Profile of Montenegro

[NeilMcD]

This is a thread to talk about the opposition and what people know about their players etc. This is from the Fifa website.


Profile

The last country to become a member of FIFA, Montenegro started off at the bottom of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, but they have the players and a history - shared with Serbia - that suggests they will soon rise towards the middle rungs of the global ladder.The Montenegrins have yet to dispute a qualification match, but they did participate in the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™, as one half of the side known as Serbia and Montenegro.

Representing two republics that unified in 2003 after the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro did not take long to find its bearings. In qualifying for their first and only FIFA World Cup, they registered six wins and four draws to finish top of a tough group that also included Spain, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Belgium.

When Serbia and Montenegro then split, the Montenegro Football Association had to apply to various bodies for membership. They joined UEFA in January 2007 and FIFA in June of the same year, but were unable to take part in qualifiers for UEFA EURO 2008. Instead, the new nation will make its qualifying debut on the road to the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.

Former Serbia and Montenegro coach Dejan Savicevic took over as President of the new association and they contested their very first match against Hungary on 24 March 2007. The game ended in a 2-1 victory for the Balkan side, and Mirko Vucinic went down in history as Montenegro's first goal-scorer.

Coach Zoran Filipovic can turn to several experienced players, the vast majority of whom operate in foreign leagues. Branko Boskovic plays at Rapid Vienna, for example, while Slobodan Lakicevic turns out for Bayer Leverkusen and Stefan Nenadovic is at Inter Milan. Perrhaps fittingly for a country so young, only one player in the team is aged over 30 (Vlado Jeknic).

The challenge now for the young band of Montenegrins will be to make the same kind of name for themselves as their illustrious predecessors Branko Brnovic, Predrag Mijatovic, Ljubomir Radanovic, Branko Radovic and, of course, Dejan Savicevic, who scored 19 goals in his 56 appearances for Yugoslavia.

[irishultra]

I'd expect 3 points but in a way a draw wouldn't be too bad.

They have some good players like Jovetic or whatever his name is, and Vucinic but I'm not so sure.

[carloz]

I think it could work to our advantage that we are playing them second. AFAIK they are playing Bulgaria in the first game. Being their first competitive game one would expect them to be pumped up unbelievably for that game, and im sure there might be a tear shed during the national anthem. Emotions will have dies down by the time we play them and maybe we will be getting them at the right time.

[elroy]

If as above they are free spirited attach minded sort of team with a tendancy to concede a few, then we have the perfect manager in place to exploit such a weakness. Montenegro are a real unknown quantity IMO and we couldnt have got a worse bottom seed, could end up affecting the chances of the second team gaining a playoff spot if they end up taking a few points along the way.

[Crosby87]

Everyone is talking about them like they are going to be so good....I dont know. Lets see how this plays out, they are untested, and things happen with new teams sometimes that they didnt plan.

[TheBoss]

They like to attack, their defense is their weak point, if we can stop their attack, we are good enough to score 2 or 3 there.

[Scratchy]

They like to attack, their defense is their weak point, if we can stop their attack, we are good enough to score 2 or 3 there.

I caught the last 20 minutes of their recent friendly with Hungary, when they drew 3-3, and I'd pretty much agree with this. From what I recall their keeper was a little dodgy but going forward their midfield was very tidy and kept possession quite well, as you might expect.

[shakermaker1982]

good article on the guardian website today from Jonathon Wilson (blog page)


When he was appointed as Montenegro's first manager Zoran Filipovic spoke of his excitement at having a blank history to write. After 18 months of preamble, the real story gets under way on Saturday as Montenegro take on Bulgaria in their first competitive international. The following Wednesday, the Republic of Ireland go to Podgorica and then, in October, Montenegro travel to Italy. As gloomier commentators have noted, Montenegro's first World Cup qualifying campaign could be over just a month after it has begun.

.......

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...&feed=football

[eirebhoy]

Good article alright.

So they've got the current top scorer in S.Korea in on the granny rule just in time to play us.

An 18 year old who was captain of Partizan Belgrade, has scored a hattrick in the UEFA cup against a Bosnian team and was sold for €8m to Fiorentina in the summer.

Obviously the highly rated Vucinic.

And another Skillful playmaker.

According to that article all 4 of them should play in a 4-2-3-1 but defensively the team is poor. All 4 of them are over 6 foot too.