Montenegro national football team

Montenegro
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s) Hrabri Sokolovi
("The Brave Falcons")
Association Football Association of
Montenegro
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
Head coach Croatia Zlatko Kranjčar
Captain Mirko Vučinić
Most caps Vukašin Poleksić (22)
Top scorer Mirko Vučinić (10)
Home stadium Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica
FIFA code MNE
FIFA ranking 72
Highest FIFA ranking 64 (May 2010)
Lowest FIFA ranking 199 (June 2007)
Elo ranking 57
Home colours
Away colours
First international
Montenegro Montenegro 2–1 Hungary 
(Podgorica, Montenegro; 24 March 2007)
Biggest win
Montenegro Montenegro 3–0 Kazakhstan 
(Podgorica, Montenegro; 27 May 2008)
Biggest defeat
 Romania 4–0 Montenegro Montenegro
(Bucharest, Romania; 31 May 2008)

The Montenegro national football team represents Montenegro in international football and is controlled by the Football Association of Montenegro, the governing body for football in Montenegro.

Montenegro is the world's newest international side, 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 December 2005. They competed in Group 8, along with Italy, Bulgaria, Ireland, Cyprus and Georgia. They failed to qualify for the World Cup.

Contents

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 due at a full UEFA Congress in January 2007.[2] Montenegro's first FIFA 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

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, resulting in a 2–1 victory.[4][5] On 31 May 2007, Montenegro was admitted as FIFA's 208th member.[6]

The coach who made history by becoming Montenegro's first coach was Serbian Montenegro-born Zoran Filipović. Hailed by both players and press, his record rather positive - 23 matches played, 8 victories, 8 draws and 7 defeats. Zoran Filipović left the Balkan newcomers in January 2010 when his contract expired in 73rd position in the FIFA rankings, having started from the last position with no points.

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 competition

On September 6, 2008, Montenegro played its first ever World Cup qualifier. It was at the Podgorica City Stadium in Podgorica. Bulgaria took a early lead in the 11th minute as expected with a goal from Stiliyan Petrov. Mirko Vucinic scored in the 61st minute to make the game 1-1. Stevan Jovetić 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 ruined celebrations. In their next match on September 10, 2008, they held Ireland at a 0-0 tie. Another notable result. Another shocking result came, a narrow 2-1 loss against Italy. Despite Alberto Aquilani's early scorer, Vucinic quickly equalized 11 minutes later. Aquilani would later score 10 minutes later. However, their second match against Italy in the 2-game series ended 2-0 in favor of Italy. And another disappointment came when the team could only tie 0-0 against Georgia. They tied 2-2 against Cyprus making a comeback after being 2 goals down. September 5 was a shock. They took a early lead against Bulgaria in Sofia after Jovetic scored to make it 1-0. But Bulgaria would make a comeback, scoring 4 goals to win 4-1. Montenegro, now eliminated, tied their next game with Cyprus, who were also eliminated 1-1. Montenegro would finally register their first competitive win against Georgia, winning 2-1. They would shock the whole world by holding Ireland to a 0-0 draw at Croke Park. They would finish 5th in the group with 9 points, just below Cyprus due to GD. Though the World Cup qualification looks like a disappointment, it was better than expected by Montenegrin standards. The next month, they reached one of their highest positions in the FIFA rankings, in 73rd place.

Team Image

Montenegrin supporters

Name

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

Training

Montenegrin national team trains at Football Association of Montenegro Training Camp located in capital city's Podgorica neighborhood Stari Aerodrom.

Jersey

The team's jersey is currently sponsored by Italian company Legea. It is red and gold reflecting the color of the Montenegrin flag.

Supporters

Current squad

In international football, players are normally committed to play for a specific national team to the exclusion of all others 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 about him is true:[7]

Due to mixed ancestries, etc. it is probable that a large 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.

This is the squad called up for the matches against Wales on 3 September 2010 and Bulgaria on 7 Sepetember 2010.

