Who are Montenegro?
Fabio Capello’s England prepare to face Montenegro on Tuesday evening in a top-of-the-table clash for Group G supremacy.
Rather surprising, no?
Few would have predicted Montenegro to lead the pack after their first three qualifiers – especially without influential midfielder Stevan Jovetić – but after sealing three impressive 1-0 victories against Wales, Bulgaria and then Switzerland, top of the group is precisely where the national team proudly sit.
So, how is this happened? After all, Montenegro were not expected to compete at the highest level following their split from Serbia after the 2006 World Cup finals. Especially so soon after the division.
Most of the players who competed in Germany for the then known ‘Serbia and Montenegro’ were of Serbian origin, and so it was Serbia who they stayed with after the 2006 World Cup. The reason for the split came about when the citizens of Montenegro voted to cut ties with their Eastern European neighbours back in May 2006, which subsequently resulted in a new political border being drawn between the two Balkan republics.
However, Montenegro were left with the aforementioned Jovetić – the hugely talented 20-year-old Fiorentina midfielder – as well as Roma striker Mirko Vučinić – the much-maligned forward who has stepped up to the fore in recent seasons with aplomb.
Although these two players may be the star names in the Montengro pack, head coach Zlatko Kranjčar – father of Croatia international Niko – has managed to recruit a group of players who are very well drilled and extremely tough to break down. Three clean sheets in their opening three Euro 2012 qualifiers is testament to that, a feat made all the more remarkable by the fact they were without the influence of the injured Jovetić.
During qualification for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa, there were very few signs that the national team would be capable of competing for a place at the European Championships at their very first attempt. Although they avoided finishing bottom of Group 8, they only picked up nine points from their 10 qualifying matches.
But while it always looked like Montenegro would be looking upon Serbia with envy, it’s been an entirely different story during this qualification campaign.
Although they might be brought back down to earth with a bump at Wembley on Tuesday evening, the tiny nation located in southeastern Europe have every right to be confident of sealing their place at Euro 2012, even at this early stage of the competition.
Tags: