Montenegro national football team

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Montenegro
Nickname(s) Hrabri sokoli
(The Brave Falcons)
Association Fudbalski Savez Crne Gore (FSCG)
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
Head coach Serbia Ljubiša Tumbaković
Captain Mirko Vučinić
Most caps Elsad Zverotić (58)
Top scorer Mirko Vučinić (17)
Home stadium Podgorica City Stadium
FIFA code MNE
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 94 Steady (5 May 2016)
Highest 16 (June 2011)
Lowest 199 (June 2007)
First international
Official
 Montenegro 2–1 Hungary 
(Podgorica, Montenegro; 24 March 2007)

The Montenegro national football team (Montenegrin: Fudbalska reprezentacija Crne Gore, Фудбалска репрезентација Црне Горе) represents Montenegro in association football and is controlled by the Fudbalski Savez Crne Gore (FSCG), the governing body for football in Montenegro. Montenegro's home ground is Podgorica City Stadium in Podgorica.

Montenegro is one of the world's newest international sides, having come into existence following the 2006 FIFA World Cup. In that tournament, the newly independent states of Serbia and Montenegro competed as a united team and played their last group match on 21 June, failing to qualify for the following knockout stage.

The first official competition that the Montenegro national team competed in was the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying; they had not registered membership with FIFA in time for the qualifying draw for UEFA Euro 2008, which took place in January 2006. The team's good form at the start of UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying saw them reach a record high of 16th the FIFA World Rankings published in June 2011.

History

Formation

Following the independence of Montenegro from Serbia and Montenegro, Serbia took Serbia and Montenegro's place in the Euro 2008 qualifying stage, but UEFA had stated that they would be willing to include Montenegro as a late entry, as long as FIFA had ratified a separate Montenegrin Football Association before September 2006, when the qualifying began. However, as of the competition beginning, this had not occurred.[1] In October 2006, Montenegro was granted provisional membership of UEFA, with a debate on full membership scheduled at a full UEFA Congress in January 2007.[2] Montenegro's first FIFA World Ranking was joint 199th place, the last place on the list. This is because they had a score of 0 when the rankings were worked out.

First matches

UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying

On 26 January 2007, the Montenegro FA was granted full membership of UEFA,[3] and played its first friendly match against Hungary on 24 March 2007 at Stadion Pod Goricom in Podgorica, a 2–1 victory. Striker Mirko Vučinić scored the country's first ever goal in the 62nd minute.[4][5] On 31 May 2007, Montenegro was admitted as FIFA's 208th member.[6]

Montenegro's first coach was Serbia and Montenegro-born Zoran Filipović. Hailed by both players and press, his record was rather positive, with 23 matches played, eight victories, eight draws and seven defeats. Filipović, however, left the Balkan newcomers in January 2010 when his contract expired. During his time, Macedonia rose to 73rd position in the FIFA rankings.

Montenegro played at the 2007 Kirin Cup, but finished in last place behind Japan and Colombia, losing to both teams.

On 26 March 2008, Montenegro recorded one of its best played matches with a 3–1 win over Norway. At the same time, the nation recorded its highest scoring game.

First competitive matches

On 6 September 2008, Montenegro played its first ever World Cup qualifier, at Podgorica City Stadium, against Bulgaria in Podgorica. As expected, Bulgaria took an early lead in the 11th minute with a goal from Stiliyan Petrov. Mirko Vučinić scored in the 61st minute to make the game 1–1. Igor Burzanović took a penalty and made it 2–1 in the 82nd minute. As Montenegrin fans were about to celebrate a historical first competitive win, a last-minute equalizer from Blagoy Georgiev spoiled the party. In their next match on 10 September, they achieved another notable result when they held the Republic of Ireland to a 0–0 draw.

