The land of winds, sheep and fish from the far north appeared on the football map more than three decades ago - there were those who heard of the Faroe Islands for the first time, but it was certainly an unknown for much of Europe.
Today, practically everyone knows about this archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, mostly thanks to the sport that has gone from amateur to serious. So serious that the Farani have teams that play in major competitions, which teach lessons to Montenegro, a country with a much greater sporting tradition.
The frequent excuses of our sport that accompany failures (but also successes) that we are a small country, with a small base and a modest number of athletes, have been shattered by no one like this country, which has a population of around 52.000. For those who like comparisons, the population of the Municipality of Nikšić is around 66.000.
The Faroe Islands did it twice in just three months, in two sports that are extremely popular in the world - the undisputed football, but also handball. They did it in an impressive manner, behaving like giants in duels with the "falcons" and the "lions".
After all, victories of 4:0 and 37:24 over a country that is about 12 times larger than them best confirm this.
The system, above all
And when the Montenegrin football players were defeated in Torshavn in the World Cup qualifiers, and now when the handball players looked powerless in Oslo, those responsible for our sport were able to see what the Faroe Islands' progress looks like. What it looks like when a sport has a system built from the youngest selections onward.
The fact that it has a population of just over 50.000 was not an excuse for the people of that country, but obviously a real challenge that even the small can be big.
Thus, the football players are no longer "fishermen" as they were often called out of disrespect in this region, but a team ready to "break" Montenegro, but also to defeat big teams such as the Czech Republic or Turkey.
"Now everything in our football is very professional, with a huge coaching staff that includes fitness trainers, psychologists and the like," he recently told FIFA. Frodi Benjaminsen, a Faroese football legend.
And handball? Perhaps it is enough to emphasize that this country has given the sport two top players, such as the cousins Elijah Elefsen and Shipagotu (Wedge) in Oli Mitun (Savehof), as well as Hakun Vest by Tejgum from Fuhse Berlin.
Just a few years ago, Montenegrin handball players made their debut Zoran Roganović They only managed a point against the Faroe Islands. It was a sensation, for many a disgrace to Montenegrin handball. In fact, it was an announcement that serious work was being done in the Faroe Islands.
Mitun and A Šipagotu have already won medals at junior national championships, something where our young "lions" are mostly just participants even when they manage to qualify.
Many might think that the Faroe Islands, as an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, bring players from this much larger country, but no - the Faroes mostly rely on their own hopes. On the other hand, they want to learn, so they often bring in professional staff from other countries.
The Faroe Islands laid the foundations long ago, so now they can enjoy sports and travel to cheer for their country - as many as 12 percent of the country's residents have left unforgettable images in Oslo.
Many are progressing, but Montenegro is going backwards
It's not just the Faroe Islands, as a small country, that's a sporting miracle, Iceland has long been one too - a country that also has a smaller population than Montenegro.
Iceland has long been a great team in handball, with an Olympic silver and European bronze medal and all victories at this EHF Euro so far, while in football it has managed to reach major competitions, something that is still very far away for Montenegro.
While Icelanders are a constant in handball, in recent years, in addition to the Faroe Islands, many other national teams have also seen progress. Some have even seen meteoric growth, like Portugal, which was an outsider ten years ago and is now one of the strongest national teams in the world.
Compared to previous years, great progress has been made by the Netherlands, Italy (which recently left Montenegro without a World Cup), Switzerland (also lions know how much), as well as Georgia, which tormented Croatia at this Euro.
What can we say about Slovenia, a country with a population of just over two million, which is a sporting miracle, and which, despite being decimated by injuries, opened the European Handball Championship with three triumphs.
At the same time, Montenegro, at a time when it had one of the most talented handball generations, took ten steps backwards. Foreign coaches like Government of the School i Didier Dinar, more precisely with them there was a big drop after success and 11th place at Euro 2022.
Something is clearly wrong somewhere, so it is obvious that it is time for our sports federations to start learning from those who know how to create the right systems, those who deliver results. For a start, perhaps from the Faroe Islands.
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