“We are on the path” – Montenegro’s men driven to future by past

16 Jan. 2023

“We are on the path” – Montenegro’s men driven to future by past

Exactly a decade ago, the Montenegro men's side made their senior IHF World Championship debut.

At Spain 2013, the Granollers Palace of Sports saw them take to the court against Argentina in their opening match on Saturday 12 January. Playing in white, Montenegro opened the scoring with 2:45 on the clock with a powerful shot from the line.

Who took that shot and made history with their first-ever IHF Men's World Championship goal? A player wearing white with the number 23 on his back. His name? Zoran Roganović.

 

 


A special Montenegrin day

Fast-forward to Saturday 14 January 2023, and Montenegro men record their first preliminary group match at Poland/Sweden 2023 – a 34:31 victory against the Islamic Republic of Iran at the Tauron Arena in Krakow, Poland.

It is their first time back in the competition since 2013.

Their coach? Zoran Roganović. And the coach of Iran? None other than the legendary Montenegrin-born player and coach Veselin Vujović. 

It was a day full of Montenegrin emotion.

"It was a real challenge for us," said Roganović about the Iran test his side faced. "But my players are hungry. We have lots of energy left to play and win many more matches in this competition.

"I am the apprentice of Mr Vujović. I will always be. He is someone who is the biggest, biggest star in the Balkans," he added.

"This throne he's sitting on will never be taken by anyone else. He has done some things in his career, also as a player and as a coach, that all of us are striving to achieve, but I do not believe that anyone will come near him. I learned the most that I know in this job as a handball coach from him."

A debut, a win and the journey begins

Back at Spain 2013, Montenegro lost all five preliminary group matches; against Argentina (26:28), France (20:32), Tunisia (25:27), Germany (21:29) and Brazil (25:26) before getting their first win in the 21-24 placement round against Chile (35:31). 

They eventually finished 22nd after a 27:30 loss against the Republic of Korea.

But just being there was momentous for the men, who had seen their women take Olympic Games silver and European championship gold in the preceding four months.

To get to Spain 2013, Montenegro played two rounds of qualification, a total of six matches. Two each against Belgium (35:27, 37:33) and Latvia (31:30, 32:28) in the first stage, then an impressive 41:40 overall defeat of Sweden (21:22, 20:18).

"It was a big thing for us and all the country, because it was the first time since our independence," explained Montenegro Handball Federation Petar Kapisoda to ihf.info about qualifying for Spain 2013.

"Hearing the Montenegro national anthem for the first time in Spain was also a big thing. I'm very emotional when I hear it, as I'm very connected with my country, my nationality, but they were tough matches in Spain, and Chile was our only win, but it was important."

A decade of change

Kapisoda, Stevan Vujović, Marko Lasica and Vasko Ševaljević, teammates of Roganović from 2013, are now in Krakow with Montenegro a decade later, with Vujović, Lasica and Ševaljević – as team captain – still playing.

Their presence reminds anyone associated with Montenegrin handball just how far the men's team have come, their experience mixed with six of their squad aged 25 or under.

"Lots of things have changed in the last five years," said Roganović to ihf.info. "I have a really, really great group of guys who are coming here to this tournament really well-prepared.

"They've done the job in their clubs and I'm so honoured to be coach of this team. As you can see, we have some amazing talents with amazing skills. These are the guys who are going to take Montenegro further to the top of where we want to be.

"Maybe it will take some time, but I'm sure that with these guys we can be competitive against any team in the future."


Standards being set, women as inspiration

Montenegro is well-known for its awe-inspiring, passionate and super-successful women's team, who have won medals in European and World Championships as well as the Olympic Games.

And now, it is time for the men to push towards that excellence.

"We are here again after 10 years, we strived to be here but somehow, we didn't manage it, but it is a step forward for us even to be here," explains Kapisoda. 

"We have to be very honest; we are a small nation, a small country with not too many players. When you find a way to qualify for a World Championship, it is a big thing for us.

"Our women's team have just won a bronze medal at the European Championship a few months ago, so I believe we are by far the best sporting product coming from Montenegro. We are going to continue acting and playing like this.

"And now, after the first win, things are a little bit easier, because I must say it was a bit of pressure on the head coach and the team. Our goal is to go through to the main round and try to win there. It would be a great thing that we keep winning here and make some good results."

The historic result against Iran had come after an opening day loss (32:25) against 2021 bronze medallists Spain, but that match provided an important indicator for where Roganović saw his team.

"I'm not satisfied with the result at the end, but I'm satisfied with how we played against one of the best teams in the world," he said.

