Aleksandar Ivović spent nine years of his career in Italy, the last six being a member of the powerful Pro Reko, a symbol of Italian water polo.
In the pool, he is often on the same side as almost all the aces of tomorrow's rival Montenegro in the quarter-finals of the European Championship.
"We are waiting for a real match against the world champions. For nine years I have played with almost all of their national team members, they are all top players. The team is well organized, it has an excellent coach. The task ahead of us is difficult, but if we close some of their characteristics, which are different from with the others, we can do something," Ivović said.
The Italians, Ivović points out, quickly, perhaps the fastest of all, adapted to the new water polo rules and the style of play dictated by them, which, after all, they showed by winning the world title.
"There is a lot of swimming, swimming, blocks in transition. If we don't allow them easy goals from transition and counterattacks, we can bring the game to a tie and put pressure on them. They might expect to beat us easily, but I don't think it will be yes. We have played excellent defense so far, I hope we can continue like that and play a serious game," Ivović said.
Montenegro showed a lot until the quarter-finals, says Ivović.
"We are playing quite well, the things we have practiced, I think will work, especially in positional defense. For the Italians, however, more and better is needed, especially in situations with more players. If we realize the chances at the beginning of the match, I think that everything would could look pretty good," he concluded.
The match Montenegro - Italy will be played on Wednesday from 16:XNUMX.
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