Montenegro - North Macedonia: The EURO starts today for the "lions".

The defeat at the start against Denmark was "written in" in advance, the Montenegrin handball players practically start the European Championship tonight because they have two duels in which they have no right to make a mistake if they want to win one of the first two places and advance to the next round. The first next opponent is North Macedonia (18 p.m.), a team that is far from the quality of the Danes or any other European power and against which they can play good handball. There aren't many secrets, the biggest mystery is the composition of the "lions"...

- The youngsters lived up to expectations against Denmark, took advantage of the chance they got, fought as hard as they could. It is difficult to compete with Denmark even with a full team, especially when in the first half so many seven-pointers, goals, shots from six meters are missed... A team like Denmark separates and it is difficult to catch up afterwards - said captain Vasko Ševaljević.

Montenegro was at a solid level for most of the match against Denmark, it was only enough for a defeat of nine points (30:21), because as time progressed it was also obvious that our selection lacked both freshness and experience with five debutants at major competitions.

- He can play with everyone, we have shown that a long time ago. Corona came, all the problems that complicated our situation as much as possible. However, we had to deal with them as best we knew how, I hope they have come to an end now. The selector also joins, which is very important - Ševaljević added.

North Macedonia is the game of all games at the moment.

- A very important match for us, I hope that we will show our true colors and that it will be as we imagined. We watched their match with Slovenia, it is an experienced team that has been together for a long time. But they are missing two very important players - Manaskov and Lazarov, who was injured and remained only in the role of selector. Regardless of all that, they have good players and a good team that knows what they are doing. I expect a great fight for the whole 60 minutes, we also played with them at the European Championship in Croatia and then the decision was made in the finish. It will be similar now, because both teams want to win - Ševaljević said.

Filip Vujović briefly reflected on the match with the Danes:

- There were positive things, despite the defeat. Several debutants have shown that they can be the backbone of the national team in the future - said Vujović and added:

- The match with the Macedonians is like a final, I think the defense will decide. North Macedonia has quality - good transition, two-on-two play... If we manage to prevent that and help our goalkeepers, it will help us to have a half counter and a counter. We will give everything, we can promise that to the fans - concluded Vujović.

Roganović on the bench?

Montenegrin handball players should be led by coach Zoran Roganović tonight.

After seven days, he received a negative test for the coronavirus, which he did in Podgorica, and then set off on his journey to Hungary. In order to get permission to be at the end of the field, he will have to go through another round of testing, which he will do in Debrecen.

Anyway, if Roganović can't make it, there's Draško Mrvaljević, who led the team on Thursday.

- The Macedonians, us and the Slovenians - we knew that among those teams we were looking for one that would pass. I really appreciate North Macedonia, which has been participating in major competitions for many years. It's an experienced team, although there are a lot of young people, it's an experienced organization, and I have to congratulate you on that. It will be difficult, tactically complicated to prepare, because the rival has great quality - said Mrvaljević.