Montenegrin football players have two more matches ahead of them in the World Cup qualifiers.
One they simply have to win if they want to stop their obvious decline - against Gibraltar away, and the other against Croatia, the favorites and a team that inspires no matter what the standings are...
Just six points from six matches in the qualifiers speak for themselves - Montenegro has so far only beaten Gibraltar and the Faroe Islands in Nikšić, and then fell into a hole that "swallowed" Robert Prosinečki before he was succeeded by Mirko Vučinić.
The legendary Montenegrin striker didn't improve things either, he suffered a debacle in the Faroe Islands (4:0), and now he admits that he is more optimistic than in October because the "falcons" are more complete.
"Last time we were missing seven players, and now we are missing four. The situation is better and I am more optimistic now because many important players for this national team have returned," said Vučinić.
However, the problems are there - Stefan Savić, Igor Vujačić and Marko Bakić will miss the last action in 2025 due to injuries, Andrija Vukčević is also absent, while Stevan Jovetić will not play against Gibraltar.
"Jovetic will join us before the match against Croatia because he has problems and cannot play on artificial turf. We will miss him a lot in Gibraltar because we know what kind of player he is," said Vučinić.
Marko Janković is back, who scored against Chelsea in the Champions League a few days ago.
"I expect a lot from Janković because in Qarabag he shows from match to match how important he is. I hope he will show that in the national team as well," he added that he called Sutjeska midfielder Marko Šimun from the domestic league.
Gibraltar is the opponent on November 14th, and three days later there is a duel with Croatia.
"Ever since I've been in this position, I've been asking the boys to give their all. It happens to better national teams to lose a match, but it's important when we look in the mirror that we know that we gave our best," said Vučinić, reflecting on the October matches:
"I'm very happy with the first half in the Faroe Islands. The second half was very ugly, especially the first 10-15 minutes. As for the match with Liechtenstein, it seemed much better to me from the pitch, but when I watched the footage I didn't like how we played. The only thing was a good result and we hope to continue winning."
As Vučinić says, Croatia is not being considered now, nor is he considering whether he will remain as coach after the qualifications are completed.
"I only have Gibraltar on my mind," Vučinić concluded.
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