At 7.30 p.m. in Farum, the Montenegrin handball team will play against the Faeroes Islands in the penultimate match in the eighth qualifying round for the European Championship.
The win against the Faeroes, but also on Sunday in Podgorica against Ukraine, would bring Zoran Roganovic's players the second place and placement in the Championships that will be played in Sweden, Norway, and Austria next January. Montenegro can also be one of the four best third-placed teams, for which their match in Farum is of no relevance, but Ukraine must be defeated on Sunday in "Moraca".
Montenegro disappointed in the first duel with the Faeroes Islands with a tie at home (24:24), which is the only point of that selection in the qualifying group. Today, there should be no surprises.
"Certainly, these are the two most important matches. In the first duel, we did not play well against the Faeroes Islands, and now we have to have a more serious approach. It is important that we play smart, divide the time and celebrate against the Faeroes Islands and then against Ukraine and give the maximum to win. It is true that some players just joined the team two days ago and that it is the end of the season, but these are the two most important matches, and everyone will give the maximum to win the placement," said Stefan Cavor. Montenegro lost to Ukraine after the drama with the Faeroes (29:24), and as expected in Denmark (37:26), but the "Lions" caught the connection with a sensational victory against the Olympic and World Champions Denmark (32:31) in the previous round, and now on the wings of that triumph they want to win the remaining two games and achieve the goal.
However, regardless of the outcome of the match in the Faeroes Islands, Montenegro would definitely be a participant in the finale if they win against Ukraine, as one of the four best third-placed teams.
"We do care whether we are going to be the second or third. The better placement also allows us to get an easier group at the European Championship. When we already have a chance, we have to enter with 100 percent in both games, said the goalkeeper Nebojsa Simic.
Ukraine did well for 48 minutes against the favorites of the group, Denmark, yesterday in Kiev, who celebrated at the end with 33:30. By doing so, they helped the "Lions" in the fight for the second place, and now everything depends on Roganovic's team.
"It will not be easy. We saw in the first game that the Faeroes Islands are not the outsiders as we all considered them to be. They created problems also for Ukraine. We must focus and be ready, as we have been against Denmark, to gain victory. Only this time we are much stronger, we are in better shape because of the come-back of Nemanja Grbovic and right-back Branko Vujovic, and this is, in my opinion, the best of our selection, and we will be ready for challenges today and on Sunday, emphasized the side quarter-back Marko Lasica.
Simic: We must not underestimate the Faeroes Islands as in the first match
Goalkeeper Nebojsa Simic, a hero of the victory against the Danes, says the "Lions" will play without calculation, even though they are expecting an even more important match against Ukraine in Podgorica on Sunday.
"We will play without any calculation, and hopefully we will enter the wins in the final two games, which will bring us the second place in the group and the placement at the European Championship. The Faeroes Islands are not easy to beat, and Ukraine barely beat them so we must not underestimate them as in the first match. We have to do our maximum and win two points, and to be extremely prepared and motivated for the most important match against Ukraine in Podgorica," said the hero of the victory over the Danes, the goalkeeper Nebojsa Simic.
Text by Slavisa Zivaljevic, on June 13th, 2019, read more at Vijesti
