For the first time after the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Montenegrin handball players are together. The occasion is the matches with North Macedonia on Thursday in Skopje and on Sunday in Nikšić as part of the EHF Euro Cup, which the selections from the two former YU republics are playing as hosts of the European Championship in 2022.
Of the already depleted back line from Japan, the only one at the OI that had only five members, as many as three are missing - Đurđina Jauković (torn anterior cruciate ligament), Jelena Despotović (shoulder pain) and Andrea Klikovac (ended her representative career).
"We have two matches ahead of us in which we will try all the girls who were in the national team, but they are young, as well as some who were not there. We have a lot of problems, especially in the position of left back, because Đina is injured, and Jeca has a pain in his shoulder, and he will try to solve it before the World Cup", said coach Bojana Popović.
At the European Championship in Denmark 10 months ago, apart from Despotović and Klikovac, Katarina Džaferović, who also tore the anterior cruciate ligament, played in the position of right back.
The plan was for Đurđina Malović to take over their role, who is playing great in Toulon, France, but she did not appear, so only Tanja Ašanin will be at right back against the Macedonian women.
Sanja Premović is also in the team, but she does not have the right to perform in the EHF Euro Cup, because she was not on the original list.
"Đurđina Malović was invited to the national team and her club sent a note that she was injured and would not come. However, she played 50 minutes on Saturday, so that answer is not very realistic. Sanja Premović was subsequently invited and placed on the list for the World Championship, and Tanja Ašanin is practically in the national team for the first time. I followed her through Jagodina and now the club in Hungary, but I haven't seen her live for three years".
Marta Batinović, who dropped out of the team before the OI, was also invited, but she did not come, nor did she speak with the selector.
"Marta was on the list, but I don't have an answer from her why she didn't show up. You will have to ask her that. There must be a reason. Maybe it's an injury, but I don't have that information," Popović concluded.
Two of the most experienced wings, Jovanka Radičević and Majda Mehmedović, will not travel to Skopje, as they will only play in Nikšić.
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