Caps and goals are correct as of 11 August 2010.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club
- GK Srđan Blažić 26 November 1982 (1982-11-26) (age 28) 1 0 Belgium Standard Liège
- GK Mladen Božović 1 August 1984 (1984-08-01) (age 26) 7 0 Hungary Videoton
- GK Ivan Janjušević 11 July 1987 (1987-07-11) (age 23) 1 0 Montenegro Mogren
- DF Marko Baša 29 December 1982 (1982-12-29) (age 28) 7 1 Russia Lokomotiv Moscow
- DF Radoslav Batak 15 August 1977 (1977-08-15) (age 33) 19 1 Montenegro Mogren
- DF Miodrag Džudović 6 September 1979 (1979-09-06) (age 31) 9 1 Russia Spartak Nalchik
- DF Milan Jovanović 21 July 1983 (1983-07-21) (age 27) 19 0 Russia Spartak Nalchik
- DF Savo Pavićević 11 December 1980 (1980-12-11) (age 30) 21 0 Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv
- DF Luka Pejović 31 July 1985 (1985-07-31) (age 25) 19 0 Montenegro Mogren
- DF Stefan Savić 8 January 1991 (1991-01-08) (age 20) 1 0 Serbia Partizan
- DF Žarko Tomašević 22 February 1990 (1990-02-22) (age 20) 2 0 Portugal Nacional
- DF Elsad Zverotić 31 October 1986 (1986-10-31) (age 24) 17 0 Switzerland Luzern
- MF Branko Bošković 21 June 1980 (1980-06-21) (age 30) 18 1 United States D.C. United
- MF Draško Božović 30 June 1988 (1988-06-30) (age 22) 1 0 Montenegro Mogren
- MF Vladimir Božović 13 November 1981 (1981-11-13) (age 29) 20 0 Romania Rapid Bucureşti
- MF Nikola Drinčić 7 September 1984 (1984-09-07) (age 26) 18 1 Russia Spartak Moscow
- MF Ivan Fatić 2 August 1988 (1988-08-02) (age 22) 4 0 Italy Genoa
- MF Mladen Kašćelan 13 February 1983 (1983-02-13) (age 28) 9 0 Poland Jagiellonia Białystok
- MF Mitar Novaković 27 September 1981 (1981-09-27) (age 29) 13 0 Russia Amkar Perm
- MF Milorad Peković 5 August 1977 (1977-08-05) (age 33) 18 0 Germany Greuther Fürth
- MF Simon Vukčević 29 January 1986 (1986-01-29) (age 25) 21 1 Portugal Sporting
- FW Fatos Bećiraj 22 May 1988 (1988-05-22) (age 22) 6 0 Croatia Dinamo Zagreb
- FW Radomir Đalović 29 November 1982 (1982-11-29) (age 28) 15 6 Croatia Rijeka
- FW Dejan Damjanović 27 July 1981 (1981-07-27) (age 29) 7 2 South Korea Seoul
- FW Andrija Delibašić 24 April 1981 (1981-04-24) (age 29) 6 1 Spain Rayo Vallecano
- FW Mirko Vučinić (captain) 1 October 1983 (1983-10-01) (age 27) 19 10 Italy Roma

