Italy, Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Israel will be volleyball countries from August 28. The 34th page of the European Championship will be written in those countries, and Montenegro will be a part of it for the third time in a row.
Ivan Joksimović's boys will play the group stage in Skopje, and their rivals will be Poland, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Denmark and their native North Macedonia.
Our national team started preparations for Eurovolley today, and coach Joksimović does not want to create pressure.
"What is very important is that the players feel right, that they are satisfied with their status, and when they are satisfied, I have no doubt that the result will surely come by itself," said Joksimović at today's press conference.
He believes that North Macedonia and Denmark are of similar quality to Montenegro.
"But it should be taken into account that the selection of North Macedonia is very experienced, has its own quality and is the host. The Danish national team is very young and you should pay attention to them. Their average age is around 25, but these are players who play in very interesting leagues Europe and you will see that they can play very hard with all the teams in the group," he believes.
In 2019, Montenegro was 18th at the European Championship, and two years later it was ranked last...
"It's ungrateful to talk about goals, because we know how we fared at the previous European Championship. We didn't really celebrate ourselves, so our goal is to prepare as well as possible, to create a good atmosphere, a good group of players, and I think that in such an atmosphere, the result will certainly not to be absent," said captain Vojin Ćaćić.
A place in the team for the European Championship, the first in his career, will also be sought by the talented proofreader Đorđe Jovović.
"For me, this represents a great opportunity to prove, primarily, to advance. Through every action, every young player finds an opportunity for the same team to prove, advance, for a new experience," Jovović pointed out.
Montenegro will complete its preparations in Kolašin, and the EP opens on August 31 against the Netherlands.
"On the way to the European Championship, we will have very good sparring partners. Israel is coming to us in the fourth week of work, and on the 15th, 16th and 18th we will play with Cameroon, while as a general test we will have matches with the B team of Japan, which is preparing for the Asian Championship. It will be a real test of what we did in Kolašin and I hope for a good form for the upcoming European Championship," added coach Joksimović.
Bonus video:
