Lončar: We're going for a win against Slovakia, we're only looking at ourselves

The first test in the June cycle was completed successfully, the Montenegrin national football team did what the coach, Mirko Vučinić, wanted - they defeated Bulgaria in Plovdiv (1:0), and at the same time did not concede a goal.

The decisive moment in Bulgaria came in the 68th minute, when Balša Sekulić scored the first goal in his fourth match for the national team. However, before Sekulić's goal, the "brave falcons" could have scored, but Naumov reacted brilliantly in one situation and stopped Stefan Lončar, who, after a pass from Milan Roganović, shot from ten meters.

"We entered the game very well, doing the things we practiced in training over the course of seven days. We tried to implement that for as much of the game as possible, I think we succeeded to a good extent. Maybe we weren't concentrated in the last quarter of the field, if the final pass had been better we could have scored two goals in the first half, and both mine and Milan Vukotić's shot could have ended up in the net. All in all, a tough game. We knew it would be demanding, a lot of our players haven't played together before and I think we showed a pretty good game," said Stefan Lončar.

Montenegro finally saved the net.

"It's always important not to concede a goal. We would like it to be like that in every match, but sometimes our net has to be shaken. We did everything to keep it clean against Bulgaria and we are happy about that. We didn't let them create dangerous situations," the Russian Akron midfielder pointed out.

Bulgaria tried to equalize in the final minutes, threatening, but there was no change in the score.

"There was no fear, we were just more withdrawn in the last 10 minutes than before. Until the 80th minute we went out to the center after shooting the ball, in the finish we dropped a little, but I think that's how it should be, we can't always attack. If you constantly attack, then the concentration is worse. We managed to defend ourselves in the finish, we were compact, everyone gave their maximum. The Bulgarians had some situations after deductions in the penalty area, but there was no panic in our ranks. In any case, we left a good impression," explained Lončar.

Montenegro plays against Slovakia in Košice on Friday (18:30).

"We will be dealing with Slovakia for the next two days. We want to play even better than in Plovdiv. We will go for the win, and we also want to not concede a goal again. We strive for what the coach asks of us, to be a team. Whenever we acted like that and fought for each other - the result was always there. We only look after ourselves, to respect the coach's ideas. We have players in every position who can make a difference, especially in attack, and I believe we will play a good game," Lončar emphasized.

Lončar is a constant with Vučinić.

"The coach has given me confidence, but he also believes in every other player on the roster. He keeps telling us that we are here for a reason, I think we are reciprocating him in a good way. We are doing great in training, we listen to everything he asks of us and we hope for the best," concluded the Nikšić native.