To win the placement in the round of 16 at the European Championships in Latvia and Serbia, Montenegro must beat the Czech Republic by at least 12 points. That is, if France justifies their role as the favorite against Sweden. If, however, Sweden wins, then Montenegro would pass even with the minimum score against the Czech Republic.
"It's not easy, it's very specific when you do not start a match with 0:0, but you know that the rival leads 12:0. But nothing is impossible, and we really believe in it. We will do our best to win and then we will think about those 12 points which we need to go further," said Jovana Pasic. The rejuvenated selection from the bench is led by debutant coach Jelena Skerovic who has experienced two defeats in the first two rounds of the group, to Sweden (67:51) and France (88:53).
"We tried as the selector asked us to forget this match with France as soon as possible. It was a tough and an ultimately unrealistic result, to which we naturally contributed. Of course, now our thoughts are completely focused on the Czech Republic, we began preparations and with good training we want to be ready for that duel. We have to give everything we have because there is no other way to success. The team is all right, we only think of giving our maximum in the game tomorrow," said Pasic before the duel in Riga.
"The Czechs have shown against Sweden what kind of national team they are, even without some important basketball players who are not at this European Championship. I also believe that if we get together and finally show what we have been doing these 50 days of preparations, we can play against them," concluded Jovana Pasic.
Text by Sasa Joncic, on June 30th 2019, read more at Vijesti
