Everyone runs away from Ronaldo

After today's draw in Krakow (13:XNUMX p.m.), Montenegro will be able to know a little more closely how close or far the European Championship is. Possible opponents are Portugal, Croatia, the Republic of Ireland and the Czech Republic.

Portugal: Team to avoid

Denmark beat Portugal in the last round of Group H and in that way shocked a large part of Europe, especially those national teams that had been preparing for the playoffs for months - no one expected the Portuguese in today's draw in Krakow, which is why it is the unique wish of all the selectors of the underprivileged teams. just to avoid Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani, Pepe, Fabio Coentra...

The "European Brazil", as they have called this national team for years, is definitely not that, because Paul Bent's team can't catch the rhythm, can't justify the rating it has, can easily reach the big competition and show all that potential.

That's why the Portuguese will finish the second cycle of qualifications in a row through the barrage, after they won the last World Cup through two matches with Bosnia and Herzegovina in the playoffs.

Of course, the number one personality in Portugal is Ronaldo, and Nani, Raul Meireles, Joao Moutinho, Bruno Alves, Miguel Veloso, Ricardo Quaresma are the ones who are famous.

The Portuguese opened the qualifiers for the Euro in an extremely strange way - they played 4:4 with Cyprus in Guimarães, and after the defeat in the second round in Norway, they dismissed coach Carlos Queiroz and hired Bento.

The atmosphere in Portugal has also been damaged, especially after Bento recently clashed with Ricardo Carvalho, who left the national team. This was followed by a defeat against Denmark, which unplanned sent them to the playoffs.

- We are all shocked, we didn't expect things to get so complicated. However, we know how to play in the playoffs, I believe we will go to the Euro - said Nani after the defeat in Copenhagen.

Portugal achieved its greatest success at the European championships in 2004, when it was the host. Then, however, the whole country was in tears - in the final in Lisbon, Greece was better.

According to "transfermarkt", the Portuguese are worth 290 million euros, of which only Ronaldo is worth 90. Nani's price is 29 million, Moutinho 20, Meireles 16, Kvarezma 15, Bruno Alves 14... The least valued veteran is Nunjo Gomes (million and a half ) and defender from Cologne Enrique Sereno (one million and 250 thousand).

Croatia: Bilić's time is running out

For the fourth year in a row, Croatia is among the "top 10" of the best national teams in the world, although it has not justified that rating for a long time.

After missing the opportunity to qualify for the World Cup in South Africa in 2010, the Croats finished second in the group that their media had declared in advance as "by far the easiest in the qualifications", behind unconvincing Greece.

"Let Bilić hang", the Zagreb journalists almost unanimously demanded after the defeat in Athens, and the president of the association Vlatko Marković still decided to give the current coach another chance, even though Zlatko Kranjčar and Igor Štimac were waiting for a phone call.

Until two years ago, Slaven Bilić was a "mint without flaws" and "a modern coach with an earring" for the media and fans, and now it is not uncommon to read that he is a "football ignoramus" and that he lost control in the locker room a long time ago.

Although they don't shine, the Croats still have high-class footballers in their ranks. According to Transfermarkt, Luka Modrić himself is worth 33 million euros, and this summer Chelsea offered a real fortune to bring him from Tottenham. His teammates in the team and the national team are Vedran Ćorluka and the son of the recent Montenegrin coach Niko Kranjčar, while Dario Srna is still in charge of Shakhtar Donetsk, a regular participant in the Champions League.

Sevilla's offensive midfielder Ivan Rakitić has been injured for a long time, just like Bayern's forward Ivica Olić. As Eduardo is not at the level he used to be, Mario Mandžukić from Wolfsburg and Nikica Jelavić from Rangers are increasingly imposing themselves in the attack.

Anyway, it seems that Croatia is a selection against which Montenegro could play equally.

A potential problem would be fan tensions - after great experiences with the Swiss, English and Welsh, the awakening of the "Balkan tavern" would give the match another, undesirable dimension.

Republic of Ireland: Does UEFA owe them a favor?

Twice in the previous qualifiers, Montenegro kept the Irish in check. Both matches ended 0:0, although the Montenegrin selection was closer to victory in both Podgorica and Dublin.

After the group competition, Giovanni Trapatoni's company went to the barrage. There, she hoped that she could reach the World Cup through the French, until referee Martin Hanson interfered and allowed Thierry Henry to play a handball in the opponent's penalty area for the "tricolor" to go to the final.

After this unprecedented robbery, football Europe was united. The finger of suspicion was pointed at Fifa and UEFA, accusations were made that such a brutal demarcation between big and small national teams had never been made as at that time.

- We tried in vain, the French had to pass, that's what was ordered - Trapatoni accused the European football leaders.

But, "time heals everything", so the Irish forgot about that injustice both in the group for the European Championship and in the company of Russia, and in the fight with Armenia and Slovakia, they won the barrage again.

However, some things cannot be so easily erased from memory, so these days the question may rightly be asked: does Michel Platini owe the Irish a favor?

Although they did not qualify for the last three major competitions, the Irish somewhat and mysteriously overtook Turkey and the Czech Republic and received the status of a privileged team before today's draw in Krakow.

If the European football leaders really intend to give back to the Irish what they took from them last year, it could also be a potential problem for Montenegro, even though Vučinić, Vukčević, Jovetić and company realized in their debut appearance in the qualifiers not only that they can play equally with the Irish, but also be better than them.

All the same, the Irish side has the experience of playing in the barrage, and the technical potential is definitely on the Montenegrin side. For the third year in a row, Giovani Trapatoni rules Dublin, who rotates the same group of players that played in Podgorica in 2007.

Thus, the temporary Damian Duff and Robbie Keane are still the biggest stars of a solid team whose backs are guarded by the strong Richard Dunn from Aston Villa and John O'Shea from Manchester United, while the reliable Shay Given is still in goal.

Czech Republic: The old guard has gone down in history

Although it is far from an anonymous national team, the quality of the current Czech Republic is quite unknown for football fans in Montenegro.

Namely, the Czechs were affected by a change of generations, from those celebrated aces, only goalkeeper Petr Čeh, and Tomaš Rosicki and Milan Baroš remained.

There are no more gorostas Jan Koler, Tomas Ujfaluši, Marek Jankulovski, Tomas Galašek, Zdenjek Grigera, Libor Sjonko... All of them played at the 2008 European Championship.

The current star is Mihal Kadlec, the 27-year-old son of the much more famous Miroslav.

Kadlec junior plays for Bayer from Leverkusen (left back), and the young Nürnberg striker Tomaš Pehart, and Pilsen players Petr Jiraček and Vaclav Pilar also got a chance in these qualifications.

Some may even say that this is the rival against which Montenegro would have the best chance to win the EP, but also the new Czech Republic, when you look at the prices of players on the market, is more expensive than the "brave falcons".

Namely, Baroš and the gang, according to "Transfermarkt", are worth about 94 million euros (goalkeeper Cech 28 million), about 20 more than our national team (72,8).

Since independence in 1992 (Czechoslovakia was European champion in 1976 in Belgrade), the Czech Republic has been a regular participant in the Euros, and in 1996 it reached the final in England when Germany was better.

In Portugal in 2004, they played in the semi-finals, and in 2000 and 2008, they were stopped in the group.

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