The Montenegrin water polo players are chasing a win in the match against Serbia tomorrow, and hope for a magical difference of at least three goals. If all goes to plan, Vladimir Gojković’s team will be in the position to become favorites for the World League finals, reports Vijesti on March 19, 2018.
The derby of the "Sharks" and "Dolphins", therefore, is crucial, and will be especially interesting because it will be played at the new swimming pool in Podgorica, which will officially open with the match of all matches.
"The matches of Montenegro and Serbia always attract attention. In some duels, the result was not significant, but this one has a high stake - the placement in the final tournament. The match is special because it is played in the new Podgorica pool. I hope we win," said Montenegrin coach Vladimir Gojković at a press conference.
In the first match in the World League, Serbia won in Niš with a score of 7:4.
"We were not complete in Niš, but we did a lot of good things in that game. It's not easy to keep a team like Serbia on seven goals, and few have managed to do so. It would be great if we repeat the same in Podgorica, and we are in better position than in Niš. Serbia has come with a changed team, but I wish our defense to be exceptional. After all, that is our goal," Gojković said.
The same rivals will meet in twenty days at the start of the final tournament of the European Cup played in Rijeka.
"Now we are only thinking about this match," Gojković added.
The captain of the "Sharks" Draško Brguljan is eagerly waiting for the match to start.
"This is a game that is not played every day. Serbia is the biggest possible opponent, and with whatever lineup they have, they fight for the biggest placement. We must not enter this match with pressure because we need to win with at least three goals. I would be pleased to win with the minimum, as it would also mean a lot to this team," said Brguljan.
The schedule of the competition, for both club and national teams, was the focus of all participants of the press conference.
"Such a packed schedule is an exaggeration; there must be some changes. We players know best how hard it is, but we have no saying in this," added Brguljan.
The Serbian national coach Dejan Savić spoke to the media with a rather humorous statement, saying that there are no tickets for the match, and then continued:
"Both teams want to go to the final tournament, and this is very important as part of the preparations for the European Championship in Barcelona. I expect serious water polo between both teams that know each other very well and I'm sure everyone who comes to the match will be able to enjoy it," said the coach of the "Dolphins" and Red Star.
He also had a message for Fina and Len, the World and European water polo organization:
"Nobody asks us anything, and the schedule is bad. We all know that water polo is a difficult sport; playing in the water, and preparation and recovery is specific, and something must be different. For example, in Split, we played in the Cup of Europe and had to compete in three games in 48 hours - and it shouldn’t be so. The schedule is intense for both club and national teams, and it is even more difficult because of the Cup of Europe, but it will probably be different in the future when this competition becomes a qualifying competition for big tournaments," Savić said.
To the conclusion that Serbia came weakened by missing players, without Andrija Prlainović, Filip Filipović, Duško Pijetković, Miloš Ćuk, the coach answered interestingly:
"Serbia is always with their strongest team. We have a team of 25, 26 players and with whatever team we have, we are the best."
Player Nikola Jakšić is one of five Serbian players from this group who participated in the last big competition - the World Cup in Budapest last year.
"We will do our best to win and leave a good impression," said the water polo player of Hungarian team Ferencvaros.
The duel between Montenegro and Serbia will be played tomorrow at 18:00.
MONTENEGRO team: Dejan Lazović, Draško Brguljan, Bojan Banićević, Marko Petković, Đuro Radović, Dimitrije Kriještorac, Dragan Drašković, Aleksa Ukropina, Aleksandar Ivović, Saša Mišić, Uroš Čučković, Vladan Spaić and Slaven Kandić.
SERBIA team: Dimitrije Rističević, Lazar Dobožanov, Dušan Mandić, Viktor Rašović, Gavril Subotić, Nebojša Toholj, Radomir Drašović, Sava Ranđelović, Nikola Jakšić, Đorđe Lazić, Mateja Asanović, Stefan Mitrović, Strahinja Rašović.
This article was translated from an article by A.H. on Vijesti.me: Gojković: Special match , Savić: Serbia always with the strongest team
