And Germany falls into the trap of "Morače"

The first "final" of Montenegrin handball players was memorable. In front of 3.019 fans in "Morača" Spain fell (30:23), a big step was taken towards the main stage of the 15th European Championship, and already tonight the "lionesses" could secure the maximum four points before moving to Skopje.

For that, it is enough for the teams that the bookmakers "see" as favorites to register victories in the biggest Montenegrin hall - Bojana Popović's team in the duel with Germany at 18:20.30, and Spain against Poland in the match that starts at XNUMX:XNUMX.

If that scenario is realized, Montenegro would wait for the last round of Group D and the duel with the team from the easternmost country participating in this championship without any burden...

In the duel with the "warriors", the home team showed that they have the quality for great deeds. The defense was outstanding, the attack varied, so at no point was there any question as to who would win the first two points.

The only bad thing was as many as 16 turnovers (12 in the 1st half), which Spain used to score several easy goals from the counter. In a positional attack, she could practically do nothing to Marina Rajčić and the wall in front of her.

"Fantastic match, we are overjoyed for the victory. The match was very important for us, we showed that we are real lionesses, we fought, and the atmosphere was phenomenal. We believed from the beginning, we took away from them what they are best at - transition and wide passing of the defenders. It was clear from the beginning that they couldn't do it that easily against us," said Ivona Pavićević, whose "popcorn" was declared one of the most beautiful goals on the second day of the EHF Euro.

The match with Spain was awaited for months, since the draw there was only talk about revenge, about the first victory in mutual matches after 10 years. All that pressure did not hinder the team, on the contrary.

"We played as if it was the final, that's how we felt. We 'died' for each other, we were a real team, that's the only way we can achieve success. We have a new difficult match against Germany waiting for us, it's a great team, but we will prepare just like we did for Spain", emphasized the 26-year-old left winger.

Bojana Popović, thanks to the convincing advantage, was able to rotate and guard the main forces for the continuation of the competition.

Unlike her, Germany's coach Markus Gaugiš had to use everything he had to the very end, because he only broke Poland's resistance at the very end and won 25:23 with goals from Emily Belk and Johanna Stocksleder in the last three minutes.

"We watched that game, it was very difficult. Until the last few minutes, it was not known who would win, luck was on Germany's side. It is certain that it will be difficult for us against her. There is little time to prepare, but I believe we will fight like we did against Spain. Surely we can't lose this kind of energy in one day. Everything depends on us. If we enter with great desire, fight, attitude, energy and heart like at the opening of the group, I believe we will celebrate again", said Pavićević.

Unlike many previous years, Montenegro has excellent competition in all positions, except perhaps at left back, where Đurđina Jauković is irreplaceable.

None of them, however, have as much quality as the pivot position - Tatjana Brnović had an outstanding start to the match against Spain both in defense and attack, Ema Alivodić continued in the same rhythm, while the girl who has been excellent in the jersey this season will surely get a chance. The future of Bemax, 21-year-old Ivana Godeč.

"The first match is always the hardest, it's a long wait. We finally welcomed him and celebrated him, which is very important. I'm proud of the team, we did everything we agreed on," Alivodić emphasized.

The girl from Beran admits that she thought that the duel with the "warriors" would be much more complicated.

"I did not expect that it would be so easy and that we would constantly lead. I thought there would be two or three differences at the end, these seven are shocking, because Spain is a very good team".

Although they have been together in 12 major competitions, Montenegro and Germany have only met three times.

The Lionesses lead 2:1 in victories - they celebrated at the World Championship in Brazil in 2011 (25:24) and the EHF Euro in Zagreb (27:20), and they lost with the same result in Novi Sad in 2012, when they were just before the match found out that they secured a place in the semi-finals. And now a victory would open the door to the final weekend.

"It will certainly be difficult. Germany is really strong, they are good in all positions. We have to prepare as much as possible in order to offer them strong resistance", Alivodić calmly states.

WE HAD A HIDDEN PLAN

Montenegro not only defeated Spain, but also outsmarted it. She found a solution to all her attacking actions and never allowed her to get closer than two points.

"We knew that their attack would last a very long time and we were preparing to be patient. We waited for the right moment to enter the foul, we respected everything we prepared", said Ema Alivodić.

When the "warrior" coach Juan Ignacio Prades tried the deep zone out of desperation, Bojana Popović had a ready solution - she drew the goalkeeper and played with two pivots - Alivodić and Tatjana Brnović.

"At one point, Spain played a 3-3 zone, with "band-aids" on the backs, but we had a hidden plan, we expected that to happen. It was a good and successful idea. There is good cooperation between the two of us, but also with the back line. I hope we will continue in this rhythm, we are doing really well".

1.000 MORE TICKETS ON SALE

The Handball Association of Montenegro announced yesterday that there are still 1.000 tickets left for sale for the match with Germany. The prices are 25 and 30 euros for both today's matches, and the ticket office in "Morača" will be open from 12 noon.

Entrances to the hall will be open from 16 p.m.