"Don't write us off" - Montenegrin volleyball players are making history in Gothenburg, they want victory, they dream of victory

The best Montenegrin volleyball players traveled to Gothenburg for their debut, historic appearance at the European Championship.

Nikoleta Peković and her teammates will face extremely difficult, but also beautiful, challenging duels in a strong group B from August 21st to 28th, against hosts Sweden, Olympic and world champions Italy, strong France, and Slovakia and Croatia.

These are all teams with a better rating and more experience on such a stage, after all, Montenegro is a debutant, but the "reds" promise to fight for every point, for every set... And they wish for victory, dream of victory (the second stage) and almost in unison say: don't write us off...

Four of the six teams will advance to the round of 16, with Montenegro looking for a chance in the last two matches, against Slovakia and Croatia.

- Mixed emotions, I still can't believe that we will appear at the European Championship. The long-awaited wish has finally come true. Thank you to my teammates, the coaching staff, the Federation - because we have seen this day. We worked well and for a very long time, we prepared for 40 days in Kolašin, played great in friendly matches against Portugal and Austria, everything somehow coincides, so I think we are going in a nice atmosphere, that we are in good condition, both physically and psychologically, and I hope that everything will be as we imagined - emphasized Nikoleta Perović.

Coach Jovo Caković announced the list of 14 players who will travel to Scandinavia yesterday. He says that all 17 volleyball players who underwent preparations in Kolašin deserved to be on the list and that he would "prefer to leave the difficult decision about the players who will not travel to someone else" while he continues to work...

He had to make the cut, though, and he waited until the last day - so that the situation from the past would not repeat itself, when there were injuries and players who were dropped were subsequently returned to the roster.

All 17 players, as she notes, the very fact that they spent 40 days with the team is a clear sign that they are being counted on in the future and future actions.

Caković chose experience, so technicians were on the final list. Marija Šušić i Tijana Tvrdisic, service recipients Simona Petranović, Teodora Čavić, Lara Jovovic i Darja Popovic, correctors Nikoleta Perović i Diana Vuković, middle blockers Mina Dragović, Saška Đurović, Katarina Budrak i Lana Rakocevic, and libera Melissa Cenovic i Milica Veličković.

Young middle blocker Staša Mitrović, then the receiver of the service Gordana Madžgalj and a technician Kristina Vukcevic, who were not on the final list, will definitely have many more opportunities, and Caković announced his decision to them with a word of encouragement.

As he said, the team is traveling to Gothenburg to "represent Montenegro with dignity at the largest European women's senior volleyball fair."

- For us, the European Championship is a motivation to continue learning, I believe that we will return as good students, and to show, among other things, that we also train volleyball, and that we will not be easy prey for anyone. Are the national teams that are in the group with us the favorites? Yes, they are favorites, but all of us who are involved in competitive sports, especially when we work for national federations at the senior level, love challenges. When we are ready to subordinate the summer to the national interest, we must certainly believe in what we are doing and hope, first of all, for good games, and then, in the end, for a good result - said Caković.

The first match against the hosts Sweden, in the magnificent "Skandinavium Arena", probably in front of 14 thousand spectators.

- To start with, we will think about the first game, about the Swedish national team, and then Italy, France, Slovakia and Croatia. If we get a chance, we will try to take advantage of it. We do not have the capacity and rating to say that we will win two or three games. But, for me, every set won is great, even if we lose games, and there will definitely be defeats. I hope for good games, good energy and good harmony in the team, which is very important to me - added Caković.

Montenegro defeated Austria and Portugal - Eurovolley participants and teams that have regularly defeated our team in the past - all five times in the preparatory matches in Kolašin.

Even though these were test matches, that means something...

- We are debutants, we will look for a chance in every match. Italy is the strongest team, they have a roster that is huge and incredible. Sweden has a corrector, Isabella Hack, one of the best in the world, whatever one says about her - it is not enough - emphasizes Nikoleta Perović.

Matches with Sweden, Italy and France, then a day's break, and then Slovakia and Croatia.

- These are the last two days, matches that could decide on eventual placement. I hope we will show what we can do there and that we are not at the European Championship by chance - concludes Nikoleta.

Kažić: Optimism with a cover

The women's senior national team is participating in the European Championship for the first time, after the men had three consecutive finals in the past.

The President of the Serbian Football Federation, Nikola Kažić, emphasizes that it is a great honor and a special pleasure that for the first time since the restoration of independence, the ladies are going to EuroVolley.

- In my opinion, the group in Gothenburg is the strongest at the European Championship. However, I think that for the coaching staff and the girls it is a great challenge and opportunity to play against the best national teams and players in the world. Starting from last year's European League, through the qualifications, to this year's European League and the friendly matches we had, we are reaching the optimism that we had when we agreed with Caković to take over the selection. From action to action we look better and more competitive, and we have started to beat teams that we could not before or did very rarely, and now we are doing it continuously - said Kažić.

- Although the result was not in the foreground, these five friendly matches and five victories against Austria and Portugal, who will also play at the European Championship, give us the right to say that we are indeed on the right track. Of course, we all have to be aware that in every match we will play against much better ranked teams, and even better quality ones, and we do not want to put any special imperative and pressure when it comes to the result. We will look for a set, a point or possibly a victory against everyone, and why not, if we get the opportunity, to attack the second phase regardless of the fact that we are debutants - Kažić emphasized.