If they had gone to Valencia complete, the young Montenegrin handball players would have been in the narrowest circle of favorites for a medal at the European Championship.
But, injuries to Đurđina Malović, Vanesa Agović and Ana Rajković forced many to write off Maja Savić's team. It seems too early - the "reds" missed the chance to take a point against excellent Denmark (20:21) at the opening, and then they defeated Croatia (25:17).
A point against Serbia today (15 p.m.) is enough for them to place among the eight best teams of the Old Continent, but no one is thinking about that. The goal is triumph.
"Serbia is a solid team, they have two girls who came to try out at Budućnost, first of all Jovana Kovačević. She opened the championship fantastically against Croatia, but she had no chance against Denmark," Savićeva points out.
The coach of Montenegro points out an interesting detail.
"Everyone wrote us off in advance, considering the problems with injuries. When we lost to Denmark, the Serbian girls asked my players if Denmark played so badly, it was impossible for them that we could play such a good game".
The legendary Montenegrin handball player is aware that the dream of this generation's medal is practically unattainable without a great trio, but she announces her entry into the second phase.
"It would be good to put an end to the medal, but there's no giving up even now. This is a challenge for all of us, it's not nice to play only when you have all the dice stacked, when all the girls are there. We know that the rivalry between Serbia and Montenegro is great, that those games are always difficult, but I want to win. Because of our previous work, we deserved to be among the top eight. That would be a great success, but not unattainable," said Savić.
Itana can be a top winger, and at this age he is also an excellent centre-back
In the absence of Vanesa Agović, Itana Grbić, who is a left winger, plays in the middle back position. On the other hand, Đurđin Malović at right back is played by winger Nina Bulatović, as well as middle and left back Esma Muratović.
"I put the players in the position where I think they can offer the most. That's how I played two years ago with a linebacker, even though I had four pivots. Itana was previously a center back, but we moved her to the wing, because we believe she can achieve top results in that position. But, at this age, she can provide a lot at center back, and for the rest of her career she will play on the wing, because she can be fantastic. All in all, she did great here at middle back," Savićeva points out.
The selector also praised two players who were members of Budućnost last season.
"Ema Ramusović played these two games very well. She had a 4-4 realization in the first match, and a 6-6 in the second. Little Dijana Ujkić also plays fantastically, and everyone in defense is excellent. Sometimes we play with three pivots and all the girls give their best," concluded Maja Savić.
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