From the special reporter "Vijesti"
Three years ago in Austria, Montenegrin handball players registered their first victory at the European championships, two years later they reached the main stage for the second time and won 11th place.
Now they have moved the limit at the world championships as well, because they registered their first victory against Iran in the first stage (34:31), which practically won them entry to the main round.
In order to achieve their goal, it is enough for them to lose up to four points against Chile tomorrow (18:10), but such calculations do not occur to them. The "Lions" want to defeat the rival they defeated 21 years ago, in the battle for the 24st to 35th place at the World Cup in Spain (31:XNUMX).
A win or at least a draw is necessary for Zoran Roganović's team to transfer two points to Group I, where they will play with France, Slovenia and probably Poland.
"There is no relaxation, we have to prepare well for the Chileans and win. The triumph over Iran is historic, the first in the world championships, but it is the most difficult to play those games that are won in advance. We analyzed them well, prepared them and overcame them", said Vuk Lazović for "Vijesti".
Are you now favorites against Chile?
"It's same. Those are the worst matches. We should come together as a team, enter the match with our chemistry that adorns us and do the job".
It seems, though, that Chileans are different from Iranians?
"Totally different, they don't have an outside shot like the Iranians, but they have a pretty good connection with the pivotman. We have to pay attention there, to close it and maybe play a little shallower in defense. The most important thing is to win, everything else is less important".
You conceded 61 goals in two games. Is this a sign that something in the defense is not right, that it needs to be better?
"The Spaniards will score 30 goals even when they have a bad day, and we may have underestimated the Iranians a bit." It looked one-sided on the videos, but the most important thing is that we triumphed. There is still room to agree with Nebojša about the block and the corners, but those are the little things that we will fix," Lazović pointed out.
Are you already thinking about potential rivals in the main stage?
"I would like us to finish the job against Chile first, then think about the rest. But it is normal to think about the second phase as well, because appetites have grown. We have raised the bar a bit, Chile should not be a problem for us. We have to enter focused, and then we will think about the rivals in the main stage".
Against Iran, you scored an own goal at 33:28 in the 58th minute. Has this ever happened to you before?
"It's the first in my career. When the Iranians can't score a goal for Simic, I have to," Lazović said with a smile.
"It is our combativeness that adorns us, we throw ourselves at every ball. When we look at their attack, our movement against the two pivots was like a textbook, but that bad luck happened. Let's move on, it doesn't matter”.
I GOT MY BODY USED TO DAILY TRAINING, THAT'S WHY I CAN PLAY AT A HIGH LEVEL
Since the "lions" arrived in Qatar, the 34-year-old born in Belgrade takes a taxi almost every day to the gym, which is better equipped than the one in the Novotel hotel.
"I got my body used to such a regimen. We went for a walk yesterday, which, frankly, I didn't like. I felt some weight in my legs in the 1st half. As soon as I disrupted the ritual, it immediately affected me. There will be no such changes in the future. That is a very important factor for me, that body activation training, feeding the muscles. That's why even at the age of 35, I can still play at a high level," said Lazović.
Reporting made possible by Lob
Bonus video:
