Montenegro Secures Place in A Division with Victory Over Britain

The Montenegrin national goalball team secured their spot in the A Division by finishing seventh at the European Championship held in Pajulahti, Finland. They achieved this by defeating Great Britain 7:4 in a decisive match for survival among Europe’s elite teams.

Montenegro’s performance mirrored their best result in A Division championships, previously accomplished in 2021 in Samsun, Turkey. Throughout the tournament in Pajulahti, the team recorded one win and one draw, alongside five losses. In the group stage, they faced defeats against Ukraine (6:5), Germany (8:4), and Israel (4:2). A draw against Portugal (6:6) allowed them to progress to the quarterfinals due to a superior goal difference.

In the knockout phase, Montenegro was eliminated by Turkey with a score of 12:5. They then faced Poland in the placement matches, losing 9:6. The crucial match against Great Britain was a test of resilience. After initially falling behind, Montenegro seized control and maintained their lead to secure their place in the A Division.

Leading the scoring for Montenegro, Nikola Nikolić netted six goals in the match, while Marko Nikolić contributed with one goal. Coach Nikola Čurović acknowledged that while the team repeated their best performance in A Division championships, he was dissatisfied with their overall showing in Finland.

“This is an unsatisfactory result, especially considering the plans and ambitions we had. Against Great Britain, we demonstrated a bit more, but it was still far from our level,” said Čurović. He emphasized the importance of their victory but indicated that improvements are necessary.

Analyzing the team’s performance, Čurović noted, “We had exceptionally strong opponents in our group. We needed to win against Portugal, and that point led us to the quarterfinals. After that match, our confidence seemed to drop, and we lost faith in our ability to achieve what we set out to do.” Following their quarterfinal exit, he expressed disappointment with the players’ form throughout the tournament.

“We are much better than what we showed. We need to conduct a serious analysis to identify what went wrong. Changes will be necessary,” he concluded.

Representing Montenegro in Finland were Marko Nikolić, Nikola Nikolić, Miloš Ranitović, Goran Macanović, and Velizar Obradović. They were led on the bench by coach Nikola Čurović, assisted by Branislav Bulatović, with team manager Milo Kastratović also in attendance.