Another near-upset came in a narrow 2–1 loss against Italy. Despite Alberto Aquilani's early strike, Vučinić quickly equalized 11 minutes later. Aquilani then scored again ten minutes later. However, their second match against Italy in the two-game series ended 2–0 in favor of the world champions. And another disappointment came when the team could only draw 0–0 against Georgia and went on to draw 2–2 against Cyprus, having fought back after being two goals down. The fixture on 5 September 2009 was a shock when, after taking an early lead against Bulgaria in Sofia with Stevan Jovetić putting them 1–0 up, Bulgaria scored four goals in succession to win 4–1. Montenegro, then eliminated, drew their next game with Cyprus 1–1, who were also eliminated. Montenegro would finally register their first competitive win against Georgia, winning 2–1. They then managed a great performance to hold the Republic of Ireland to a 0–0 draw at Croke Park. They ultimately finished fifth in the group with nine points, just below Cyprus on goal differential. Though they failed to qualify for the World Cup, Montenegro had performed better than expected in their first competitive international matches. The next month, they reached one of their highest positions in the FIFA rankings, in 73rd place.

Golden era

UEFA Euro 2012 qualification

During the UEFA Euro 2012 qualification, the team has recorded further victories. The team defeated Wales in Podgorica in a match attended by 9,000 fans. The team won 1–0 from a goal by Mirko Vučinić. A few days later, the team defeated Bulgaria in Sofia 1–0. The next month, the team defeated Switzerland 1–0 by taking the lead in the second half and then recorded a 0–0 draw in London against England. On 4 June 2011, Montenegro played against Bulgaria. Switzerland tied with England 2–2, with England narrowly avoiding defeat. Although Montenegro had a bright start, the Bulgarians were able to keep it 1–1. Radomir Đalović scored for Montenegro early in the second half, but Ivelin Popov scored minutes later, keeping Montenegro in second. Montenegro and England were at the time tied on points, but due to a larger goal difference, England remained ahead.

After that, Montenegro played against Wales in Cardiff. Montenegro were beaten 2–1 (Steve Morison and Aaron Ramsey for Wales, Stevan Jovetić for Montenegro]], and appeared to have significantly damaged their chances of making the play-offs. After the match, Montenegro still was in second in group G, but Switzerland has closed the gap to only three points.

On 7 October, Montenegro played its seventh match in UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying against England in Podgorica. It was a rainy October night, but a very bright one for Montenegro. England started the match well, leading 0–2 in the 31st minute thanks to goals by Ashley Young and Darren Bent. A deflected volley by Elsad Zverotić in the 45th minute reduced the deficit to 1–2, and Montenegro were much brighter in the second half, creating a lot of chances. Their cause was greatly helped by the dismissal of Wayne Rooney after 73 minutes for kicking out at Miodrag Džudović. Montenegro equalised in stoppage time when a cross from Stefan Savić was headed in at the far post by Andrija Delibašić. The Montenegrins celebrated wildly, knowing following an announcement on the public address system that Wales were beating Switzerland 2–0, and thus that a point would be sufficient to guarantee second place in the group and a place in the play-offs. The game ended 2–2, whilst Wales won 2–0, securing a play-off position for Montenegro, a historic achievement putting the team two matches away from qualifying for Euro 2012.

In their last match in Euro 2012 qualifying, Montenegro lost 2–0 to Switzerland in Basel, though the outcome did not carry any implications, as Montenegro had already secured their place in the play-offs.

On 13 October, the draw for the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying play-offs was held in Kraków, Poland. As a result of the draw, Montenegro played against the Czech Republic, eventually losing 3–0 on aggregate and failing to qualify.

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification

Montenegro was in qualification Group H, along with England, Poland, Ukraine, Moldova and San Marino.

In their first match, Montenegro played against Poland in Podgorica. Jakub Błaszczykowski scored from a penalty kick for Poland in the fifth minute, but Montenegro came back with goals by Nikola Drinčić in the 26th minute and Mirko Vučinić in the first half's injury time following a corner kick. In the second half, Adrian Mierzejewski scored an equalizer for Poland in the 55th minute, the game's final goal in a 2–2 draw.

