Jedinstvo, Budućnost Volley, Montenegrin champion Budva, then Slovenian Salonit Anhovo – a natural and true sports development path, “step by step”, was followed by 22-year-old Montenegrin national team member Matija Ćinćur.
He has been playing and enjoying himself in Slovenia since August last year.
"Everything is going spontaneously for now, everything is going uphill - I would like it to continue like that. What will happen at the end of the season, when my contract expires, I am not thinking about that now. I am thinking about the playoffs that await us, I am thinking about reaching the finals whose doors are open for us, I am thinking about how to confront the undisputed team of ACH Volley from Ljubljana. A lot will depend on the results of my team, a lot will depend on the results and performance in the national team, and in May we have the Golden League," the talented middle blocker tells Odbojka.me.
The second-placed team in the standings in a country whose national team has been at the top of European volleyball for years – Matija found himself at the right time, in the right place.
"I was pleasantly surprised. We are all in some way afraid of going abroad for the first time, and I also received advice from older colleagues - 'don't expect too much so you don't get disappointed'. In other words, if you come from a country where sport is at the level it is, it doesn't mean that you will be met with everything else. I was lucky, however. Slovenia is not a foreign country in the classic sense, at least not for us - a country of the former Yugoslavia, on one side the Balkans, on the other side Europe - especially in my place near Nova Gorica, near Italy, where people have a slightly different mentality than the rest of Slovenia."
He adapted to the country, he adapted to the club – even better.
"Why was I lucky? Right around the time I arrived, the club's management changed, the structure changed, and the biggest change happened on the court, with the arrival of Slovenian volleyball legend Dejan Vinčić, a technician who has four medals at European championships, three silver and one bronze. It's incredible how the presence of such a legend increases seriousness and it's a great privilege, experience and benefit to have him as a teammate. You can learn a lot from him. The rest of the team is mostly made up of younger local players, and there's also a Bosnian player with me," says Matija.
With Vinčić, every player is better, at least by a few percent.
"Why else was I lucky? Because midfielders depend a lot on technicians, and I have Vinčić. I also have a coach who was a midfielder, which is another good circumstance, a coach who won the title in Italy, the strongest league in the world."
Salonit Anhovo is second in the Slovenian championship standings with 18 wins and five losses, and how unassailable Ljubljana's ACH Volley, the winner of the MEVZA league, is is shown by its record – 23 wins, zero losses. A meeting in the play-off final is very possible, even certain.
"They are far ahead of the rest in terms of budget and everything else. However, we also have our own path and our own calculations. We built everything spontaneously, without too many expectations. Victory after victory, we raised the standards, created 'chemistry' in the team, and now we are at a level where we believe we can stand up to them and hurt them," says Matija Ćinćur.
He is one of the leaders of the young wave of Montenegrin volleyball and is preparing for his debut in the Golden League in May. He is also preparing for the new coach, Ivica Jevtić.
"We have the Golden League, a few new opponents in a new competition for us, and we also have a new coach. I'm looking forward to it and can't wait. The matches against strong rivals will be a great experience for a team that has already entered a rejuvenation process. We have plenty of time, the whole spring and summer to get used to it. We are starting from scratch in the process of maturing and gaining experience, with probably 14 young players and perhaps for the first time without some older players who have left their mark. We want to leave our mark, too, step by step."
Montenegro is in the middle of qualifying for Euro Volleyball, but in a difficult situation in a group in which they have already suffered defeats in duels with the Czech Republic and Norway.
"And those matches will be useful for us in the process ahead of us, and maybe we can try to take advantage of the minimal chance we have left. It won't be easy, especially not against the Czech Republic, which is one step above, but we don't have an imperative. Our goal and desire is to be maximally prepared and well-coordinated for the next qualifiers, to attack them more seriously and to qualify for the European Championship," concludes Matija Ćinćur.
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