The first match against Greece may or may not show the extent of the Montenegrin water polo team's achievements at the World Championship in Singapore. The tournament is just beginning, and the big teams only reach their true form after the group stage...
The World Cup starts today, the "Sharks" will enter the pool at 13.10:500 PM in the XNUMXth match in their history, and their rival is a medal contender and a team that has won medals in two of the last three appearances at the world championships.
The Greeks are a team that has not been favoring the Montenegrin team lately, but traditions often don't mean much at the beginning of major tournaments - then surprises are always possible, but a possible victory for Montenegro in a duel with the Hellenes could never be characterized as a sensation due to tradition and everything that these derbies entail.
- After long and hard preparations, the moment has come for the World Cup to begin. We have been working together for two months and I believe that a new team has been created that is on par with the best teams, but we have to show it in the pool - said one of the most experienced players in our team Djuro Radovic.
In addition to Montenegro and Greece, Group D also includes Croatia and China, who will face each other on Monday and Wednesday, respectively...
- It's a tough group, probably the toughest in the championship. If you ask me, maybe it's better that it's such a strong group, because in the knockout phase it could open up an easier path for us or at least we can immediately feel the toughness of the duels and strong matches - Radović pointed out.
The Greeks are a well-known opponent.
- We have already played two or three games with them under the new rules. The results did not go well, but both we and they were in combined squads. All that is something else, this is a new story and I think we had enough time to prepare for them. We have analyzed them well, we are certainly ready, healthy, without injuries and we can match Greece - underlined the left-handed water polo player.
The Helens, however, have too many qualities.
- The most important thing is to respond to aggression in the same way, to prevent counterattacks. Greece's biggest asset is the tandem of centers that keeps them deep in attack, and if we stop that, then we can hope for a positive result - concluded Radović.
The Greek team is missing three important names compared to previous major competitions - the goalkeeper will not play in Singapore Emanuil Cerdevas, To Janis Fudulis i Alexandra Papanastasi.
Fudulis is 37 years old and will not be in the national team in 2025, Papanastasiu has been struggling with injuries in recent months, while Cerdevas did not pass the final filter before the World Cup with the selectors. Teodorosa Vlahosa.
Our national team will be represented in Singapore by goalkeepers Petar Tesanovic i Lazar Andric, To Vasilije Radovic, Miroslav Perkovic, Dusan Matkovic, Aljosa Macic, Djuro Radovic, Jovan Vujovic, Balsa Vuckovic, Dusan Banicevic, Savo Cetkovic, Dimitrije Obradovic, Strahinja Gojkovic, Dmitrij Holod i Filip Gardašević.
The group winner will advance to the quarterfinals of the World Cup, while the second and third-placed teams will play in the round of 16 against the teams that finish second and third in Group C (composed of the United States, Brazil, Canada, Singapore).
Group A consists of Serbia, Romania, Italy and South Africa, while Group B consists of Spain, Australia, Japan and Hungary.
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