Montenegro qualify for Croatia after thriller in Moscow

For the first time in the history of Men’s EHF EURO events since 1994, former European champions Russia missed qualification for a final tournament. On Saturday, Dmitry Torgovanov’s side lost a five-goal lead at half-time to Montenegro. For the Balkan side, the 27:27 thriller in Moscow was enough to finish second in Group 6, with seven points, and thus they qualify for Men’s EHF EURO 2018 in Croatia as the ninth team. Montenegro will be part of a final tournament for the fourth time.

Again, the top-scorer for Montenegro was Vuko Borozan, who has 50 goals on his overall tally after seven goals at Moscow. For the disappointed hosts, Dmitry Kovalev and Dmitry Kiselev netted in six times each.

Group 6:

Russia vs. Montenegro 27:27 (16:11)

The hosts had a splendid start, getting ahead 6:2 and then 9:5, but backed by the strikes of newly crowned VELUX EHF Champions League winner Borozan, Montenegro nearly managed to close the gap when it was 11:10 in the 24th minute. But like in the initial stages of the first half, the Russians were the stronger side, and they had a 5:1 run, which left them with a comfortable 16:11 lead at half-time.

But the Balkan side fought back. When Milos Vujovic netted in to make it 19:17, Torgovanov took his time-out.

The match had everyone on edge, even though Russia were ahead by two or three goals throughout the match.

Nevertheless, the Russians could not shake off their opponents, who defeated Sweden 28:24 on Wednesday. Montenegro reduced the gap to a one-goal margin (23:24) yet again, but then Borozan received a 2+2-minute suspension eight minutes before the end.  

Montenegrin coach Dragan Djukic took his second time-out - and seemed to have found the right words, as Vujovic managed to equalize right after.

 The Russians then became nervous, and made many technical mistakes. A double strike from Milos Bozovic provided the visitors with their first lead since it was 1:0 at the beginning:  it was 26:25 with only three minutes left.

The gate was wide open for Montenegro - however, Igor Soroka managed to equalise for the Russians at 27:27 20 seconds before the end.