Discounts Robert Prosinecki on the bench, the Montenegrin national team grew significantly after the victory over Turkey, the quarter-finalist of the European Championship and the 26th team in the world in the FIFA ranking.
His selection showed pride, heart, togetherness in the last match of the B League of Nations - competitively, insignificant in terms of results but, it will turn out - very, very important, and in 100 other ways.
Of course, the quality, which Veliki Zuti failed to find and wake up from the almost as a rule weakened team in the previous five games. Because, without quality, no matter how decimated Montenegro is, you cannot beat the selection that almost ended up in the semifinals of the previous Euro.
And what now?
Prosinečki, as he himself said at the press conference after the match, was written off after five defeats in competitive matches (he also said the same about his national team, but what does written off mean - it was relegated from League B, nothing else), and probably and left himself, that by any chance a sixth defeat had arrived.
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However, it didn't happen - Montenegro won, surprisingly and bombastically, to the great joy of the fans and the already depressed football public, which has grown accustomed to defeats. "Montenegro" was chanted in Wales, the European media wrote about the sensation in Nikšić, the magical Nikola Krstović.
Nothing better than this kind of victory, at least in terms of optimism and the announcement of future actions, could not have happened to Montenegrin football on the day when the youth selection also achieved phenomenal success (once again placed in the elite round of qualifications - in the upper house of European football), and when young people also celebrated in a friendly match in Slovakia.
"December - for and against", was the headline in "Vijesti", after the October defeat and weak edition in Wales, the fourth in the fourth match of the League of Nations.
The same text is current even now, with the difference that after the victory against Turkey, something positive could finally be extracted from this cycle - something like a good announcement. And it could prevail on the side "for", compared to the reasons "against". Relegation from League B and last place in the group, we also wrote then, is the smallest problem - Sweden also played in C League this fall, now Finland will play, which won us smoothly both times, and Albania, a participant of the last Euro, will also play , maybe even Georgia, Slovenia... (they have to win the barrage)
FSCG leaders, headed by the president Dejan Savićević, after such a beautiful victory, they have to put all emotions aside when deciding whether to continue with Robbie or not. The triumph over the Turks, no matter how effective and unexpected it was, did not change the situation in our football and in our national team. He's just some hope - a glimpse of light in the tunnel...
The decision must be preceded by a detailed analysis and finally the goal must be set - difficult qualifications for the World Cup will follow. What does our team want from them? To qualify for the World Cup? Not even Italy was there twice, and not us, so I guess it is clear in which direction the plan should go. If it is determined - it will be easier to make a decision.
Two things, meanwhile, are in favor of the legendary Croatian footballer, former star of Red Star, Real Madrid and Barcelona.
The first is - it is not easy to find a coach. Especially the one who will lead Montenegro. Our coaches who have left their mark and are doing good things abroad, and there are not many of them, are more or less busy. Better-known names from the region, or from another speaking area (foreign), cost a lot, and the FSCG does not give that much money for the salary of the selectors. If Savićević does not already have a solution in mind, then Prosinečki's chances increase drastically.
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Another, even more important, asset of Robbie's is football players. The players want him. The captain said so Stevan jovetić without holding back after Turkey ("this is for the coach"), but he didn't even have to say it - it was enough to see the team fighting, guys who care. Stefan Lončar who wasn't there for a while, but who "took apart" the Turkish stars and burned as if it was the last match of his career; it was enough to see the "warrior's" facial expression Marko Janković, joy and happiness Stefan Mugoša i Driton Camaj at Krstović's third goal, even though they weren't on the field...
One gets the impression that both those who play and those who don't play are satisfied with Prosinecki. Against Turkey, after seven consecutive defeats, five in the League of Nations, it was the team that followed the coach.
Perhaps the announcement that Montenegro will again have a "selected team" in the World Cup qualifiers.
Bonus video:
