Like Budućnost Bemax several times this season, the Montenegrin handball players played an excellent 1st half, but then fell and lost to Norway 32:27.
The champion of the world and Europe took advantage of mistakes and missed shots by the "lionesses" to go from a minimum of eight goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half and solve all dilemmas.
"It's always an inspiration to play with Norway, it's pointless to waste words about it. In order to be equal with her, you have to do serious mining work for 60 minutes, without mistakes, misses, and have phenomenal goalkeepers. We played a smart 1st half, but in the second half our attacking tempo dropped, which the rival took advantage of and scored easy goals. Afterwards, it was difficult to get back into the rhythm," said Bojana Popović.
A big challenge awaits Montenegro in November - the European Championship, where the group stage is played in Podgorica. Until then, the pool of players who can contribute in matches with such powerful rivals must be expanded.
"We have been changing generations for a long time now, finding young girls who will be the future of the national team. We rotated tonight and saw some good things, but also some that we have to change. There is very little time until November, we will probably use the Mediterranean Games in the summer, so that the younger ones can raise their level", said the coach.
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The problem was that only Milena Raičević and Tatjana Brnović could play as defensive halves, even though they are not 100 percent ready. Those positions are normally covered by Đurđina Jauković and Jelena Despotović, who have been absent for a long time, and Ema Ramusović after being chased, and Ilda Kepić (she has not received the EHF certificate yet) and Andrijana Popović, who has a fever, were also absent.
"We don't have a rotation in positions three and four in defense, only Milena Raičević, who played after childbirth and a serious injury, and Tanja, who didn't train with the team for two and a half months. Andrijana is sick, Ilda did not receive a certificate, and there should have been at least four of them to be able to change. We found temporary solutions, everything will be different when Đina returns, maybe also Jeca, as well as Ema. Defensively, we are very good with them", emphasized Popović.
Marta Batinović was outstanding with 15 saves and showed that she must be the team's first goalkeeper.
"It was beautiful for me to play in a full hall, it has not been like this for a long time when Budućnost and Montenegro play. We played a really good game, we are well on our way to being at a high level at the European Championship in November," said the 31-year-old netminder.
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