A great success was achieved by the cadet handball team of Montenegro, which won the silver medal at the Mediterranean Championship in Athens on Sunday.
In front of the young men led by Brano Božović was only Spain, whose senior team is the champion of Europe, and behind Croatia, Serbia, France, Slovenia...
To be second in such a competition is a big deal
"I am satisfied with how we fought and reached the final. I'm sorry that we didn't win the tournament, we did our best, but the little things broke. The impressions are excellent", said captain Radojica Čepić.
The Montenegrin cadets suffered their only two defeats at the championship against Spain, in the final they fought to the end, and the nuances decided...
"We knew the rivals and that there is never a stronger championship. Our goal was gold, knowing its qualities. We were close, the shades decided. We lost the final by one ball, the match could have turned in our favor. The second place is an excellent prelude for the future and that we are on the right track," said Luka Vukićević, the top scorer of the championship.
The best left back, Arsenije Dragašević, said that all the players have their eyes on the final, we promised that they will do their best.
"We had the desire to win the first place, but we missed it by a little bit. "We made a lot of mistakes during the game, in the end we lost each third by a goal," said Dragašević.
Silver in strong competition must be a motivation for guys with great potential to continue to develop.
They can do that by playing against the best, so the goal this year is for Montenegro to be placed in the strongest European ranking in August.
"Our main goal is placement in the A division, and one of the ways to build that main goal was the Mediterranean championship. After last year's championship and final, our goal was a gold medal. Considering my rivals, I had to be careful, but I also knew who I was going to the championship with. The boys did everything to the maximum, in some moments we managed on the fly, changing the concept and defense. It was difficult in the final, maybe we needed a couple of goalkeeper saves to win," said coach Brano Božović.
RSCG President Petar Kapisoda announced that in this generation there are already young men who are being seriously considered as future senior national team players.
"The only way for them to improve is to play against the best. This is the right way for their development," said Kapisoda.
It is also important that they do not have an inferiority complex when they meet with handball superpowers.
"We are aware that we are from a small country, but with a big heart. We are fighting for our country and we are fighting to raise it to the highest possible level," said Čepić
As part of the preparations for the B European Championship, the Montenegrin cadets will play in one of the strongest tournaments of that age, held in Bugojno, at the end of March and the beginning of April.
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