Defeat in the prelude to the March double-header in the shadow of the coach's and captain's farewell

From the special reporter "Vijesti"

The match of the last round of the main stage of the World Cup was supposed to be a test of strength for the big double-header of the same rivals in March in the qualifiers for the EHF Euro, but it turned into something completely different.

Zoran Roganović rested the irreplaceable starters Branko Vujović, Nebojša Simić and Bož Anđelić, he did not include Miloš Božović and Vasko Ševaljević in the game, so Slovenia routinely triumphed (31:23) and secured 10th place, which practically earns it a visa for the qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games.

The news, however, is not that, but that both the selector and the captain said goodbye to the "lions". Roganović announced his decision after the match and by the way said that Ševaljević also announced the same at the meeting the night before the last match in Krakow.

That is why the Handball Association of Montenegro is facing a race against time - the new duel with Slovenia is in "Morača" in 46 days, until then the president Petar Kapisoda must find a new coach or convince the (so far) current coach to change his mind. Although, the chances of that are almost non-existent...

Roganović, after all, said that he was leaving because he did not manage to qualify for the Olympic Games, but the opportunity for that has not been lost yet.

It is enough to "only" be among the two best selections at the European Championship in Germany next year, which have not already secured at least qualification.

In this allocation of tickets, the rivals will not be the giants France, Spain, Denmark and Sweden, as well as Norway, Germany and Hungary, but that is why they should be in the two best in the competition of Croatia, Slovenia, Iceland, Portugal, Serbia, the Netherlands, Poland, North Macedonia , Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland...

Croats and Slovenians practically have guaranteed tickets for the qualification tournaments thanks to their 9th and 10th place at the World Championship, but if they are ahead of Montenegro and the others at the EHF Euro, the tournaments will be "filled" according to their placement at the planetary championship...

What to say about the farewell game of "lions" from Krakow and Roganović from the job for which he was chosen on July 1, 2018?

Nothing that was seen was new in the main stage - as well as the starters, the "second-callers" had too many problems in attack, missed shots and made another goalkeeper look like an alien.

After the Frenchman Vincent Gerard and the Polish Mateusz Kornecki, Urban Lesjak also acted like an octopus and was most deserving of the fact that the "country" settled the match practically before the teams warmed up.

Namely, Slovenia took a 14:9 lead in the 2th minute, and teammate Mirko Radović in Eurofarm Pelister had by then already saved the shots of Aleksandar Bakić, Vasilij Kaluđerović, Rist Vujačić and Božidar Simić, as well as Miloš Vujović's seven-pointer.

At that time, Montenegro came to 5:9 with tied goals by Vujačić, Vuk Lazović and Marko Lasica, and came to minus four two more times (6:10 and 8:12).

The Slovenians led 15:8 at halftime, and the numbers of Roganović's team were almost the same as in the match with Poland - eight of 24 shots were made (two days earlier there were 23), 10 balls were lost (one less than against the hosts), and Lesjak, like Kornecki, recorded 10 saves.

In the following, the difference was always seven or eight goals, after both of them relaxed a little - some "lions" from cramps from the first real opportunity in big competitions, Slovenians because everything was resolved...

MONTENEGRO - SLOVENIA 23:31 (8:15)

Krakow - "Tauron Arena". Spectators: 3.200. Referees: Gubica and Milošević (Croatia). Sevens: Montenegro 6 (4), Slovenia 3 (2). Exclusions: Montenegro 4, Slovenia 10 minutes.

Montenegro: MATOVIĆ (eight saves and seven goals), N. Simić, BAKIĆ 1, M. Vujović 4 (1), LAZOVIĆ 1, Čepić, Ćorsović, B. Vujović, Radović, KALUĐEROVIĆ 4, Ševaljević, B. SIMIĆ 4, LASICA 4 (3), VUJAČIĆ 5, Anđelić.

Slovenia: Baznik (two saves), LESJAK (14 saves and two sevens), BLAGOTINŠEK 2, DOLENEC 4 (2), Cehte 2, KODRIN 2, Gaber 2, Horžen 2, Mazej 1, Ovnicek 1, Makuc, BOMBAČ 1, MACKOVŠEK 3, Krečič, NOVAK 5, Vlah 6.

Reporting made possible by Lob