Recent call-ups

0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club
GK Darko Božović (v.  Norway) 9 August 1978 (1978-08-09) (age 32) 2 0 Serbia Partizan
GK Vukašin Poleksić (v.  Norway) 30 August 1982 (1982-08-30) (age 28) 22 0 Hungary Debrecen
DF Vlado Jeknić (v.  Italy) 14 August 1983 (1983-08-14) (age 27) 5 0 People's Republic of China Beijing Baxy
DF Risto Lakić (v.  Norway) 7 March 1983 (1983-03-07) (age 27) 7 0 Serbia Vojvodina
DF Slobodan Lakićević (v.  Macedonia) 12 January 1988 (1988-01-12) (age 23) 1 0 Montenegro Budućnost
DF Aleksandar Mikijelj (v.  Hungary) 5 February 1979 (1979-02-05) (age 32) 0 0 Montenegro Petrovac
DF Dejan Ognjanović (v.  Macedonia) 21 June 1978 (1978-06-21) (age 32) 5 0 Serbia Smederevo
DF Janko Simović (v.  Cyprus) 2 April 1987 (1987-04-02) (age 23) 1 0 Montenegro Mogren
DF Jovan Tanasijević (v.  Cyprus) 20 January 1978 (1978-01-20) (age 33) 13 0 Russia Salyut Belgorod
DF Nikola Vukčević (v.  Belarus) 22 February 1984 (1984-02-22) (age 26) 1 0 Montenegro Budućnost
MF Igor Burzanović (v.  Italy) 25 August 1985 (1985-08-25) (age 25) 8 2 Japan Nagoya Grampus
MF Đorđije Ćetković (v.  Macedonia) 1 March 1983 (1983-03-01) (age 27) 3 0 Hungary Győri ETO
MF Ivan Delić (v.  Macedonia) 15 February 1986 (1986-02-15) (age 24) 2 0 Czech Republic Mladá Boleslav
MF Nemanja Nikolić (v.  Belarus) 31 December 1987 (1987-12-31) (age 23) 1 0 Serbia Red Star Belgrade
MF Rade Petrović (2007 Kirin Cup) 21 September 1982 (1982-09-21) (age 28) 1 0 Montenegro Grbalj
MF Mirko Raičević (2007 Kirin Cup) 22 March 1982 (1982-03-22) (age 28) 3 0 Ukraine Zakarpattia Uzhhorod
MF Janko Tumbasević (v.  Estonia) 14 January 1985 (1985-01-14) (age 26) 4 0 Serbia Vojvodina
MF Neđeljko Vlahović (v.  Estonia) 15 January 1984 (1984-01-15) (age 27) 1 0 Montenegro Rudar
MF Nikola Vujović (v.  Cyprus) 23 June 1981 (1981-06-23) (age 29) 6 0 Serbia Partizan
MF Vladimir Vujović (v.  Cyprus) 23 July 1982 (1982-07-23) (age 28) 3 0 Montenegro Mogren
FW Dragan Bogavac (v.  Italy) 7 April 1980 (1980-04-07) (age 30) 7 0 Germany Mainz
FW Vladimir Gluščević (v.  Belarus) 21 October 1979 (1979-10-21) (age 31) 1 0 Montenegro Mogren
FW Stevan Jovetić (v.  Norway) 2 November 1989 (1989-11-02) (age 21) 13 6 Italy Fiorentina
FW Nikola Nikezić (v.  Estonia) 13 June 1981 (1981-06-13) (age 29) 1 0 Russia Kuban Krasnodar
FW Milan Purović (v.  Romania) 5 July 1985 (1985-07-05) (age 25) 7 0 Portugal Belenenses
FW Srđan Radonjić (v.  Slovenia) 8 May 1981 (1981-05-08) (age 29) 3 0 Russia Luch-Energiya Vladivostok
FW Goran Vujović (v.  Cyprus) 3 May 1987 (1987-05-03) (age 23) 1 0 Hungary Videoton
FW Ivan Vuković (v.  Belarus) 20 September 1987 (1987-09-20) (age 23) 1 0 Montenegro Budućnost

Current coaching staff

Player records

Player/coach records are accurate as of 11 August 2010.

Most capped Montenegro players

# Name Career Caps Goals
1 Vukašin Poleksić [8] 2007– 22 0
2 Savo Pavićević [8] 2007– 21 0
= Simon Vukčević [8] 2007– 21 1
4 Vladimir Božović [8] 2007– 20 0
5 Radoslav Batak [8] 2007– 19 1
= Luka Pejović [8] 2007– 19 0
= Milan Jovanovic[8] 2007– 19 0
= Mirko Vučinić [8] 2007– 19 10
9 Branko Bošković [8] 2007– 18 1
= Nikola Drinčić [8] 2007– 18 1
= Milorad Peković [8] 2007– 18 0