On 11 September, Montenegro played against San Marino in Seravalle. In a very one-sided match, Montenegro won 0–6,[7] the biggest win for Montenegro since its formation. Montenegro then proceeded to beat Ukraine 0–1 away in Kiev,[8] the sole goal scored by Dejan Damjanović. In their last match in 2012, Montenegro faced San Marino in Podgorica on 14 November, a comfortable 3–0 win.

Montenegro played their fifth qualifier match against Moldova in Chișinău on 22 March 2013, winning 0–1 through Mirko Vučinić's lone goal. After that, Montenegro returned to Podgorica to play the second ranked team in the group, England. The outcome was a 1–1 draw the goals coming from Wayne Rooney in the sixth minute and from Dejan Damjanović.

At the top of their World Cup qualifying group, Montenegro hosted Ukraine on 7 June 2013. They suffered their first defeat, losing 0–4. The match also saw Montenegro finish the match with nine men after Vladimir Volkov and Savo Pavićević were sent off. Their last four matches yielded just a single point, a 1–1 draw in Poland. Their 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign finished with a 2–5 home defeat to Moldova, finishing third in the group behind England and Ukraine.

Crisis

UEFA Euro 2016 qualification

On 23 February in Nice, Montenegro was drawn for qualification in Group G alongside Russia, Sweden, Austria, Moldova and Liechtenstein. They did not qualify.

Team image

Montenegrin supporters

Name

Under the official FIFA Trigramme, the team’s name is abbreviated as MNE, which is also the country's code. The team's nickname is "The Brave Falcons" (Montenegrin: Hrabri Sokoli).

Training

The Montenegrin national team trains at the Football Association of Montenegro Training Camp located in the Podgorica neighborhood of Stari Aerodrom.

Kit

The team kit is currently produced by Italian company Legea. It is all-red with gold details to reflect the colours of the Montenegrin national flag. Before that, briefly the kit providers were Adidas (2006–2007) and daCapo (2007–2008).

Manufacturer Period
Germany Adidas 2006–2007
Serbia daCapo 2007–2008
Italy Legea 2008–present

Supporters

At competitive matches, the Montenegrin home ground Podgorica City Stadium is very often filled to capacity. The stadium is regarded as too small to meet the needs of the national team. Demand for the World Cup qualifier against Italy in 2009 was 30,000 tickets and 40,000 for the Euro 2012 qualifying match against England in 2011.

Montenegro's loudest and most loyal supporters are Ultra Crna Gora (Ultra Montenegro). They practice ultras way of support – standing up and singing for 90 minutes, no matter the result, both home and away. They occupy the north and south stands of Podgorica City Stadium. Choreography is usually performed at the beginning of the games. Ultra Crna Gora consists of many subgroups, mostly named after Podgorica's neighborhoods and Montenegrin towns in other parts of the country.

On 7 October 2011, in a match against England, at the sound of final whistle, hundreds of Montenegrin supporters ran onto the pitch to celebrate with the players.

Players

In international football, players can normally only play for one national team once they play in all or part of any match recognised as a full international by FIFA. However, an exception is made in cases where one or more newly independent states are created out of a former state. Based on current FIFA rules, a player will be eligible to play for Montenegro, even if he had previously represented Serbia and Montenegro or any other country, if at least one of the following statements applies:[9]

  • He was born in Montenegro.
  • At least one of his parents and/or at least one of his grandparents was born in Montenegro.
  • He has lived in Montenegro continuously for any five-year period.

Due to mixed ancestries, it is likely that a high percentage of the players eligible to play for Montenegro will also remain eligible to play for Serbia, and vice versa. However, once they have played for either Serbia or Montenegro in any competitive fixture, they are no longer eligible to play for any other nation.

