How much they still have to learn to be an equal rival to powerful teams like Hungary, the rejuvenated Montenegro learned the hard way in the second round of the European Championship in Belgrade.
Although there were periods of good play by our water polo players, and even determination among the youngest players that can be encouraging, the difference in quality in the "Belgrade Arena" pool this time was obvious - Hungary celebrated 13:10.
All of this means that the road to the semi-finals is now much more complicated, but nothing is lost - for the big story in this tournament, big wins against Serbia and Spain, and even the increasingly better Netherlands will be needed. Before that, of course, in the last match of the first phase against France.
Dejan Savić's team played a good first quarter (losing 4:3), allowed Hungary to escape to 8:4 in the second, and missed several opportunities to fully get back into the game in the third... All of that, as well as Montenegro's desperate attack with a player more (12-3), was taken advantage of by Žolta Varga's team and settled the match long before the end.
From the beginning, Hungary was in the mood to attack, but all of that, at least at the start, did not impress the "sharks", so they had a response to their rivals' goals through Aljoša Mačić, Danilo Stupar and Balša Vučković, and the result could have been better at those moments if Vlado Popadić had used the penalty spot.
However, our national team's offensive play disappeared in the second period, so Danijel Anđal and his teammates went into the break with a good mood, 8:4.
At the beginning of the second half, Montenegro "tightened" their defense, Hungary went goalless for almost eight minutes, but the problem remained the attack. Dušan Matković's goal for 8:5 raised hope, the "sharks" had several great chances to get back into the game after that, but they failed to take advantage of the shots. In one attack, Krstof Čoma "took" them off Vladan Spaić and Vučković.
Hungary soon regained their momentum in attack and by the end of the third quarter reached 11:5 and practically settled the match.
The next rival is France, with whom Montenegro will play on Wednesday at 18 pm. After that, a new group arrives in which the "sharks" will face major tests.
HUNGARY - MONTENEGRO 13:10 (4:3, 4:1, 3:1, 2:5)
Belgrade - "Belgrade Arena". Attendance: 1.000. Referees: Rafaele Colombo (Italy), Matan Schwarz (Israel). Player more: Hungary 10 (4), Montenegro 12 (3). Peterci: Hungary 1 (1), Montenegro 1 (0).
Hungary: Choma (eight saves), Angyal 3, Manherc 1, Ak. Nagy, Vi. Vigvari 1, Ad. Nagy 1, Fekete 2, Tatrai 1, Kovac 2, Ve. Vigvari 1, Jansik 2, Vogel, Vismeg, Varga.
Montenegro: Tešanović (three saves), Holod 1, Vujović 1, Mrsić 1, Mačić 2, Popadić, Stupar 1, Vučković 1, Perković, Spaić, Matković 3, Radović, Đurović (three saves), Gojković.
End - Montenegro's defeat in the second round of the European Championship (13:10).
13:9 - Goal by Mačić, minute and 23 until the end of the game.
13:8 - Montenegro had a chance to reduce the deficit to minus three, they failed, and then Anđal scored again. The only question is what the final result of this match will be.
12:8 - Third goal by Dušan Matković.
12:7 - Another goal for Hungary, again by Kovac.
11:7 - The "Sharks" reduce Hungary's big lead, with Marko Mrsic's first goal.
11:6 - Dušan Matković scores the first goal in the last quarter.
End of the 3rd quarter: Montenegro had several opportunities to get back into the game, they were impatient in attack, so Hungary took advantage of everything and has a huge 11:5 lead.
11:5 - The defense is no longer functioning, Adam Nagy scores another goal.
10:5 - Fekete also scores, Montenegro didn't take advantage of the opportunity to get back into the game, so Hungary goes for a big plus five.
9:5 - First Hungarian goal in the third quarter, Peter Kovač.
Montenegro is playing great defense at the moment, but a real attack is still waiting.
8:5 - Finally a goal! Dušan Matković caught the Hungarians sleeping.
Montenegro misses too many shots against one of the strongest teams in the world - Čoma, in one of the "Sharks" attacks, made an unreal save on shots by Spaić and Vučković. More than three minutes into the third quarter, the score is the same as at halftime (8:4).
End of the 2nd quarter - a bad and somewhat impatient eight minutes for our national team, so Hungary has a big 8:4 after 16 minutes.
Vujović, Mačić, Stupar and Vučković were the scorers for Montenegro, while goalkeeper Đurović made three saves.
On the other side, two goals from Anđal.
8:4 - Dejan Savić's team reacted quickly in attack after Stupar stopped the Hungarians' attack. Shortly after, Fekete scored for a big plus four.
7:4 - Montenegro had an opportunity to further reduce their lead, but they didn't use it, and Anđal scored on the other side.
6:4 - The Sharks' first goal came in the second quarter with three and a half minutes left, a nice move by Stupar and Vujović.
6:3 - Second goal in the seventh inning with a player more than Hungary. Tatrai scored for the biggest lead of the match.
Bonus video:
