From the special reporter "Vijesti"
About 10 years ago, when Montenegrin handball players started to reach the heights, a system was established in which the center of everything is a strong, very solid defense.
As the years go by, nothing changes, new "lionesses" are born, ready for "war" in front of their goal, but for great results, an excellent game in attack is also necessary.
That segment is bothering the team of Bojana Popović, he was not brilliant in any of the previous four games, and all the problems were laid bare by France.
The brilliant Olivier Krumbolc directed everything at Milena Raičević, stopped the experienced middle back, and therefore ended all threads in the game of Montenegro.
That's why the "lionesses" lost to the Olympic champion, but they have to forget what happened two nights ago in the "Boris Trajkovski" hall in Skopje, where tonight (18:XNUMX) they have a match ball - a duel with Romania.
If the team of Florentina Pera, Jovanka Radičević and her friends win, they will almost certainly be participants in the semi-finals in Ljubljana.
"We want to leave the defeat against the French women in the shadows and forget how we played. There were a lot of technical errors, we couldn't find an adequate solution in attack. But that remains behind us, Romania is waiting for us and we are focused on that. We will do our best", promises Ema Alivodić.
The good thing is that the "lionesses" from Podgorica took the maximum four points to the main stage, and that in the capital of North Macedonia, only one victory, tonight, is enough for them to reach the semi-finals of major competitions for the first time since 2014.
"We didn't find the right way to score on Sunday. It just didn't work. It was a bad day, if we could choose, let it happen against France", said the pivot from Beran.
Đurđina Jauković also failed against France, scoring only twice out of eight shots.
"The defense was at an enviable level, we let France down to a small number of goals from a positional attack, but they gave a lot of them towards the end from the counter after our mistakes. We know that the biggest problem was in the attack, we have to reduce technical errors to a minimum, we could not beat any team with even 20. We have seen those things, we have time to prepare and correct ourselves until the match with Romania", emphasizes the first left back. Montenegro.
The mitigating circumstance for Montenegro's attack is that tonight's rival does not play nearly as hard and good defense, nor is it physically powerful like Krumbolc's team.
"Romania doesn't play defense like that, but they certainly have a good team, especially attacking. We all know who Kristina Neagu is, what kind of Pintea pivot she is and how good the collaboration is between the two of them. It will be difficult, we will have to 'tighten up' and play hard like in the first three matches in Podgorica. We will see if that will be enough to win", emphasizes Ema Alivodić.
The Romanian league is one of the strongest in Europe, and all national team players play in it - five are in the ranks of the champions, Rapid, four in Gloria from Bistrica, three in ĆSM Bucharest, for which Alivodićeva also plays, two in Ramnik Vlcea, and one each in ĆSM Slatini and Minauru from Baja Mare.
"The entire national team plays in Romania, in Bucharest and other surrounding cities. I know them all, they play really well in their clubs. Neagu and Pintea are with me, we will have to dedicate ourselves to their cooperation. It's a good team, which should not be underestimated, and we have to play defense, our main asset, at an enviable level", the 25-year-old "lioness" is clear.
Tonight's match is of great importance, but the Montenegro camp assures that it will not disturb them.
"There is pressure, but positive. These are the matches you live for, that you wait for, that happen now, so who knows when. It will be difficult, but this is what we have been waiting for, wishing for and wanting to happen. It was difficult for us after the defeat against France, but we will move on, because something very important awaits us. Like real professionals", concluded Alivodić.
Jauković knows what the problem with the attack is and hopes that it will be solved.
"We have to move better and respect what we agree before the start of the match. The most important thing is to let the ball go and to play more as a team in attack, because sometimes we end actions with individual qualities. The French women also struggled in the attack, they came to the passive a lot of times, but they let the ball go, and we are impatient and try to solve everything after three or four passes. I think it will be better already in this match".
And the Brest player is aware that there will be more space for her and others in the attack against Romania than two nights ago.
"A difficult match awaits us, but France has one of the better defenses in Europe, a system in which everything works, while the Romanians have a lot of defensive skills. The players are not as physically strong and they don't prepare like the French players, so I think it will be easier for us. And in the previous match, everything was up to us, but we didn't fulfill the requirements. We have to do that now".
Montenegro and Romania played for the last time in March last year in Podgorica, at the qualification tournament for the Olympic Games. The "Lionesses" defeated Norway 28:23 two days earlier and suffered a five-goal defeat, they led 23:21, and then relaxed when everything was settled and lost 28:25.
"We have a recipe for how to play against them. We have a recipe for them too. We know that everything starts from Kris, if we stop her and the cooperation with Pinte we have something to hope for. The last time we played against them was in the qualification for the Olympic Games, the two of them were our biggest problem. But, not to reveal the tactics, maybe Romanian women are reading this", said the 25-year-old woman from Nikšić with a smile.
The team's deadliest shooter, Bojane Popović, points out that the rival has several more difficult players.
"Bazaliu has an extremely strong shot, and Grozav uses every chance he gets." They have top goalkeepers, but everything depends on us. I think that sometimes we shouldn't even watch the video, but let's just get rid of the anger from the last game, leave our hearts on the field and burn from the first to the last minute", said Đurđina Jauković.
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