The handball season has started, numerous "lionesses" shine all over Europe, some unexpectedly "warm the bench", but one name is missing. Name Eme Alivodić.
The girl who won the Champions League at the age of 18 and a half, as the youngest player of Budućnost in the 2015 final against Larvik in Budapest, decided to take a break after two seasons in ĆSM Bucharest. This has been talked about for months in handball circles, and the girl who will celebrate her 27th birthday in two months has decided to finally talk about it to the Montenegrin media.
During her career, Emma went through many beautiful, but also difficult moments. Two complicated anterior cruciate ligament surgeries and the stress of professional sports were factors in this decision.
- I didn't get bored of handball, but at one point I felt oversaturation. Mentally, there were too many events - she opened the soul of Alivodić.
What influenced that decision the most?
- There is no specific reason, maybe the fact that I didn't get what I was supposed to get in Bucharest, which followed me. Of course, I didn't ask for anything to be given to me, but only to be given what belonged to me. I also wanted to dedicate myself to my body and health in a different way.
Even the chances of playing for the third time at the Olympic Games and at the World Cup in January could not influence you to change your decision?
- It was difficult for me, but I made the decision earlier, long before the end of the season.
Did the bronze at the European Championship sway you a little in that decision?
- I was happy about the medal, because of everything that happened, but I didn't change my mind. The medal could only give me some wind at my back, but I didn't think about changing my decision. I wanted to be home, I missed my family, my people, the environment... I wanted a vacation, I didn't want everything to continue to be programmed, according to plan. I wanted to live freely.
Has anyone in the family tried to convince you to change your decision?
- They all did. Everyone was sorry that I ended my career at the height, the zenith. They are aware that everything went well, but they respected my decision.
When did you definitely decide to go on a break?
- Towards the end of the last season in Bucharest. I guess everything came together for me - two knee surgeries, the pain I had, more physical, but also that injustice... I think it shouldn't have been like that, but it was. I don't know in whose role, but I don't have that power, I'm not someone who can correct it. I could only do it with my games, and when I got the chance I showed that I could and should be on the field.
In handball, offers are received mostly at the end of the year and in January. Were there any, did you think about accepting one?
- Various, very fine offers came to me, but I excluded myself from all of them. That was my goal, I went deep into thinking to take a break.
What would have to change for you to come back next season or maybe already in the second part of this one?
- Nothing has to change as far as anything is concerned, neither clubs, nor coaches. I just want to rest.
Now that you're on break, are you watching the Champions League? How does everything seem to you from the outside?
- It's a different angle of everything. Until last year, I played and I was at it to the max, I knew everything by heart. Now, as an observer, I'm watching without burden and it's nice.
You have achieved a lot of success during your career, won the Champions League, bronze at the EHF Euro, you have participated in two Olympic Games, three times you have been to the world championships, four times to the European championships. What is your most memorable impression from your career so far?
- Definitely the last European Championship and that bronze. It is the fulfillment of a dream, I am happy that I was part of that team, that we achieved such success. That is the biggest impression of my career, be in me both good and difficult moments. Smiles, crying, tears, work, and pain went into that medal... That bronze is all of that.
Can Montenegro do it again?
- Why not, you should just fight and invest in yourself, in the team.
With you or without you?
- We'll see. I will probably come back - said Alivodić with a smile.
Nina is better than me
Ema's sister Nina Ramusović is one of the biggest pearls of Montenegrin handball. In the 2021/2022 season. played in the First League in Nikšić's jersey, the then 14-year-old girl often scored double-digit goals, hitting the net 55 times in the first three matches, 76 times in the opening five rounds, but then she suffered a serious knee injury in the match with Mornar 7 .
Like her older sister, who is her role model, Nina also had to undergo anterior cruciate ligament surgery. But, only nine months after a serious injury, she returned to the field and was one of the most deserving of the cadet national team of Montenegro taking a place among the eight best in Europe.
Now she plays for Rudar, a branch of Budućnost Bemax, in whose jersey she scored six goals on her debut in the EHF European Cup, against the Slovenian Litija.
- She came back great, plays well and does her best. What I like about her is that she is hard-working, she is dedicated to handball. I wouldn't talk too much, she has a career ahead of her and a lot of hard work. The road is strewn with thorns. Every road to success is difficult, I know because I went through it, I know how difficult it is to achieve success. As a sister, I wish her all the luck, to persevere and give her maximum in every moment - says Ema.
When you compare the two of you at 16, which one is better?
- She is better and I am very happy about that. Certainly, there is a difference between us, because we play different positions, and the weather is different. But it is better, there is no doubt about it.
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