Serbia opens its participation in the European Championship on Saturday at 20:30 against the Netherlands. An ideal rival for the derby that follows on January 12th against the world and European champion, Spain.
At a press conference on the occasion of the upcoming competition, head coach Uroš Stevanović, captain Nikola Jakšić and Dušan Mandić spoke about Serbia’s first opponent.
– The Netherlands are not a naive team, they have prepared well. They beat Croatia in the preparatory tournament, they were in the lead for three quarters against Hungary. They will certainly be physically ready and it will be an ideal test for us as we continue the competition. There is no underestimation. There is a long way to go before we achieve our first goal of reaching the semi-finals and then the final. Our principle is to go from match to match, so now we are only thinking about the Netherlands – said Uroš Stevanović.
Of Branko MItrović’s 15 players, 13 play abroad. Gbadamasi is in Marseille in France, Rouwenhorst, De May and Hofmeyer in Florence in Italy, the Hessels brothers are in OSC in Hungary, Mart Van der Weyden in Barcelona, Rile in Voulagmeni in Greece, Van den Burg in Hannover in Germany, De Werd in the Spanish club Tenerife Echede, Ten Brek in the Spanish club Terrassa, Snell in Primorje in Croatia and Spijker in Spandau in Germany, while Butenhuis is from UZSC and Jorit Van der Weyden is from Donk in the Dutch league.
– That fact alone shows that they are not a naive rival. It is certain that they will be physically strong, that they will force us to make great efforts in order to achieve victory. Of course, everything is in our hands, we could not have wished for a better opponent to start the championship. I want to enjoy the competition. You have all seen the Arena, it is incredible. The new format will bring many exciting and important matches. My first goal is to achieve team success. There are no promises, I can only say that we will do our best – Dušan Mandić said.
Serbia and the Netherlands have not met often. The first meeting was at the 2006 European Championship in Belgrade 17:10. More triumphs followed in 2011 15:6 in a warm-up match in Utrecht, 2018 at the European Cup 15:7, and celebrations in 2019 and 2020 in the World League 11:7 and 11:4. Last year at the tournament in Šabac it was 20:14 for Serbia.
The most interesting duel was played at the European Championship in Split 2022. Serbia, disappointed by the defeat of the French in the round of 16, played and struggled with the Netherlands in the play-off for the ninth to 12th place. Serbia led 5:2 at half-time, before the last quarter it was 6:6. There were no goals in the final eight minutes, but Dejan Savić’s team won 12:11 in the penalty shootout.
From that team, the Serbian squad today includes Drašović, Randjelović, Vico, S. Rašović, Martinović, V. Rašović, while Mandić missed that match.
– I liked the Netherlands more at the start of the tournament than Israel. A real opponent to start with, they play modern water polo, everyone can express themselves in various roles in the team. I should not doubt that they are a physically prepared team, we know what awaits us after that duel. We do not underestimate and I hope that the fans will be the wind at our backs and that they will push us to success throughout the competition – said captain Nikola Jakšić.
January 10th
“A” group
France – Hungary (15.15), Malta – Montenegro (18)
“C” group
Israel – Spain (12.45), Netherlands – Serbia (20.30)
Serbia at the European Championship
Players: Radoslav Filipovic (Radnicki, 45 games), Dusan Mandic (Ferencvaros, 272 games and 501 goals), Strahinja Rašovic (Radnicki, 183 – 331), Sava Randjelovic (Radnicki, 264 – 124), Miloš Ćuk (Novi Beograd, 223 – 230), Nemanja Vico (Primorac, 113 – 84), Đorđe Lazić (Jadran HN, 102 – 99), Nikola Jakšić (Radnicki, 204 – 235), Radomir Drašović (Marseille, 135 – 243), Nikola Dedović (Radnicki 61 – 56), Petar Jakšić (Radnicki 46 – 16), Nikola Lukić (Novi Beograd 38 – 31), Viktor Rašovic (Radnicki 173 – 111), Vasilije Martinović (Novi Beograd 56 – 75), Milan Glušac (Novi Beograd 9).
Expert team: Uroš Stevanović (federal selector), Stefan Ćirić, Miloš Ćirić, Darko Bilić, Nemanja Ličanin, Miloš Ostojić (coaches), Dajana Zoretić (fitness preparation), Vladimir Radović, Aleksa Nikolić (physiotherapists), Dr. Ivan Marjanović (physician), Andrija Gerić (sports psychologist)
