Montenegro coach Andrej Žakelj congratulated his players after a big win against Greece in Athens, in the 3rd round of the World Basketball Championship qualifiers.
The "Reds" celebrated 67:65 on the field of their big opponent and almost neutralized the loss to Portugal at home in the first round, but the real fight is yet to come.
"We had a good approach, so kudos to the players. The most important thing is that they believed they could play against such a strong team, and that's what we've been working on in the last three or four days. Because, definitely, Greece is one of the biggest teams in Europe," Žakelj said after the match for RTCG.
"For the young guys, who are with us for the first time, this is very significant."
Žakelj has no dilemma about what decided the outcome in the AEK stadium in Athens.
"The rebounding and the desire to win were decisive. We played good defense and especially in the second half we controlled the rebounding. It's not easy to play here, the guys showed character, there were some problems, but that's normal, basketball is a game of mistakes."
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Two wins and one loss - that's the balance after three rounds, and Greece is coming to Podgorica on Monday.
"I'm not going far, but match by match. In three days we'll play at home, first let's rest, analyze this, get ready and go with maximum focus in front of our audience."
Žakelj expects a reaction from Greece.
"There will definitely be a reaction, some of their players just came back from the Euroleague, they will have a few training sessions. This is probably painful for them, it's their business, we are thinking about us."
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