"We are happy that we can be competitive. We need experience and I am sure we will be better and better, but we need time and European and World Championships. We need matches so that we can develop, because I can see progress in every training."

A mixture of culture, experience and youth

As a player, Roganović spent the majority of his career in Sweden, alongside spells in Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Spain, Qatar, Greece and Portugal.

In August 2018, he became Montenegro coach, later taking a head coaching role at Swedish club side Eskilstuna GUIF, and is bringing that wide range of knowledge to his coaching.

"I have players who have really good individual skills from the Balkans, and I give them a little bit of a touch from Scandinavia and some of the best parts of the Spain school," said Roganović. 

 

Zoran Roganovic


 

"This mix is really good for this team and I am sure that we are not going to stop here. My players are hungry. They are young and have lots of energy left to play and to win many, many more matches in this tournament."

One such player, captain Vasko Ševaljević, was rested for that historic victory last week but can give an important overview about just how far the men's team has come.

"I was a part of that generation in 2013 and we were struggling a lot," said the Redbergslids IK club player. 

"Montenegrin handball is on a much higher level now. We have improved a lot and this current generation has broken all the records possible for Montenegro and we are continuing to do so. 

"We are a small country with around 600,000 people, but we produce really good players. I don't know why. People love handball. It has always been played in Montenegro, across the whole Balkans. We always have good players, continue to have with more to come."

A continental performance paving the way

January 2022 saw Montenegro compete in their sixth European Championship, where they recorded their best-ever rank – 11th – after preliminary group wins against North Macedonia (28:24) and Slovenia (33:32), plus a main round defeat of Croatia (32:26).

This performance set them up for Poland/Sweden 2023 and helped the team raise their aspirations, according to Ševaljević.

"Considering that we did a good job at the last European Championship, we got some self-confidence," said the 34-year-old Ševaljević.

"We were not that 'forced' to win against Iran. We did not feel pressure to win the match. We knew that it had to be our two points. We have to start learning to play and to win matches when we are favourites, when we are better than other teams.

"We can win more matches, but there is no easy way to win handball matches today; everyone runs, everyone is strong, everyone is physically good," he added. "You have to show it on the court and enter every match 100%.

"We go step by step, but this team can do much more and we will try to do so."

A team on and off the court

As Montenegro's men continue to progress on the world stage, there is no doubt about the strong bonds that those involved in its management have with each other. 

But it is a results-based business, and there is no time for favours on either side.

"From day one, I said to Petar that the day he sees I may not be doing my job properly, just say to me, 'it's finished'," said Roganović.

"When I don't have results, I told him I will just pack my things and leave. It's no problem for me because I'm really doing this because I love it because I care about it.

"As long as we have results, maybe I will be here, but I don't have a problem if he tells me tomorrow: 'please step down'. I don't have a problem with this, even though we are such close, good friends. In my whole career, I have never worked with someone so easily.

"When I see his energy, what he's doing with the women's team, what he's doing for all the clubs in Montenegro, everything. He is really taking care of us in the best possible way. We are all thankful and we will continue this cooperation, this job together, as long as we enjoy it and as long as I have results."

"He is already into his fifth year as head coach, which is, I must say, not so usual in the Balkans," added Kapisoda. "He has already beaten some of the best teams in the world and has had some really good results. He's doing a good job and I wish him the best of luck."

"We have been friends for decades," added the 46-year-old, who played as a left wing for Montenegro. "He was a powerful left-handed player, a warrior in the true sense of the word. I loved to play with him.

"He was always ready to fight, no matter what, and everyone loved him as a teammate, as a player."

The next decade

The most successful Montenegrin handball club of all time is called 'Buducnost' – the literal translation into English is 'future'.

So what about the next 10 years?

"It is really my big wish for the men's team to win a medal somewhere in the European Championship or the World Championship," said Kapisoda.

"Also, it would be a great thing for us if we managed to qualify for the Olympic Games for the first time."

"I had a plan about coming to the Olympics that we started four and a half years ago. That is my dream," adds Roganović.

"We are on this path. Everyone accepted it after they saw what we were capable of doing when we beat Denmark in 2019 (a 32:31 win in the 2020 European Championship Qualification in Podgorica). After that, I had no problems with anyone. The players believe in every word I say, so it's much easier to work with them.

"I am really hoping that we can achieve things and put the Montenegro men's national team on the same level as our women's team, that we can push ourselves to the top of European and world handball and stay there.

"I look forward every day to doing this job, because this is the best job I can ever have. No other country or no other club can come near to this job.

"I am doing this job every day as if it was my last day on this job. I cannot imagine having this emotion, this energy and this enthusiasm with any other team."