Current squad

The following squad was called up for the Friendly Match against Turkey on 29 May, 2016. [10]
Caps and goals as of 29 May 2016 after the game against Turkey.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Vukašin Poleksić (Vice-Captain) (1982-08-30) 30 August 1982 (age 41) 38 0 Hungary Békéscsaba
1GK Milan Mijatović (1987-07-26) 26 July 1987 (age 36) 2 0 Montenegro Bokelj
1GK Danijel Petković (1993-05-25) 25 May 1993 (age 30) 1 0 Montenegro Lovćen

2DF Elsad Zverotić (1986-10-31) 31 October 1986 (age 37) 58 5 Switzerland Sion
2DF Marko Baša (1982-12-29) 29 December 1982 (age 41) 37 2 France Lille
2DF Žarko Tomašević (1990-02-22) 22 February 1990 (age 34) 18 2 Belgium Kortrijk
2DF Marko Simić (1987-06-16) 16 June 1987 (age 36) 18 0 Turkey Kayserispor
2DF Vladimir Volkov (1986-06-06) 6 June 1986 (age 37) 17 0 Poland Lech Poznań
2DF Adam Marušić (1992-10-17) 17 October 1992 (age 31) 9 0 Belgium Kortrijk
2DF Marko Vešović (1991-08-28) 28 August 1991 (age 32) 7 0 Croatia Rijeka
2DF Aleksandar Šofranac (1990-10-21) 21 October 1990 (age 33) 2 0 Montenegro Sutjeska
2DF Emrah Klimenta (1991-02-13) 13 February 1991 (age 33) 1 0 United States Sacramento Republic
2DF Nemanja Mijušković (1992-03-04) 4 March 1992 (age 32) 1 0 Republic of Macedonia Vardar
2DF Filip Stojković (1993-01-22) 22 January 1993 (age 31) 1 0 Serbia Čukarički
2DF Risto Radunović (1992-05-04) 4 May 1992 (age 31) 0 0 Montenegro Budućnost

3MF Mladen Kašćelan (1983-02-13) 13 February 1983 (age 41) 25 0 Russia Tosno
3MF Nikola Vukčević (1991-12-13) 13 December 1991 (age 32) 16 0 Portugal Braga
3MF Nemanja Nikolić (1988-01-01) 1 January 1988 (age 36) 11 0 Israel Hapoel Tel Aviv
3MF Marko Bakić (1993-11-01) 1 November 1993 (age 30) 9 0 Italy Fiorentina
3MF Vladimir Boljević (1988-01-17) 17 January 1988 (age 36) 8 0 Cyprus AEK Larnaca
3MF Petar Grbić (1988-08-07) 7 August 1988 (age 35) 7 0 Turkey Akhisar Belediyespor
3MF Vladimir Jovović (1994-10-26) 26 October 1994 (age 29) 6 0 Serbia OFK Beograd
3MF Vladimir Rodić (1993-09-07) 7 September 1993 (age 30) 5 0 Sweden Malmö FF
3MF Branislav Janković (1992-04-08) 8 April 1992 (age 31) 3 0 Serbia Čukarički
3MF Darko Zorić (1993-09-12) 12 September 1993 (age 30) 3 0 Serbia Borac Čačak
3MF Aleksandar Šćekić (1991-12-12) 12 December 1991 (age 32) 2 0 Montenegro Bokelj
3MF Marko Janković (1995-07-09) 9 July 1995 (age 28) 1 0 Slovenia Maribor
3MF Nebojša Kosović (1995-02-24) 24 February 1995 (age 29) 1 0 Serbia Partizan
3MF Damir Kojašević (1987-06-03) 3 June 1987 (age 36) 0 0 Republic of Macedonia Vardar
3MF Vukan Savićević (1994-01-29) 29 January 1994 (age 30) 0 0 Slovakia Slovan Bratislava