Top Montenegro goalscorers

# Player Career Goals (Caps) Goals/Cap
1 Mirko Vučinić [8] 2007– 10 (19) 0.47
2 Stevan Jovetić [8] 2007– 6 (13) 0.46
= Radomir Đalović [8] 2007– 6 (15) 0.4
4 Dejan Damjanović [8] 2008– 2 (7) 0.29
= Igor Burzanović [8] 2007– 2 (8) 0.25
6 Andrija Delibašić [8] 2009– 1 (6) 0.17
= Marko Baša [8] 2009– 1 (7) 0.14
= Miodrag Džudović [8] 2008– 1 (9) 0.11
= Branko Bošković [8] 2007– 1 (18) 0.06
= Nikola Drinčić [8] 2007– 1 (18) 0.06
= Radoslav Batak [8] 2007– 1 (19) 0.05
= Simon Vukčević [8] 2007– 1 (21) 0.05

Montenegro captains

# Player Montenegro career Captain (Total Caps)
1 Mirko Vučinić (present captain) 2007– 16 (19)

Montenegro managers

Manager Montenegro career Played Won Drawn Lost GF[9] GA[10] Win %
Zlatko Kranjčar 2010- 4 1 0 3 4 5 25%
Zoran Filipović 2007–2010 23 8 8 7 28 31 34.78%

Competition statistics

Played Won Drawn Lost GF[9] GA[10]
27 9 8 10 32 36

Competition history

World Cup record

European Championship record

Minor tournaments

Year Round Position GP W D L GS GA
Japan 2007 Kirin Cup Group Stage 3rd 2 0 0 2 0 3

Recent results and fixtures

# Date City Opponent Results¹ Scorers Attendance Type of game
15 28 March 2009 Podgorica Italy Italy 0–2 (0–1) Pirlo Goal 11', Pazzini Goal 73' 12,500 WC quali.
16 1 April 2009 Tbilisi Georgia (country) Georgia 0–0 (0–0) - 16,000 WC quali.
17 6 June 2009 Nicosia Cyprus Cyprus 2–2 (0–2) Makrides Goal 14', Michael Goal 45' (pen.), Damjanović Goal 65', Damjanović Goal 79' 4,500 WC quali.
18 12 August 2009 Podgorica Wales Wales 2–1 (2–0) Jovetić Goal 28' (pen), Đalović Goal 45', Vokes Goal 52' 5,000 Friendly
19 5 September 2009 Sofia Bulgaria Bulgaria 1–4 (1–1) Jovetić Goal 8', Kishishev Goal 45+2', Telkiyski Goal 48', Berbatov Goal 85' (pen.), Domovchiyski Goal 90+1' 9,000 WC quali.
20 9 September 2009 Podgorica Cyprus Cyprus 1–1 (0–0) Vučinić Goal 56' (pen.), Okkas Goal 63' 6,000 WC quali.
21 10 October 2009 Podgorica Georgia (country) Georgia 2–1 (1–1) Batak Goal 13', Dvalishvili Goal 45', Delibašić Goal 78' 7,000 WC quali.
22 14 October 2009 Dublin Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland 0–0 (0–0) - 60,000 WC quali.
23 18 November 2009 Podgorica Belarus Belarus 1–0 (0–0) Vučinić Goal 80' 5,000 Friendly
24 3 March 2010 Skopje  Macedonia 1–2 (0–2) Naumoski Goal 27', Pandev Goal 30', Baša Goal 62' 7.000 Friendly
25 25 May 2010 Podgorica  Albania 0–1 (0–0) Salihi Goal 79' 7.000 Friendly
26 29 May 2010 Oslo  Norway 1–2 (0–1) Grindheim Goal 44', Vučinić Goal 82', Pedersen Goal 89' 13.132 Friendly
27 11 August 2010 Podgorica  Northern Ireland 2–0 (1–0) Đalović Goal 43', Đalović Goal 59' 5,000 Friendly

¹ Results from Montenegrin view

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Montenegro 4 3 1 0 3 0 +3 10
 England 3 2 1 0 7 1 +6 7
 Switzerland 3 1 0 2 5 5 0 3
 Bulgaria 3 1 0 2 1 5 −4 3
 Wales 3 0 0 3 1 6 −5 0
  Bulgaria England Montenegro Switzerland Wales
Bulgaria  — 2 Sep '11 0–1 26 Mar '11 11 Oct '11
England  4–0 — 0–0 4 Jun '11 6 Sep '11
Montenegro  4 Jun '11 7 Oct '11 — 1–0 1–0
Switzerland  6 Sep '11 1–3 11 Oct '11 — 4–1
Wales  0–1 26 Mar '11 2 Sep '11 7 Oct '11 —

