In a surprising turn of events, the Montenegrin water polo team seemed to concede defeat in the 2nd round of the World Championship against Serbia as soon as the referee’s whistle blew, rather than battling fiercely as expected in this rivalry.

The “Dolphins” started strong, leading 4:0, but the “sharks” managed to come back to 6:4 and had an opportunity with an extra player to narrow the score further. However, they failed to capitalize on that chance, resulting in a 14:6 defeat that they hardly deserved.

Despite this setback, Vladimir Gojković’s team still controls their own fate. A win against Japan could secure them a 2nd place finish in Group C, setting up a likely match against Romania for a place in the quarter-finals and a chance at Olympic qualification.

“There’s not much to say. This was one of our poorer performances recently, lacking aggressiveness and accountability. We weren’t present in the game. We need to forget this match and focus on Japan. Our main goal is to qualify for the Olympic Games,” stated Đuro Radović, who scored the opening goal just 31 seconds before the end of the first quarter.

Another left-handed player, Aleksa Ukropina, shared his disappointment with the team’s performance.

“It was a very poor game; Serbia won fairly. We made numerous mistakes that are unusual for us, especially early on. The opponent gained an early lead, maintained their composure, and the difference could have been smaller, but Serbia is currently the stronger team.”

News