Budućnost with 11 players at EHF EURO in Serbia

Budućnost will be one of the most represented team at EHF EURO 2012. In total, 11 players from Budućnost will play in Serbia.

Goalkeeper Marina Vukčević, wingers Biljana Pavićević, Majda Mehmedović, and Radmila Miljanić, line player Suzana Lazović, back court players Milena Knežević, Anđela Bulatović, and Jelena Despotović will represent Montenegro.

Clara Woltering will play for Germany, Claudine Mendy for France and Katarina Ježić for Croatia.

The entire coaching staff will also be at the EHF EURO.

Conditioning coach Gvozden Bulatović will be in Podgorica working with six players; Dragana Cvijić, Jelena Živković, Jelena Trifunović, Ivana Božović, Željka Nikolić, and Katarina Perović, while Elena Gjorgjievska and Katarina Bralo will have rehabilitation work on their injuries.

Having in mind all that, it is clear that most of the current Women’s EHF Champions League title holding team will not have adequate work in preparation period for Main Round.

"Every player separation adversely affects the work and the atmosphere in the team.

“When the team is complete, there are higher motives and desire to work, the atmosphere is better and more relaxed, and therefore results of work are better.

“However, Budućnost is familiar to this situation, because in last four years Montenegro have taken part in all major competitions with a lot of players of Budućnost, and it didn’t stop us as as club to achieve great results," assistant coach of Budućnost Vlatko Đonović told ehfCL.com.

For the Main Round of Women’s EHF Champions League the biggest problem, Đonović said, could be the “exhaustion in a short period of time of players who won EHF Champions League, silver medal at the Olympics, and now faces a new challenge – EHF EURO in Serbia.

“However, I think that the youth of the team and the desire to improve the quality will override all the physical and emotional discharge”, Đonović added.

If Montenegro go into the Main Round at the EHF EURO, Montenegrin players in the next round could meet some team-mates from Budućnost, Clara Woltering from Germany or Katarina Ježić from Croatia, or both of them.

Asked about who might have an advantage, Montenegro or Clara Woltering and Katarina Ježić, Vlatko Đonović answered:

"Firstly, we have to do a good job in the group phase and then we'll think about the next opponents. Let's go step by step, game by game.

“Anyway, although Clara Woltering is an intelligent person and an outstanding goalkeeper, who knows how we prepare games, I still think that the winner, in the case of our match with Germany, will be decided by the inspiration of the whole team and tactical outwitting of coaching staffs.

“The goalkeeper is important, but not a decisive factor in handball. The same goes with Katarina Ježić and Croatia.

“I believe that Montenegro will be very tricky to every opponent in Serbia," concluded Đonović, also assistant coach and goalkeeper coach in the Montenegro women's national team.