The winger of the "Sharks" thus joined Darko Brguljan, Nikola Vukcevic and Vjekoslav Paskovic, who had their last major competition at the Olympics in 2016. Radovic is certainly the latest "case". Selector Vladimir Gojkovic revealed two nights ago after qualifying for the World League with Italy that the experienced player from Herceg Novi "expressed the desire not to play for the national team anymore".
"It's my decision, not a whim, I had several meetings with the coach, but we did not solve anything. Our disagreements lasted from the Olympics in 2016," Radovic said to “Vijesti”.
What kind of disagreements - Radovic did not want to reveal.
PHOTO: Beta/AP
"With respect towards the representation, the country I represented, the players, the alliance... I would not reveal the details in public. I never did it, because some things simply need to stay with us. I stand behind my decision, being calm and completely clean but I sincerely regret the fact that I will no longer play for the national team," Radovic said.
He finished with the national team on the last day of the European Championship in Barcelona. So, almost three months ago.
"The decision fell after Barcelona, after which I talked to the coach. I wanted to play one more time at the Olympics in Tokyo, 2020. That would be the third Olympics for me, but it had to be this way."
The Water Polo Association of Montenegro was silent all the time - or did not know about Radovic's decision (which is really unlikely) or did not consider it important. "No one from the alliance contacted me all this time. Honestly, I do not know how things work there, but I just want to make it clear that I did not set any conditions to the selector. I feel sorry that nobody called me to ask what the problem was, and I have been playing for the national team for more than 10 years. The team has given us players a lot, we gave a lot to it too, but for all these years the alliance did not know how to stand behind us in some situations, so this is the best possible decision, though it was very difficult to make it," says the former player of Primorac, Partizan and Posilip. Radovic will be 32 years old in March, and there was definitely space for several more major tournaments.
"I think I am at a good age and that I have still something to offer. First of all, to contribute with my experience and to be an example to the young players whose time in the team is yet to come."
"We had to win more medals"
Montenegro had three coaches in history (Petar Porobic, Ranko Perovic, and now Vladimir Gojkovic) and each one went through the same path - they conquered medals but had big problems in keeping the team together.
PHOTO: Reuters
"Definitely, this has influenced the participation at some great competitions and the results. Perhaps some will not agree, but - we did not have, and now there is no cult representation," said Aleksandar Radovic. There is also a match with the "Sharks" Radovic will never get over.
"We had to win more medals, we had the quality for it. We really have something to regret and I believe that it is everyone lost the bronze at the London Olympics in 2012 when we were defeated by Serbia. I have not seen the video of this match even still today, I just cannot, even for five minutes. We had winning match, we probably played the best water polo. I regret this medal the most," Radovic said, who is a member of Hanover since 2015.
"This is the club that is probably developing most of all in Europe. From the semi-professional level, we have come to a professional one and have become competitive in the Champions League. Now, this is the club in which foreigners want to come, which was not the case before. We will play at the final tournament of the Champions League where we are hosts, I believe we will show how much we are worth. I wish to finish my career in Hanover," concluded Radovic.
Text by BETA AP, on October 25th, 2018 , read more at Vijesti
