For the sixth year in a row, Montenegrin water polo players remain far from competing for medals at the biggest competitions.
And what perhaps hurts even more is that they seem to be further and further away from the medal.
This was also demonstrated at the European Championship in Belgrade, where the "sharks" said "goodbye" to a possible semi-final in the first match of the main round - they were outclassed by Spain 14:6 in a match in which there was not the slightest excitement.
The truth is harsh, this Montenegro may have the potential and clear intention to start paving the way to the top in the future, but what is seen from tournament to tournament shows that that path is still far away.
"Furija" is perhaps the best team in the world and a defeat by an eight-point margin against the giants is not a disaster in itself - the problem is that Montenegro was not in the game almost once, because it started with the rival getting to 3:0 too easily.
In the first half, things worked well in defense, but even those good moments in defense were not followed up by the attack, so the "sharks" missed both open and difficult shots, as well as two penalty areas - Strahinja Gojković hit the crossbar, and Dimitrij Holoda was stopped by Unai Aguirre.
The difference only grew from the middle of the second quarter, the final outcome could already be largely foreseen, and Montenegro only completely stopped in the second half - in the second 16 minutes there was neither defense nor attack...
Miroslav Perković scored two goals, while Dušan Matković, Vladan Spaić, Holod and Gojković scored once each.
With the Spaniards, everything worked like clockwork, and the most efficient was master Alvaro Granados, who checked Petar Tešanović four times.
So what now? Montenegro has two more games in the main round in which they can at least show that when there is no result imperative, they have a way to play very well.
The first opponent is the Netherlands (Sunday at 6:00 PM), and then on Tuesday at 8:30 PM there will be a duel with Serbia.
MONTENEGRO - SPAIN 6:14 (1:4, 2:5, 2:5, 1:0)
Beograd - Belgrade Arena. Referees: Margeta (Slovenia), Colombo (Italy). Player more: Montenegro 12 (4), Spain 14 (5). Peterci: Montenegro 2 (-), Spain 2 (2).
MONTENEGRO: Tešanović (16 saves), Holod 1, Vujović, Mrsić, Macić, Popadić, Stupar, Vučković, Perković 2, Spaić 1, Matković 1, Radović, Đurović, Gojković 1.
SPAIN: Agire (17 selections), Munaris 2, Granados 4, Sanauža, De Toro, Larumbe 1, Daura 2, Cabanas, Taulj 1, Valera, Biel Lara 2, Bustos 1, Lorio (three selections), Gomila 1.
The Montenegrin water polo team lost convincingly to Spain, 14:6, leaving the "sharks" with no chance of competing for a place in the semi-finals of the European Championship.
With three minutes to go, the match was long over - Montenegro was left without a chance to compete for a place in the semi-finals of the European Championship.
Holod reduced the deficit to 14:6.
The last period has begun.
The third quarter is over - with the last eight minutes left, there is no doubt about the final outcome as Spain leads 14:5.
"Furija" has no problem scoring, the Montenegrin defense has completely stopped and the deficit is growing - 14:5.
Spain scores from all positions, scoring two goals in a row from considerable distance - 12:4.
Then Spaić scored with a player more, so the score was minus seven again (12:5).
A quick conversion by our team with a player more, Matković reduced the lead to 10:4.
The first goal in the 3rd period was scored by Daura - 10:3 for the Spaniards.
The third quarter has begun.
Montenegro is six goals down at halftime - Spain leads 9:3.
Perković's second goal, the third overall for the "Sharks" - minus five now, Spain leads 8:3.
Montenegro did not take advantage of the second penalty either - Aguirre stopped Holod, and Granados continued to score. It brought the score to 8:2 for the Spaniards.
Perković scored the 6:2 goal, and Granados immediately responded (7:2).
Daura also scored, so Montenegro is now five goals down - losing 6:1.
The crowd practically brought both the ball and the opponents into the goal - Spain has a huge 5:1 lead.
The second quarter has begun.
End of the first quarter - Montenegro loses 4:1 to Spain.
After 3:0 it's now 4:1 - Bustos scored at the very end of the attack.
Bonus video:
