The head coach of the Serbian women’s water polo team, Miloš Bradić, has determined the list of players who will represent Serbia at the European Championship in Funchal, Portugal, from January 26 to February 5.
The list includes: Jelena Vuković, Elena Ćuk, Anja Švec, Nada Mandić, Cecilia Diaz Mesa, Masha Ćuk, Ana Milicevic, Hristina Ilic, Jovana Radonjic, Nika Ratković, Milica Zelic, Jelena Šarac, Tijana Lukić, Maja Dulic and Nikolina Travar.
In addition to coach Bradić, the coaching staff also includes assistant coaches Ivana Ćorović and Nemanja Mladenović, fitness coach Milan Sikimić, women’s water polo coordinator Dragana Ivković, and doctor Kosta Pantović.
Serbian water polo players completed their final training session today, and will travel to Portugal on Friday.
Serbia is in Group C, with Italy, Croatia and Turkey, and in the first round, on January 26th at 4:30 PM Serbian time, the opponent will be Turkey. A day later at 1:15 PM Serbia plays Italy, while on January 29th the opponent will be Croatia at 6 PM.
The preparation period did not go well, and coach Bradić spoke about this the day before tomorrow:
– We started the January training cycle on January 3rd and worked until January 22nd, with a short break of a day and a half during Christmas. During the entire period, we were accompanied by serious problems with the virus. Practically, until all the girls had recovered, the virus did not stop. Two players still have a mild cold, but we only finally got over that health problem a few days ago. In addition to the virus, we were also dealing with injuries that have been dragging on for a long time – says Bradić and continues:
– Hristina Ilić and Ana Milićević have injuries that have partially healed, but they will play with pain. Jovana Radonjić injured her thumb, so she is currently training without a ball, while Tijana Lukić only entered the pool today to work on her legs, because due to the braces and a broken nose, she is still not allowed to get her head wet. Unfortunately, Nađa Kulić was forced to leave the preparations due to chronic sciatica. The other girls have completed a large part of the preparations. It is a pity that we did not have more joint training sessions in full, because the virus was changing us from day to day.
However, the most important thing is that Serbia is ready to welcome the start of the European Championship:
– There was no lack of will, desire and energy to work. Although partially, we managed to realize everything that was planned and within the circumstances that accompanied us, we are ready to enter this competition. I would especially praise each girl for their effort, attitude towards work, as well as for the unity and harmony that the team showed throughout the preparations – says Bradić.
Serbia plays its first match on January 26th against Turkey.
– Turkey has been further strengthened with two Russian players and Russian coach Markoč. A day later, on January 27, we will face an extremely strong Italian team, while after a day’s break, on January 29, we will play against the Croatian team, which we last defeated in Belgrade in 2016 – emphasizes the Serbian coach and adds:
– Our desire is to go game by game, with a clear ambition to win and try to advance from second place in the group to the quarterfinals. Of course, desires and reality are not always the same – all three national teams represent a great challenge for us and any eventual victory would bring us huge points and significance.
It is clear that Serbia’s main rivals for a place among the top eight teams are Turkey and Croatia.
– We are focusing most on the matches against Turkey and Croatia, where we see room for a win or a draw. When it comes to Italy, I believe that at the moment we are not yet at a level that would allow us to compete with them on equal terms. In any case, we are going to give our maximum, fight until the end and see how far we can go.
