Of the 17 handball players who represented Montenegro at the World Championships in Poland and Sweden, 13 traveled to Podgorica.
Now a former coach Zoran Roganović and his associates Mile Mijušković i Anton Claesson, including Vuk Lazovic, Nikola Matovic i Miodrag Ćorsović, they immediately joined the clubs, he stayed in Vienna Miloš Božović, and everyone else came to spend at least a few days at home.
After an early flight from Krakow to the capital of Austria, Nebojša Simić used a five-hour break at Švehat airport to "nap" a little, and then for "Vijesti" he commented without hesitation on the performances of the "lions" at the first participation in the planetary championships after a decade of waiting.
"We played well in the group stage, in the first match we tormented Spain, which shows quality for a medal. We got two teams against which we were favorites, and in the main round we had one of the more difficult groups to cross. The defeat against France was expected, but we did not put up a stronger defense, and I regret the match against Poland, because we could have done much more. We broke the negative record, scored only 20 goals. If we had won that match, the impression and everything would have been different. After that came the match with Slovenia, which was insignificant in terms of results. "Several key players were sick, the selector gave a chance to younger players and it was not realistic to expect them to do more," said the goalkeeper who celebrated his 30th birthday in Krakow.
Last year, the "lions" registered three victories at the European Championship, now they have lost all four matches against the selections from the Old Continent.
Thanks to victories over Iran and Chile, they finished 18th, surpassing the performance of Spain in 2013, when they were 22nd out of 24 participants.
"Last year, several players really lost, that's what I mean Čepic i Branko Vujović, and we surprised several national teams with our energy and combativeness. None of us expected anything, but everyone saw how much we can do when someone underestimates us. Now every rival took us as seriously as possible, and too high expectations were placed before us. We are a team that can beat Iran and Chile and cope with stronger teams, but we don't have the quality to be able to triumph if bigger teams play correctly. We can count on the X factor, that those teams have a weaker day, and then we win. I mean Spain and France, and against Poland and Slovenia we could certainly have done more".
The defense was not good throughout the championship, but there were also a lot of mistakes and too many missed shots in the attack.
"An interesting fact is that in each of our defeats, the player of the match was the goalkeeper of the rival team. This shows that there was a lack of focus on shots, we missed a lot of seven-pointers, attempts from six meters, counters... It cost us a lot, and we realized it at the European Championship, not a single goalkeeper defended much against us. Now they got to know us a little better, analyzed us, and I think that had an effect on us convincingly losing four games", said Simić.
Before the start of the 28th Planetary Championship, the players and members of the coaching staff seemed too confident and said that the goal was to play in the quarter-finals, although, in order to achieve that, they had to leave behind at least one giant - Spain or France, teams that they keep winning medals. It seems that they overdid it and created an atmosphere in the public that it is something completely normal.
"It is difficult to control anyone's expectations and thoughts in the national team. I was never crazy about it. It's normal to say that your goal is to go to the quarterfinals, you have to strive for something unrealistic, but what happened is a complete reality. Everything, apart from the game with Poland, because they are not that much better than us. But when you look at the players, where their national team members play, in what kind of clubs, then they are. We, on the other hand, even after such success at the European Championship, we did not manage to get our players to go to stronger teams and leagues, we stayed where we are," said Simić honestly.
Melzungen's goalkeeper admits that he expected two triumphs against European teams.
"I expected that it would be difficult for us to surprise Spain and France, but that we would also like the Poles and Slovenians. In that match with Slovenia, we decided not to play with the strongest team, that match was literally abandoned before it started. We could have done more against Poland and that's it. If we had gotten her, everything would be different now. Move on".
It is clear, however, that every victory of the "lions" in major competitions is huge, because the base from which the national team draws players is very small. There are talents, but the league is very bad, and our clubs rarely participate in Europe.
Lovćen, who is supposed to be the engine of development, did not even register for European cups in the previous two seasons, and in November he played his first official international match in Cetinje after 13 years against Norwegian Runar. In the meantime, he always played away matches or qualifiers.
"We constantly talk about the conditions of handball in Montenegro, which is an amateur sport here. A league that fails to bring out any young players and help the national team. Čepić is the only one in the last five or six years who came there and who can be seriously counted on. We see other selections that churn out talent every year. Sweden is the champion of Europe, and its main player in this championship is the 21-year-old defender Kila, Erik Johansson, who plays for the national team for the first time. How do they manage to insert a completely new player into the team that wins the gold medal, and take the most important role? And Portugal 'kicked out' two extraordinary talents, brothers Kosta".
The outstanding goalkeeper made an interesting comparison at the end.
"The national teams are constantly being upgraded, and we always go with the same team and pray that no one gets hurt or catches a cold. Montenegrin handball should be taken into account a little more, otherwise this will be our roof. And these parties that we now provide are beyond our capabilities. We are defending the field in Podgorica, it is unreal how many national teams we have beaten, but if the situation in Montenegrin handball does not change, it will not change in the national team either. You can't progress if you don't have a system," concluded Simić.
If someone starts to rule with an iron fist, they will destroy everything Zoran has done
After the match with Slovenia, Zoran Roganović announced that he had resigned, and Simić immediately took to Instagram and thanked "the best coach ever". The decision of the 45-year-old from Cetinje was difficult for him and he does not hide it.
"I'm sorry and I don't agree with his decision. That's how it feels, it has to be respected. I think a lot of things will change. I hope that we will manage to maintain the level, that we will play fighting and have this kind of atmosphere in the team. "Whoever comes instead of Zoran, the change will be big and now there is a big question mark, because we don't know who and what to expect," said Simić.
The first goalkeeper of the "lions" hopes that the approach of the new coach will be the same as the old one.
"If someone comes and starts to rule with an iron hand, they will destroy everything that Zoran has done, and he has done a lot. Since he took over the national team, we have made progress every year - he qualified for the European championships as second in the group, progressed from one win at EHF Euro 2020 to three triumphs and passage to the main stage last year, qualified for the World Cup and won two matches. .. He felt that we should progress faster and withdrew, but I think that is not a realistic opinion".
Reporting made possible by Lob
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