Balić: To impose myself and remain part of the team; Raičković: We have to believe until the end

The Montenegrin football team gathered today, and on Wednesday they will play their first match - a friendly against Kazakhstan in Podgorica.

It will be a prelude to the deciding games in the Nations League. Azerbaijan is the rival in Zaprešić on Saturday, and Cyprus in Gorica on Tuesday - without calculations, the "falcons" have to chase six points in those two duels and hope that Luxembourg will burn out in the role of favourites.

Returning to the national team, left back Saša Balić, does not hide his satisfaction that he is back after five years.

"I am very happy to be in the national team, it is a pleasure for every player to wear equipment with the coat of arms of his country. It is up to me to impose myself on the coach, I expect to remain a part of this national team with my attitude and game," said Balić.

He was gone for a long time...

"I followed every game in the past five years. The selection has changed a lot, there are a lot of young and new players, who play in strong leagues. There are also a lot of them that I know from before. Ambitions? The goal is clear, to show ourselves in the best possible light, because we play for the national team. It's up to me to fulfill everything the coach demands," said 30-year-old Balić, a member of the Polish club Zaglebje.

Montenegro does not depend on itself in the finish of the League of Nations, but it must approach the matches with Azerbaijan and Cyprus as much as possible.

"We have two important games ahead of us. We hope that Luxembourg will make a mistake and that we will reach the first place for placing in Group B with six points.

Kazakhstan is the first rival.

"The selector will give me a chance in one game. We will see how it will look, I hope everything will be in the best order".

Midfielder Budućnost Miloš Raičković is in the selection again, after being part of the team in October.

"It's unfortunate that we lost that last game in such a way, with a goal in the end. Of course, we shouldn't give up, we have to play as hard as possible until the end. Let's try to win six points and wait to see what Luxembourg will do. Nothing is lost, Azerbaijan and Cyprus are quality selections, so we believe they can do the job for us," Raičković points out and adds:

"What was missing in that meeting with Luxembourg? Given that we were leading, we conceded a goal for 1:1 a little naively. There was also a second goal in the end, but I think that in the end the individual quality of the opponent was the deciding factor", he is clear Raickovic.

Kazakhstan will be a real test.

"It will be a tough and uncertain match. They have quality, but I expect the boys who get a chance to play well and win," says Raičković.