defeated Iceland twice, and Denmark once, against whom they will play another match tonight (20 p.m.) and end the pre-qualifications.
Therefore, the main goal has been fulfilled, but one more remains - a victory over Denmark for maximum performance and a nice end to the participation in the Podgorica "balloon".
"We have no imperative to win. I expect the basketball players, who have played less, and us younger ones to step up. We will be ready, we are going to win, we would like to go to the clubs with a score of 4-0. Passing should not relax us. We want another victory", said Dino Radončić.
Qualifications for the World Cup are scheduled from November this year to July next year.
"We are getting ready for the last game. It is important that we stay healthy and come back in November," said the Spanish Zaragoza basketball player.
In the last match in the "balloon", on Monday against Iceland, Boško Radović's team was on the verge of defeat. At one point, Iceland led by as many as 14 points, but Montenegro, with a concentrated game in the fourth quarter, managed to make up for the deficit, turn it around and win.
"Fishermen" scored only nine points in the last ten minutes, and Igor Drobnjak scored the basket for Montenegro's victory in the last seconds of the game.
"There were a lot of mistakes in the last game, but in the end we managed to win. We are satisfied with three triumphs, because we achieved our goal and qualified for the qualifiers. The attitude of the basketball players, who responded during the preparations, brought us a turnaround against Iceland. That game showed that a team with a good attitude will always win - the boys did not fall even when we lost by 14 points. We got together, played and got a nice reward with a basket in the last second", said the center of the Montenegrin national team, Filip Barović.
The team in this "balloon" was quite changed. Several standard national team members were missing...
"Much changed composition, in general it should be different, better. Nice to see some of the younger guys. I know Drobnjak from the Student Center, I know he is a good player, but he has yet to show it. I am also pleased that I had the opportunity to see Kljajic, Đurišić and other younger players. It's good that they entered the national team system, they will continue. It is a big thing for Montenegrin basketball that we will fight for the World Championship", believes Barović.
Montenegro achieved a historic result in the previous qualifying cycle with coach Zvezdan Mitrović and qualified for the Mundobasket in China. In the competition between Brazil, Greece and New Zealand, the "reds" finished the competition in the group.
The 2023 Mundobasket will be held in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines.
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