Falcons are increasingly flying to strong leagues

When Montenegro last had any hope of reaching a major competition in any of the cycles, on the list of the then coach Miodrag Radulović There were only a few football players who played in stronger leagues and clubs.

It was the final round of qualifying for the 2024 European Championship, and the decisive match with Hungary in Budapest began. Stefan Savic (Atletico Madrid) Stevan jovetić (Olympiacos), entered Nikola Krstović (Lens), while Adam Marusic (Lazio) didn't play. Most of the players were far from the strong leagues at the time, in teams like Borac from Banja Luka, Balkani from Kosovo, Kišvarda, Aktobe...

The youngest among the starting 11 at the “Puškaš Arena” were Slobodan Rubežić (then 23 years old) and Milutin Osmajić (24), while on the bench he was Viktor Djukanovic (19).

These were solid qualifications for the "falcons", but the future was not promising. After all, the cycles with Robert Prosinečki.

And then, from practically the darkest period of our national team, new hope awoke. The boys from the golden generation of 2006, as well as some slightly older ones who now play for serious European clubs, woke up.

All of this is certainly a nice introduction to the start of the Nations League, but it is clear that euphoria and excessive expectations, which have often led our national team in the wrong direction, are forbidden.

ITALY, FRANCE, NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM...

When it comes to the generation that brought Montenegro its first trip to a major competition (Euro U19 last summer), the first two names from the beginning have been Andrija Bulatović i Vasilije Adžić.

The former midfield duo of Buducnost went straight from the First Montenegrin Football League to the "top five" leagues - Bulatović practically immediately became an important part of Lens, while Adžić was given too little space at Juventus (remember the Euro goal against Inter), and immediately upon arriving at Sassuolo, he reminded us what a talent he is.

He has also arrived in Serie A, for a short time for now. Andrej Kostic, another talent from Buducnost and a guy who is a year younger than the aforementioned midfield duo. The center forward of the "Falcon" moved from Partizan to the great Milan this summer, and then went on loan to another strong league - in the Dutch Eredivisie, he will defend the colors of Sparta Rotterdam.

Our goalkeeper is on the right path to the Italian elite. Bodin Tomasevic, also a former talent of Buducnost and a guy born in 2006. He is currently a member of Mantova, a Serie B club, where he arrived from Bologna on loan. He showed that he has the quality for Serie A in the duel with Lazio in the Italian Cup.

It's not 2006, but it practically looks like it is. Milan Roganović was born in late 2005, and at the age of 20 he also arrived in one of the more serious European leagues - the Belgian one, to the Genk team.

The footballer, who was a midfielder in Zeta and became an excellent right back in Partizan, has earned a great transfer to the club that was the champion of Belgium seven years ago with his performances so far.

AND MORE EXPERIENCED IN GOOD CLUBS

What could make the Montenegrin coach happy after many years is that many players are playing in good clubs and strong leagues, so Mirko Vučinić He shouldn't worry about what form his boys will be in when the Nations League starts.

In addition to the younger players who have made good transfers, Montenegro will also have players in strong clubs among the more experienced ones.

So Krstović leads Atalanta's attack, Marušić has long been irreplaceable in Lazio, while Osmajić arrived in Genoa and immediately started shaking the nets.

Savić may be in his late playing years, but he still has the immense quality to be the leader and captain of Trabzonspor, the team that brought in the best players this summer. Mohamed Salah i Fabiana.

The position that worried Vučinić the most was the goalkeeping position, but if Balša Popović The long-term solution was shown by the transfer to Olympiacos. Our goalkeeper was excellent in the Champions League qualifiers, although the team from Piraeus did not manage to reach the elite. However, the Europa League and many strong matches for the “unit” of Montenegro await him.