Tatjana Brnović: I'm proud, but we have to do better to make our dream come true in April

For the umpteenth time, Tatjana Brnović has shown that she is one of the best pivot players in the world.

The phenomenal woman from Podgorica scored seven goals, won several seven-pointers and was again an unsolvable enigma for Serbia's defense and attack.

Thanks to her top performance, the "lionesses" defeated their neighbors for the second time in 72 hours (26:25) and secured the 1st place in group 6 of the European Championship qualifiers.

"A very difficult and demanding match. Serbia played excellently in both matches, it was a great fight, uncertain until the very end. We are overjoyed with two points, and both teams played superbly. This double match was extremely useful for us, to see how much we have progressed and what we have to fix".

The atmosphere in the "Bemax Arena" was great, the hall full of holes carried the players to victory, although it was obvious that it created a counter-effect for some.

"Thank you to everyone who supported us. We started to get chills from the warm-up, the atmosphere was unreal".

The Krima player emphasized that she expected strong resistance from her rivals.

"After the previous game, it was clear that Serbia is ready to fight, that they will come with the right approach. She didn't give up, that's why I prefer and value this victory. I also knew that sometimes, when there is a large audience, the hand is tighter, that there is more pressure from the desire to show ourselves in the best light. We were tight, we weren't loose, but two points are the most important".

It is clear that Montenegro has to raise its level of play by mid-April, when it plays the qualifiers for the Olympic Games in Ulm, Germany. They will fight for two places in Paris with the hosts, Slovenia and Paraguay, and by then Andrijana Popović and Jelena Vukčević should join the team.

"These victories mean a lot to us, it's always nice to win games like this, when the fight lasts until the end. I am very happy about the four points and secured placement at the European Championship, but I know that we will have to be much better in order to achieve our dream in April", the 25-year-old from Podgorica is clear.

The coach of Serbia, Uroš Bregar, had a hard time taking the defeat on the field, he strongly protested to the Croatian referees Davor and Zoran Lončar that Jovani Jovović called a foul in the last attack. He did not want to talk about it at the press conference.

"In Zrenjanin and in Podgorica, the audience is fair, without incidents, everything went in a sporting manner. We played two phenomenal matches, but it can be seen that we do not have the experience of Montenegro, nor many players who play in the Champions League. It's sad that we didn't win a single point in two games, and that our goal difference was minus two. I have to be proud of the team, because it was a question of how long we would last in Podgorica, and one ball decided it. "Montenegro used our exclusion very well, we lost our rhythm, and the opposing goalkeeper saved some important shots," the Slovenian expert pointed out.