It didn’t happen as expected, Serbia only achieved victory against the Dutch after executing five-pointers 18:16. Serbia started with two points and the game was not satisfactory. There were mistakes in every segment, little seemed fluid in the attack. Dušan Mandić kept the team above water and in the end the victory came with better execution of five-pointers.
The day after the Netherlands and the day before the match with Spain, Milan Glušac, Nemanja Vico and Đorđe Lazić presented their impressions to the media.
– I’ve been training for this my whole life. The truth is, it ended with a five-pointer. We started badly, it wasn’t as we know it should be. I think if it had to happen, it’s better if it happened now. Maybe the Spaniards will underestimate us now, but we will wake up. We know them well, I believe in us, the support from the stands. We are still moving towards our goal of the European Championship final – said Milan Glušac, who had a 50 percent successful intervention rate.
About the Spaniards he added:
– We have to be aggressive towards their team chemistry, a game in which everyone knows who does what. They are top players, great shooters, world and European champions. We have to focus on ourselves. I know they have been more successful lately, but I believe it is time to end the streak. In front of our fans, anything is possible. It is the first game, we felt the atmosphere, the audience, it will be better. The attack starts from the defense and we have to apply that.
Nemanja Vico emphasized that lessons should be learned from the meeting with the Netherlands.
– From entering the match, from implementing more players, to be tougher in one-on-one play. They have been standard in terms of quality for a number of years, with the Greeks they are perhaps the best team in the tournament. We know who our opponent is and only with our maximum can we reach an equal game. We have some problem with the extra player, everything has accelerated and we have to adapt to that. Let it be an equal game, and even if we don’t win, let it be that we played well. I believe that everything will start to get better after Spain. It’s a long tournament, there will be fatigue, there will be surprises. I would like an even bigger number of fans, we felt the support and thank them .
Djordje Lazic was of a similar opinion:
– We took two points and every one is important. We need to improve a lot of things in the game. We prepared for the match, but for a quarter and a half we were either sleepy, sluggish, slow. It was a game far from our level. We also conceded goals in an unacceptable way. The Spanish are perhaps the best team in the tournament. It will be a difficult match, physically demanding, but we are playing at home and we are going for the win. There is always pressure, but we are used to it and we can play.
The match is played on Monday at 20:30.
