Behind the Montenegrin water polo players are two derbies and a mediocre performance in clashes with Greece (win) and Croatia (loss), and on Wednesday they face a routine match, the easiest at the World Championship hosted by Singapore.
The last rival in Group D is China (6.10 am), a convincing triumph and real preparation for the round of XNUMX duel scheduled for Friday are expected.
The "Sharks" will fight for a place in the quarterfinals with Canada or Brazil, but before that they need to find out from which position they will go into the playoffs - from second or third position in the group.
Everything depends on tomorrow's match between Croatia and Greece (11.35).
If the Croats win, our national team will finish the group in second place, in the event of a triumph by Helena with a difference of two or more goals, they will take 3rd place. The Greeks were first then, and the "barracudas" were second...
Second place in the group would send Montenegro into a playoff where its rival in the quarterfinals would be the first-place team from Group B (Spain or Hungary), and third would take them to face Italy...
But until then, Dejan Savić's team has two more games. The first is against China, which has conceded 51 goals in the first two rounds - 25 from Croatia and 26 from Greece. It has conceded a total of 11.
"We opened the World Cup well. We were competitive in both derbies, the matches were by a goal, two points. That's what makes us happy, because we made progress compared to the previous period. We are the favorites against China, we will use that match to prepare for the round of 16 duel, and then slowly think about the quarterfinals," said Dušan Matković.
Montenegro has played in the quarterfinals of the last three World Cups - and lost. Now they want to do better in the most important match of the tournament and reach the semifinals - a game they haven't played in the biggest competitions for five and a half years.
"No matter who the opponent is, we will have to be maximally focused on all the tasks that await us," added Matković.
Round 3 schedule (Wednesday):
GROUP A
Italy - South Africa 7.45
Serbia - Romania 10.00
GROUP B
Australia - Japan 4.35
Spain - Hungary 14.45
GROUP C
Canada - Brazil 3.00
Singapore - SAD 13.10
GROUP D
China - Montenegro 6.10
Greece - Croatia 11.35
Bonus video:
