"Sharks" without the right to make a mistake against the Hungarians

Before the final tournament of the European Cup, Montenegrin water polo players do not yet know how many victories they need to qualify for the finals of the World League, which will be held in Belgrade in June.

The "Sharks" tournament in Zagreb opens today (15:8) against Hungary and what is certain at this moment is that they have to celebrate in that match in order to stay in the game to go to the FXNUMX World League.

The competition system is such that the four best of the eight teams that are in Zagreb go to Belgrade, and it is already known that among them is Serbia, the organizer of the F8 World League.

So, three tickets are required to go to the capital of Serbia: Montenegro would grab one already today in the event that they beat the Hungarians, and that Serbia justifies the role of favorite and is better than Spain. In the event that they beat Hungary, and the "dolphins" lose to the Spaniards, our team would have to win one of the first three places at the Zagreb tournament.

- The match with the Hungarians will most likely decide whether we will qualify for the final tournament of the World League, and we all know that it is very important because the best team will qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. It will not be easy against Hungary, because this tournament is specific to this part of the season. The players are quite exhausted from club duties, and three matches will be played here in three days. We are hardly mentally and physically ready for these efforts, but I hope that our motivation will be at a high level and that all these problems will be overcome - he said. Aleksandar Ivović.

Both Montenegro and Hungary arrived in Zagreb in the strongest composition. Experienced Hungarians returned to the team Denesh Varga i Balas Harai, which significantly raise the quality of the team that the Montenegrin water polo players beat in the last five official matches.

The tournament is also specific in that it will be played according to new rules.

- We will see how well we have adapted to them. We were lucky enough to be in Zagreb with Croatia for four days, we did joint training... We worked on some tactical things that are the most important for the team to adapt to the new rules. I hope that we succeeded in that, that we adapted and that it will look quite good against the Hungarians - said Ivović. If they beat the Hungarians, Montenegro would play in tomorrow's semi-final against the better team from Italy and Russia. The duels for placement are scheduled for Sunday...

Quarter Final Pairings: Montenegro - Hungary (15), Spain - Serbia (16.45:18.30), Italy - Russia (20.15:XNUMX), Greece - Croatia (XNUMX:XNUMX).

Eight new rules on the exam in Zagreb

The Zagreb tournament could also mark a kind of revolution in world water polo, because new rules recently adopted by FINA will be in force. Since the end of the European Cup, the following rules have been in force:

- Instead of the previous 30 seconds, the attack that follows the exclusion, a shot after which possession has not changed or a corner kick, will last 20 seconds;

- The foul will be committed from the place where the ball is at the time of the award, unless the ball is in a space of two meters;

- The shooting line directly after the awarded foul is moved to six meters;

- The goalkeeper is allowed to participate in the game as a field player;

​- The break between the second and third quarters will last three minutes, not five as before;

- Coaches will be allowed three time-outs, and a maximum of two in the last quarter; There are also new rules when it comes to player substitutions:

- Substitution of players can be made anywhere except from the center line to the goal line of the team making the substitution;

- During the substitution, the players must shake hands.