Montenegro head coach, Vladimir Gojkovic, has revealed the roster of players who will participate in a seven-day training session with the Dutch national team in Utrecht (December 10 – 16). This will be the first part of Montenegrins’ preparations for the European Championships in Croatia.
For the first time after the Tokyo Olympics, Gojkovic called up experienced defender Drasko Brguljan, who has played over 350 games for Montenegro. He was the team’s captain between 2019 and 2021. This year, the four-time Olympian (2008, 2012, 2016, 2021) moved from Vasas to Primorac, where he started playing water polo. He was one of the key players in Vasas’ road to the Euro Cup trophy last season. Now he is one of Primorac’s leaders. Brguljan will turn 39 in a few weeks.
Compared to the roster that played at the 2023 World Championships, only defender Uros Cuckovic is missing. Cuckovic ended his playing career after the Worlds in Fukuoka.
After the preparations in the Netherlands, Montenegro will play at the tournament in Cagliari against host Italy, France, and Australia. The final phase of the preparations will be staged in Montenegro (in Podgorica, Kotor and Herceg Novi)
The players called up to the preparations.
Goalkeepers: Dejan Lazovic (Marseille), Petar Tesanovic (Brescia), Darko Djurovic (Jadran Herceg Novi).
Field players: Drasko Brguljan (Primorac), Stefan Vidovic (Sabadell), Bogdan Djurdjic (Savona), Vlado Popadic (Strasbourg), Vladan Spaic (Marseille), Kanstantin Averka (Sabadell), Aleksa Ukropina (Panionios), Dusan Banicevic (Spandau 04), Djuro Radovic (Jadran Split), Dusan Matkovic (Noisy-le-Sec), Aljosa Macic (Sabac), Martin Gardasevic (Jadran Herceg Novi), Miroslav Perkovic (Novi Beograd), Vasilije Radovic (Jadran HN), Jovan Vujovic (Jadran HN), Marko Mrsic (Primorac) and Danilo Radovic (Jadran HN).
Montenegro was drawn into Group A at the European Championships, along with Croatia, Spain and France.