4FW Mirko Vučinić (Captain) (1983-10-01) 1 October 1983 (age 40) 44 17 United Arab Emirates Al-Jazira
4FW Stevan Jovetić (Vice-Captain) (1989-11-02) 2 November 1989 (age 34) 40 16 Italy Internazionale
4FW Fatos Bećiraj (1988-05-22) 22 May 1988 (age 35) 40 5 Russia Dynamo Moscow
4FW Stefan Mugoša (1992-02-23) 23 February 1992 (age 32) 10 0 Germany 1860 München
4FW Filip Raičević (1993-07-02) 2 July 1993 (age 30) 2 0 Italy Vicenza

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called on the last 12 months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Mladen Božović (1984-08-01) 1 August 1984 (age 39) 38 0 Montenegro Zeta v.  Sweden, 14 June 2015
GK Ivan Janjušević (1986-11-05) 5 November 1986 (age 37) 1 0 Malta Balzan v.  Sweden, 14 June 2015

DF Stefan Savić (1991-01-08) 8 January 1991 (age 33) 37 3 Spain Atlético Madrid v.  Belarus, 29 May 2016
DF Esteban Saveljich (1991-05-29) 29 May 1991 (age 32) 4 0 Spain Almería v.  Belarus, 29 May 2016
DF Saša Balić (1990-01-29) 29 January 1990 (age 34) 12 0 Romania Târgu Mureș v.  Macedonia, 12 Novemmber 2015

MF Staniša Mandić (1995-01-27) 27 January 1995 (age 29) 4 0 Serbia Čukarički v.  Macedonia, 12 Novemmber 2015
MF Draško Božović (1988-06-30) 30 June 1988 (age 35) 2 0 Montenegro Rudar v.  Macedonia, 12 Novemmber 2015
MF Marko Vukčević (1993-07-07) 7 July 1993 (age 30) 1 0 Serbia Vojvodina v.  Sweden, 14 June 2015

FW Dejan Damjanović (1981-07-27) 27 July 1981 (age 42) 30 8 South Korea FC Seoul v.  Russia, 12 October 2015
FW Goran Vujović (1987-05-03) 3 May 1987 (age 36) 1 0 Russia Arsenal Tula v.  Sweden, 14 June 2015

|}

  • INJ Withdrew due to an injury.
  • PRE Preliminary squad.
  • RET Retired from international football.

Managers

Manager Career Played Won Draw Lost GF GA Win %
Montenegro Zoran Filipović 2006–2009 23 8 8 7 28 31 34.78%
Croatia Zlatko Kranjčar 2010–2011 13 6 2 5 14 11 46.15%
Montenegro Branko Brnović 2011–2015 34 11 9 14 39 40 32.35%
Serbia Ljubiša Tumbaković 2016- 1 0 0 1 0 0 0.00%

Coaching staff

Position Name
Head Coach Serbia Ljubiša Tumbaković
Assistant Coach Serbia Zoran Mirković
Assistant Coach Serbia Aleksandar Janković
Assistant Coach Montenegro Miodrag Džudović
Goalkeeping Coach Montenegro Dragoje Leković

Player records

Player/coach records are accurate as of 29 March 2016.

  Active players are highlighted

Most capped players

# Name Career Caps Goals
1 Elsad Zverotić 2008– 58 5
2 Simon Vukčević 2006– 45 2
3 Mirko Vučinić 2006– 44 17
4 Vladimir Božović 2006–2014 42 0
5 Stevan Jovetić 2006– 40 16
Fatos Bećiraj 2009– 40 5
7 Savo Pavićević 2006–2014 39 0
8 Mladen Božović 2006– 38 0
Vukašin Poleksić 2009– 38 0
10 Stefan Savić 2010– 37 3
Marko Baša 2009– 37 2

