Montenegrin water polo players, in whatever composition they participate in the biggest competitions, must not be satisfied with only placing in the quarterfinals.
That's everyone's opinion, that's the message that the selector himself sent from Fukuoka the day after the World Cup ended Vladimir Gojkovic. Whatever the reality, the sporting ambition must exist...
The "Sharks" played in the quarter-finals in Japan, in that match they narrowly lost to Greece (10:9), in the end they were only in eighth place and the final result was not positive, it was close to being better.
The good impression left by our team in almost every game will be quickly forgotten. He will be forgotten, among other things, because a serious part of the water polo public (and not only him) has believed for years that Gojković is not the right man for the position he holds. In that part, another eighth place is just a confirmation of the theory that some ex-players advocate with incorrect comments on social networks.
Everyone who follows water polo knows that criticism of the selectors, among other things, comes from some power centers in our country and that they have nothing to do with the sport, but the fact remains that even the results are not an ally of the legendary water polo player.
Gojković has been on the bench since September 2015. So, almost eight years have passed since his promotion. Then it's from Ranko Perović inherited a powerful representation, with brothers Janović, Predrag Jokić, Aleksandar Ivović, Drasko i Darko Brguljan, Miloš Šćepanović...
He then also led the less strong "sharks" selection, since a large part of the mentioned players said goodbye (some of them left the team themselves after an argument with the coach, some were written off by Gojković), now it is the case that he is working with a completely changed and rejuvenated team, which when -then he had to come to the biggest stage. Although most of those guys weren't ready for her at that moment...
In these eight years, Montenegro won two medals at the biggest competitions - at Gojković's debut, at the European Championships in 2016 in Belgrade, then in 2020 in Budapest at another continental tournament. During Gojković's tenure, our national team played in the semi-finals only once - at the 2016 Olympic Games.
All this in a total of 10 appearances on the biggest stage, along with two titles in the World League - in 2018 in Budapest and two years later in Tbilisi.
"In Fukuoka, progress was evident compared to last year. However, we are Montenegro and we know what we want. And we want more," Gojković pointed out.
If in Fukuoka, as Gojković points out, a step forward was made in every sense except the results, then the A selection has a year of trials ahead of it in which it should finally enter the fight for a medal. Only such progress would make sense in Japan after this...
And the work will be very difficult, because seven months before the World Championship in Doha, our water polo players have yet to qualify for that tournament, and less than a year before, they are also thinking about whether they will secure a visa for the Olympic Games in Paris.
These are the problems faced by the national team and Gojković himself, but in order to expect success, the complete picture of our water polo must be much better. And it should be influenced by every individual who works and wonders about trophy sports. That hasn't really been the case so far...
And only when the club scene is out of the scope of the semi-amateur one, when everyone in and around the Association and those four clubs are on the same task, when all representative selections are a priority - then it can be said that Gojković is the biggest culprit for the fact that Crna Gora has been waiting for the right result for three and a half years.
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