Surprise last-minute goal seals Montenegro’s victory

Montenegro are one step closer to the World Championship 2015 in Qatar following Sunday’s 28:27 victory against Belarus in Podgorica. The outcome of the match between these two teams was a difficult one to predict, with both Montenegro and Belarus capable of surprising their opponents – which is exactly what happened.

Belarus went into the match as favourites, given their success in reaching the main round of the EHF EURO 2014, which Montenegro missed. But recently instated Montenegrin coach Ljubomir Obradovic had made several changes to his side since the EHF EURO 2014, so the potential performance of the home team was somewhat a mystery.

Hosts Montenegro benefitted from the home-crowd support, but the higher-quality individual play and greater experience of the Belarusians enabled them to take the lead early – and keep it.

Belarus’ superior play was reflected in the score throughout the 60 minutes, resulting in a mostly one-sided match. The visitors played a strong first half, taking a 14:10 lead into the half-time break and returning hungry for more in the second 30 minutes.

Montenegro looked in danger of turning the game around in the second half, coming within one goal of their rivals a number of times. But Belarus allowed them to get no closer than that, responding with powerful shooting that kept the away team marginally in the lead.

Montenegro refused to give in however, and their perseverance was finally rewarded in the 59th minute. A last-minute goal by Vuko Borozan caused great upset on the Belarusian bench, as the score was levelled for the first time at 27:27.

Only seconds later, Fahrudin Melic put the ball in the back of the net again, snatching a last-second victory for Montenegro.

Sunday’s tense match means fans are most likely in for another nail-biting 60 minutes when the teams meet for the second, and final, leg play-off in Minsk next Sunday.