"Lionesses" check visa for EHF Euro against Iceland, Lazović: There must be no relaxation

The Montenegrin women's handball team continues its European Championship qualifiers with matches against Iceland - the first match is scheduled for Wednesday (19) in Hafnarfjordur, and the second on Sunday (18) in Podgorica.

Our national team completed a large part of its work towards qualifying for the European Championship in October last year with victories against Portugal in Podgorica and the Faroe Islands in Torshavn. Iceland suffered two defeats at the start of the qualifiers.

It is clear, therefore, that our girls are the absolute favorites and that with two wins they will complete their work on qualifying for the ninth consecutive participation in the competition of the best European teams.

Part of the national team traveled to Copenhagen via Istanbul this morning, where the team and coaching staff will be completed. From the capital of Denmark, our delegation will travel to Reykjavik tomorrow morning, where they will have only one training session ahead of the clash against the team they defeated in December (36:27) in the main round of the World Cup in Germany and the Netherlands.

"We have important matches ahead of us against Iceland, in which many see us as the favorites, but there must be no relaxation. Iceland is a quality team, they are physically strong and tactically disciplined, regardless of the fact that we convincingly defeated them at the World Cup. However, that match is behind us and the circumstances will be different now, as will the energy of both teams. The challenge is that we only have one training session before the match in Iceland, but I believe in the team and our experience, as well as that the focus will be at the highest level throughout the entire 60 minutes. Defense will again be key, along with the discipline that we must show in attack," said coach Suzana Lazović.

Victory against Iceland would secure a place in the European Championship, which will be held from December 3 to 20 in the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Turkey.

It would also give coach Lazović the opportunity to give a chance to younger players, who should be the backbone of the national team in the coming years, in the last two qualifying matches against Portugal and the Faroe Islands in April.

"With the right approach and two wins against Iceland, we would be one step away from qualifying for the European Championship. That would give us the opportunity to give a chance to younger players in the last two matches in the qualifiers, those who are the future of our handball. Mina Novović will make her debut in the national team this EHF week, and I believe that there will be more new names and debutants in the upcoming matches. I believe in the process of rejuvenating the team and we have to work step by step to fulfill everything we have set for the period ahead," concluded Lazović.

Of the players on coach Lazović's list, pivot Andrijana Tatar was dropped after tearing her anterior cruciate ligament while playing for Mosonmagyarovar in a Hungarian championship game against Kozarmislenie.

For the match in Reykjavik, Lazović will therefore have 15 players at his disposal: goalkeepers Armel Atingre and Marija Marsenić, wings Dijana Mugoša, Ivona Pavićević, Nađa Kadović, Nina Bulatović and Anastasija Marsenić, pivots Tatjana Brnović and Ivana Godeč, and guards Đurđina Jauković, Elena Mitrović, Mina Novović, Itana Grbić, Matea Pletikosić and Nikolina Marković.