For the first time after the European Championship in Germany, Montenegrin handball players gathered in Podgorica. In relation to the matches in Munich, Bož Anđelić and Miloš Božović are missing from the team, while Vuko Borozan and pivots Nemanja Grbović and Vuk Lazović were spared.
With 12 players who played at the EHF Euro, and several new faces, the "lions" will train in Podgorica during the EHF week and play two friendly matches with Georgia on Friday and Saturday in the "Verde" hall.
"We were one step away from scheduling matches with Iceland, but he canceled." Given that most selections are busy with Olympic and World Championship qualifiers, we didn't have much choice. We managed, however, to bring Georgia. It is a solid team, they played in the European Championship and we will have to do our best to win," said Vlado Šola.
The Montenegrin coach will try Miodrag Ćorsović and the tandem of Lovcen's Luka Vujović - Mihajlo Šćekić at the pivot position, in the back line, two players from the Cetinje club Filip Krivokapić and Milorad Bakić, wings Filip Vujović and Vojislav Vukić, and goalkeeper Haris Suljević will also get a chance. Miloš Vujović and Vasilij Kaluđerović were not present at the first training session tonight, who is spared because he had a son.
"The goal we set for this gathering is to check new and younger players. We need to expand the base, especially in defensive tasks on the "three" and "four", but also to look for players who play in both directions. While I'm here, we will introduce some new guys from action to action, and now we have no official commitments, so we can try out a larger number of players. I know that a lot of handball players have the ambition to play for the national team, but we don't have the possibility to invite them all at once".
"Lions" will find out the name of their rivals in the May play-off for the World Cup on Sunday, after the rematch between Italy and Belgium in Pescara. It is clear that Mirko Radović and his friends will be the favorites, no matter who gets in front of them.
"When you say Belgium or Italy, at first it sounds like they are not some teams. But today there are no bad selections in Europe, Belgium and Italy did not qualify for the European Championship due to minimal defeats. It can also happen that an accident or a slightly weaker day turns them around and they are competitive. We must take the barrage as seriously as we can. It is our obligation to go to the World Cup, and I hope that we will look better than at the EHF Euro, because we had mistakes that we will try to correct", emphasized Šola.
Anđelić publicly announced that he will no longer play for the national team while Šola is the coach, Božović was not even invited, and he is not satisfied with the cooperation with the Croatian expert either.
"We give new players a chance, but the door is not closed to anyone. There are other players I would like to see that are not even on the extended list. We can't fit everything inside. There are no handball players in other national teams either, so there is no drama about it. My job is to strive for new players at every gathering, to see what and how they can do, and when the moment comes we choose who will carry the game for us in the qualifiers or in the big competition".
What do you think about Anđelić's statement?
"That's his position, I respect it, but I still say that the door is open to everyone. And Anđelić, too, if he changes his mind."
There are no Grbović and Lazović, who were the only pivots at the European Championship. Now Ćorsović (24 years old), Vujović (23) and Šćekić (20) will try to impose themselves.
"We have two young pivots, they are there to educate them on what it is like to be in the national team, it does not mean that they can carry the game now. They are the future. We have Lazović, who is 36 years old, and Grbović, who is 33. Sooner or later their end will come, we have to introduce others slowly. The attitude of both the Federation and the professional staff is that we have to expand the base", emphasized Šola.
At the European Championship, Miloš Vujović was undisputed on the left wing, now his surname Filip will get a chance, as will Bakić. Vukić will also have a chance on the right wing.
"We have two games, it's an ideal opportunity to give more chances to Filip, Bakić and Voj, to relieve Miloš Vujović a little. He played a lot at the European Championship, and then continued in Germany at the top level. These are opportunities that younger people must take advantage of and show what they can do," Shola concluded.
Bonus video:
