Montenegro fly on the wings of their fans

Since 10 years, Montenegro had not beaten Spain in any official match, but on home ground they ended the series on Saturday night. In the opener of group B in a fully packed Moraca Arena, the hosts took a 30:23 victory and profited from a great start, and even greater support from the stands, the 10 saves of goalkeeper Marina Rajcic, who was awarded Player of the Match, and a higher efficiency in position attack after the break. And the match was a special one for Montenegrin right wing Jovanka Radicevic, who got closer to a magic mark.

GROUP D 

Montenegro vs Spain 30:23 (12:9)

• boosted by an incredible atmosphere of the 3,019 fans and backed by the saves of goalkeeper Marina Rajcic, Montenegro pulled ahead easily to a 6:1, Spain needed almost seven minutes to score their first goal 
• when Spain managed to decelerate the speed and to prevent Montenegro from running counter-attacks, they reduced the gap to two (8:6), and even another 11:6 lead did not stop the nervousness of the hosts in attack before the break 
• right before the break, Spanish experienced goalkeeper Silvia Navarro had to leave the court with an ankle injury and did not return – in her 40th EHF EURO match at her ninth EHF EURO
• the match turned into a pure defence battle, as both teams could not manage to run counter-attacks, and both defence walls blocked the position attacks, and Spain received many two-minute suspensions in that period 
• Montenegro clearly profited from those one-player advantages, their greater will and the return of the fan support to pull ahead for 19:12 and the decisive 22:14 – the biggest gap in the match 
• best scorers were Jovanka Radicevic, Djurdjina Jaukovic (both Montenegro) and Alexandrina Barbosa (Spain), who netted five times each

What a start for Jovanka Radicevic  

There is no other player to celebrate a goal like her – in her 'Air Joka' way by spreading the arms like wings and 'flying' through the arena: Right wing Jovanka Radicevic is a legend in Montenegro, leading this team for more than a decade. With now 36 matches, she is Montenegro’s record player at EHF EURO final tournaments, and already before the opener against Spain, she was Montenegro's EHF EURO record scorer. By adding five goals and raising her tally to 176, Jovanka Radicevic is closing in on the mahic 200-goal mark at EHF EURO events, a milestone only reached by four players so far: Cristina Neagu, Agnes Farkas, Isabelle Gulldén, and Carmen Martin.

Spain head coach Jose Ignacio Prades: "Montenegro played a complete match today, it was difficult for us, as the beginning was not so good, the same happened in the beginning of the second half, too. But still I am proud on our performance. On Monday we have another chance to make a different result, we need to work."