The Montenegrin national handball team has two of the most important matches this year ahead of it, is the message from right-back Stefan Čavor ahead of the duel against Slovenia in the World Championship play-off. The first match between Montenegro and Slovenia will be played on Thursday (18) at the "Mtel Morača Hall", while the second match is scheduled for Sunday (17) in Koper.
The "Lions" dream of going to the third World Handball Championship, but they are facing one of the best European selections and teams, which will have a different composition in the upcoming matches than was the case at the previous European Championship, when the Slovenians celebrated 41:40. Slovenia will be stronger for 34-year-old center back Miha Zarabec, then 33-year-old right back Nejc Cehte and a year younger master of defense Blaž Blagotinšek.
"We have two of the most important matches this year ahead of us. We had great matches against Finland, and now we have Slovenia coming in full force. This is not the team we played against at the European Championship - we will have to prepare and play the first match as well as possible. I think it will be harder now than at the European Championship. The line-up at the back is much shorter. It will be difficult, but I hope that with the help of the audience we will play the best we can," said Čavor.
The "Mtel Morača Hall" is expected to be full, and your support will mean a lot.
"Support means a lot to us. We will do our best to win. It doesn't matter who the opponent is, we will always do our best to win on home soil. The fans are an important factor, and we will do our best to do everything right and win. On the other hand, we need to be realistic - it will be difficult, Slovenia is coming with a different squad than it was at the European Championship," said Čavor.
"Morača" was previously unconquerable, but in recent years there have been painful defeats, such as the one against Italy in the play-off for the previous World Cup.
"It's not easy to play in an atmosphere like that in 'Morača'. It's a new challenge for all the guys, but we as a national team are in a different moment, young guys are coming, it's not the same national team as when we beat Sweden and Germany. It will take time for the pieces to fall into place, to restore the cult, that we are a team that beats all teams at home. I hope that it will start with Slovenia, but again I hint that it will be difficult," Čavor pointed out.
The right-back emphasizes that the defense must be up to par.
"Their defense will be different, because you have Blagotinšek and Mačkovšek in the middle. Our goal is to improve the defense, it had to be better against Finland, and it will be crucial against Slovenia. With such an attacking team, we will have to play much better in defense in order to be able to match them and play the whole 60 minutes," concluded Čavor.
MILOŠ VUJOVIĆ: I WOULD LIKE THE RETURN MATCH TO BE IN "MORACA"
The "Lions" will be weakened against Slovenia, especially at the back position where Miloš Božović, Arsenije Dragašević and Vuko Borozan are missing.
"We have two matches against a strong national team. We can say that today they are one of the best teams in Europe. I think it will be difficult. As you could see at the European Championship, when we played our best match against them, we gave our all, but in the end we did not celebrate because they were better. At certain moments of the match, they had more focus, energy and in the end we won. I hope that in the next two matches we will correct the mistakes from the European Championship, look at some details, learn from that and the match and hopefully prepare better for the next two matches," said winger Miloš Vujović.
The first match is in Podgorica, Vujović points out that he would prefer the second leg to be played in front of the home fans.
"If I had to ask myself, I would prefer the second leg to be in Podgorica, because it is easier to play the last match in front of our fans. We have to accept reality and play the first match in 'Morača' in the best possible way, with maximum concentration until the very end, to try to get the best possible result, so that we have greater ambitions to play the match in Slovenia."
There are no unknowns.
"We know them well, they are a serious team, they have very high ambitions when it comes to the World Cup. They are coming to beat us, but I am sure that we will not just let that happen. I think we have a great chance, only if we respect what we agree on, if we are maximally concentrated and prepared," concluded Miloš Vujović.
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