Top goalscorers

# Player Career Goals Caps Goals/Cap
1 Mirko Vučinić 2006– 17 44 0.39
2 Stevan Jovetić 2007– 16 40 0.4
3 Dejan Damjanović 2008– 8 30 0.27
4 Radomir Đalović 2006–2012 7 26 0.27
5 Andrija Delibašić 2009–2013 6 21 0.29
6 Elsad Zverotić 2008– 5 58 0.09
Fatos Bećiraj 2009– 5 40 0.13
8 Nikola Drinčić 2006–2014 3 33 0.09
Stefan Savić 2010– 3 37 0.08
10 Igor Burzanović 2006–2009 2 8 0.25
Simon Vukčević 2006–2014 2 45 0.04
Marko Baša 2009– 2 37 0.05

Captains

# Player Montenegro career Captain (Total Caps)
1 Mirko Vučinić (current captain) 2006– 22 (29)

Competition History

Montenegro have participated in two qualification rounds for big tournaments so far. On both occasions, Montenegro failed to qualify. Firstly, Montenegro tried to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, but they finished 5th in their group. Montenegro had more success in UEFA Euro 2012 qualifications, when they finished 2nd in their group, and qualified for the play-offs. They failed to qualify for the main event, because they lost their two leg match against Czech Republic.

FIFA World Cup

Year Round Position MP W D L GF GA
1930 to 2006 Part of Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro
South Africa 2010 Did Not Qualify
Brazil 2014
Russia 2018 TBD
Qatar 2022
Total 0/20 0 0 0 0 0 0

UEFA European Football Championship

Year Round Position MP W D L GF GA
1960 to 2004 Part of Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro
Austria Switzerland 2008 Did Not Enter
PolandUkraine 2012 Did Not Qualify
France 2016
Total 0/15 0 0 0 0 0 0

Recent results and fixtures

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FIFA World Cup 2014 qualifying

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Team
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 England 10 6 4 0 31 4 +27 22
 Ukraine 10 6 3 1 28 4 +24 21
 Montenegro 10 4 3 3 18 17 +1 15
 Poland 10 3 4 3 18 12 +6 13
 Moldova 10 3 2 5 12 17 −5 11
 San Marino 10 0 0 10 1 54 −53 0
  England Moldova Montenegro Poland San Marino Ukraine
England  4–0 4–1 2–0 5–0 1–1
Moldova  0–5 0–1 1–1 3–0 0–0
Montenegro  1–1 2–5 2–2 3–0 0–4
Poland  1–1 2–0 1–1 5–0 1–3
San Marino  0–8 0–2 0–6 1–5 0–8
Ukraine  0–0 2–1 0–1 1–0 9–0


Top Goalscorers during Qualification

4 goals
2 goals
1 goal

UEFA Euro 2016 qualification

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Austria Russia Sweden Montenegro Liechtenstein Moldova
1  Austria 10 9 1 0 22 5 +17 28 Qualify for final tournament 1–0 1–1 1–0 3–0 1–0
2  Russia 10 6 2 2 21 5 +16 20 0–1 1–0 2–0 4–0 1–1
3  Sweden 10 5 3 2 15 9 +6 18 Advance to play-offs 1–4 1–1 3–1 2–0 2–0
4  Montenegro 10 3 2 5 10 13 −3 11 2–3 0–3[lower-alpha 1] 1–1 2–0 2–0
5  Liechtenstein 10 1 2 7 2 26 −24 5 0–5 0–7 0–2 0–0 1–1
6  Moldova 10 0 2 8 4 16 −12 2 1–2 1–2 0–2 0–2 0–1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. Montenegro home match against Russia was awarded as a 3–0 win to Russia[11] after match was abandoned after 67 minutes due to crowd violence and scuffle between players (caused by Dmitri Kombarov being hit by an object thrown from the Montenegrin sector[12]). The original score was 0–0 and Russia missed a penalty moments before the match was abandoned. This was the second delay of the match as in the first minute, Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev was hit by a flare, causing a 33-minute delay.[13] Both teams were then charged by UEFA.[14]

See also

References

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  7. September 2012|publisher=Vijesti| date=11 September 2012
  8. October 2012|publisher=FIFA| date=16 October 2012
  9. http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/administration/status%5ftransfer%5fen%5f25.pdf
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External links