Barcelona, August 2018 - in an exciting match of the European Championship, Spain's water polo players got ahead of Montenegro several times and in the end with a goal Alejandro Bustos grabbed a draw (7:7) which brought them 1st place in the group.
At that championship, on the famous Olympic hill of Montjuic, the "fury" played the grand final, and at every subsequent major competition - and there were six of them - it reached at least the semi-finals, while in 2022 in Budapest, it was also crowned with the world crown.
All of this perhaps best illustrates how difficult a rival awaits Montenegro tonight (17.45:2 p.m.) in the XNUMXnd round of the European Championship in Croatia - in a match that, in case of victory, would launch Vladimir Gojković's men directly into the quarterfinals.
- We are waiting for an excellent national team with a lot of individual quality, also with an excellent game system that has been cultivated and upgraded for years. It is certainly a much better team than France, which we defeated at the start of the championship - said the center Miroslav Perković.
The first match in a tournament is usually the most difficult, as France showed (the Sharks won 20:19 after the penalty shootout), but Spain is a tough rival at any time, in any part of the championship...
It will be the same in Dubrovnik, especially because of the aforementioned team system David Martin, who emphasized and Vlado Popadić.
- We know what qualities they have, it's there Felipe Perone already in his late playing years, but still playing at a fantastic level. We shouldn't forget either Alvaro Granados, who is among the best strikers in the world. In addition, in my opinion, Spain has the best system that it has been applying for years - emphasized Popadić.
However, even such a powerful team has its flaws, and the host Croatia, who celebrated in the 1st round after five goals (14:12), revealed them to some extent.
- I think we can look for a chance against Spain. That selection also has weak points and we should attack them... I think we can compete with them in rhythm and swimming, because we are physically very well prepared. I am also sure that the coaching staff will prepare the game perfectly - added Perković.
And what is one of the weak points, explained Popadić.
- Surely the centers are the point we should attack in defense. They are physically difficult, they don't tolerate movement a bit and it is certainly one of the chances that we can use, as well as to play a real match like it was in Fukuoka, of course while avoiding mistakes from that duel - Popadić believes.
The triumph over France at the start made everything a little easier.
- Surely it will be easier in the continuation of the championship after the victory over France, we have repeated so many times that the first match against any rival is not easy. We expected that France would offer much better resistance than at the tournament in Italy, and it showed, but the most important thing is that we won and we are moving on - concluded Popadić.
Montenegro and Spain have played 33 matches so far, and Montenegro leads the overall score with 18:9, with six tied games. The last time "sharks" and "fury" met at the World Cup in Fukuoka last summer when Spain won 11:7.
EP 2024, 2nd round
Today
17.45:XNUMX p.m. Montenegro - Spain
20.15:XNUMX p.m. Croatia - France
Bonus video:
