“We are in a period of renewal or rejuvenation in which we are looking for new young players who will become the leaders of our games,” said Serbia coach Uros Bregar ahead of Spain 2021 and while there are a trio of youngsters in his 18-woman squad in Granollers, it was the most experienced who led the way for the Serbians against their neighbours.
 
Captain Jovana Stoiljkovic has well over 100 appearances for her national side and her seven goals in a full 60 minutes played were crucial in a game which went right down to the last few seconds, with Serbia taking an eventual two-goal victory.
 
MAIN ROUND GROUP I
Montenegro vs Serbia 25:27 (18:14)
 
Serbia won the battle of the neighbours, showing real fighting spirit after finding themselves behind for 53 minutes in this match, eventually digging themselves out of a big hole which had seen them go in four down at the break (14:18).

With 11 minutes left they were still down by three, but an initial 4:0 run took them from 21:24 down to 25:24 ahead (54th minute) and try as they might, Montenegro could only match their opponents’ scoring for the final five minutes as they lost against Serbia for the first time in four IHF Women’s World Championship meetings after a 28:28 draw at Denmark 2015, a 31:29 win at Germany 2017 and a 28:26 victory at Japan 2019.

“It’s a really historic win for us,” said Serbia coach Bregar after the game to ihf.info. “I'm really proud of my team and my girls. It was a really, really tough match, with a lot of mental pressure. We will continue to fight every match the length of this competition.”
 
His captain, who ended up with seven goals praised the spirit of her team in a match against one of world handball’s most pumped up teams.

“From the first moment until the end we believed in our team,” said the left back. “We don't stop fighting, we fight until the end and this win is a result of our fight.”

Serbia now move up to four points in the group and have one eye on the quarter-finals while Montenegro lie bottom of the group on zero.
 
hummel Player of the Match: Itana Grbic, Montenegro