The year in which they celebrate the 10th anniversary of winning European gold and Olympic silver will be a chance for the "lionesses" to return to the top.
Montenegro, together with Slovenia and North Macedonia, will host the 4th European Championship from November 20 to 15, where Jovanka Radičević and her friends will try to get involved in the fight for the semi-finals with the help of the fans.
Bojana Popović's team will play the last official match before that championship tomorrow (18 p.m.), against a well-known rival - Slovenia.
The Lionesses won 33:28 in Ljubljana three days ago, they will try to repeat it in the Bemax Arena and secure the 2nd place in the EHF Euro Cup, a competition in which, instead of the qualifiers, the European champion Norway and the three hosts of the European Championship participate.
"I am happy about the victory in Ljubljana after the good edition we provided. We played well both in defense and attack. Slovenia will not play in the full lineup in the second leg, but we have a clear goal in front of our audience. We are going to win, with the desire to play as well as possible and to continue to prepare for the European Championship in November," said Marta Batinović, who has shown how much she has been missed in every game since her return to the national team.
The Lionesses are waiting for the draw for the EP, which is scheduled for Thursday in Ljubljana, from the 2nd hat, with the desire to achieve maximum performance in "Morača".
"I am happy that in November we will play the group in front of our fans, I am sure that we will be at the highest level then. The men's national team had an unforgettable evening in the play-off match against Greece, I hope that we will also have the support of a full house in November. It will be a spectacle and it's nice that it's all happening in Montenegro," said Batinović.
Jovanka Radičević was the most effective in "Stožice" with nine goals.
"We played a good match in Ljubljana. After the convincing defeat by Slovenia at the World Cup, there was plenty of time to make an analysis and we had a great desire to show that this is not a realistic balance of power. There were a lot of good things, but there is also room for improvement in our game. There is enough time until the European Championship, but there won't be many joint gatherings, so we have to use every opportunity and every match to get along as well as possible", emphasized the captain of the "Lioness".
One of the best wings in the world is satisfied with what the team showed in the last match against Dragan Adžić's team.
"We played well in defense, Ilda Kepić brought new energy in that segment, and Milena Raičević returned, who together with Itana Grbić brought us calmness in the attack. It's a much better situation than at the World Cup, where we played with two backs and two pivots. Now we have a wider rotation and that gives us the possibility to score easy goals, because the transition is better. It is important that we build things slowly, that we know which way to go and that we prepare for what is most important, which is the European Championship".
The goal in tomorrow's duel in "Bemax Arena" is clear.
"I expect us to provide a good game in the second match against Slovenia, because we always have a great desire when we wear the national team jersey. I believe that the fans will come in large numbers, even though it is Easter, and that we will achieve another victory".
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