Finland is an extremely high-quality selection and is considered the favorite against Montenegro, which wants to play a good match and be an equal rival, said the coach of the women's football team, Mirko Marić.
Tomorrow in Podgorica, Montenegro and Finland will play the match of the first round of playoffs for the European Championship.
The Montenegrin national team qualified for the second consecutive playoff by winning second place in group C3, while Finland was fourth in group A4.
Marić, speaking about the quality of his rivals, reminded that Finland played four times in the European Championship.
"Finland is the favorite, I'm not looking for an alibi, because I believe that playing in the playoffs two years in a row and being in a group with national teams in the playoffs is a great success for women's football in Montenegro. We will give the maximum in all segments, because this is necessary in order to compete with selections like is Finland," said Marić at the press conference.
He emphasized that if this is not enough for a positive result, he will congratulate his rival.
"It certainly won't be enough just to run on the field, you need to be maximally concentrated, responsible and disciplined, in order to match Finland. As a coach, regardless of the final outcome, I will be satisfied if we play properly and give our best," said Marić.
He emphasized that the absence of captain Slađana Bulatović, Anđela Tošković and Maja Saranović will be a big handicap.
"We are used to not being complete. I am sure that the girls who get the chance will use it in the right way. It would be a great pleasure for us if there was as many audiences as possible, I am sure that the girls would know how to value it," said Marić.
The captain in tomorrow's match, Armisa Kuč, said that she leaves the role of favorite to the Finnish selection.
"I believe that they are favorites only on paper. They need to justify it on the field, and we will do our best to reach a favorable result. We are ready to win that game," Kuč said.
Recalling the barrage of the duel with Ireland, she expects that the Montenegrin national team will make a breakthrough.
"I'm sure we'll give our best, and we'll see what that's enough for. We showed against Ireland that we can play against strong rivals, and I expect us to repeat that against Finland," Kuč said.
She emphasized that the girls are ready to show the Montenegrin public that they know how to play football and that they will subordinate everything to success in the double match with Finland.
"We don't have the pressure of results, it's a big success for us that we're playing a playoff," Kuč said.
She appealed to the fans to come in as many as possible and help them achieve a good result.
The match at the City Stadium will start at 16:30 p.m.
The second leg is four days later in Tampere.
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