Montenegro versus other countries

Against Wins Draws Losses Goal difference Total
 Albania 0 0 1 0:1 1
 Belarus 1 0 0 1:0 1
 Bulgaria 0 1 1 3:6 2
 Colombia 0 0 1 0:1 1
 Cyprus 0 2 0 3:3 2
 Estonia 1 0 0 1:0 1
 Georgia 1 1 0 2:1 2
 Hungary 1 1 0 5:4 2
 Republic of Ireland 0 2 0 0:0 2
 Italy 0 0 2 1:4 2
 Japan 0 0 1 0:2 1
 Kazakhstan 1 0 0 3:0 1
 Macedonia 1 0 1 3:3 2
 Northern Ireland 1 0 0 2:0 1
 Norway 1 0 1 4:3 2
 Romania 0 0 1 0:4 1
 Slovenia 0 1 0 1:1 1
 Sweden 0 0 1 1:2 1
 Wales 2 0 0 3:1 2

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Serbia to take spot in Euro 2008". BBC Sport. 23 May 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/5009872.stm. Retrieved 2007-04-11. 
  2. ↑ Mark Chaplin (2006). "No decision yet on Gibraltar". UEFA.com. http://www.uefa.com/uefa/Keytopics/kind=64/newsId=464331.html. Retrieved 2007-04-11. 
  3. ↑ Simon Hart (2007). "UEFA to consider 24-team EURO". UEFA.com. http://www.uefa.com/uefa/keytopics/kind=64/newsid=500487.html. Retrieved 2007-04-11. 
  4. ↑ "Soccer-Montenegro beat Hungary 2-1 in international debut". Reuters.co.uk. 2007. http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldFootballNews/idUKL2427909120070324. Retrieved 2007-04-11. 
  5. ↑ "Montenegro take a bow with victory". UEFA.com. 2007. http://www.uefa.com/competitions/euro/news/kind=1/newsid=519773.html. Retrieved 2007-04-11. 
  6. ↑ "Blatter's third term confirmed". FIFA.com. 2007. http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/federation/bodies/media/newsid=529926.html#blatters+third+term+confirmed. Retrieved 2007-10-17. 
  7. ↑ http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/administration/status%5ftransfer%5fen%5f25.pdf
  8. ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11 8.12 8.13 8.14 8.15 8.16 8.17 8.18 8.19 8.20 8.21 8.22 Still available for selection
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Goals for / scored
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Goals against / conceded

External links

Football in Montenegro
Football Association of Montenegro
National teams
Men's · Women's · U-21 · U-19 · U-17
League system
First League · Second League · Third League
Domestic cups
Montenegrin Cup
List of clubs · List of venues
National association football teams of Europe (UEFA)
Albania · Andorra · Armenia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Belarus · Belgium · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Bulgaria · Croatia · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Denmark · England · Estonia · Faroe Islands · Finland · France · Georgia · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Iceland · Israel · Italy · Kazakhstan · Latvia · Liechtenstein · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Macedonia · Malta · Moldova · Montenegro · Netherlands · Northern Ireland · Norway · Poland · Portugal · Republic of Ireland · Romania · Russia · San Marino · Scotland · Serbia · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · Switzerland · Turkey · Ukraine · Wales
International association football
FIFA · World Cup · Confederations Cup · U-20 World Cup · U-17 World Cup · Olympics · Asian Games · All-Africa Games · Pan American Games · Minor tournaments · World Rankings · Player of the Year · FIFA Ballon d'Or  · Teams · Debuts · Competitions · Federations · Codes
Asia
Africa
North, Central America and Caribbean
South America
CONMEBOL – Copa América
Oceania
Europe
Non-FIFA
N.F.-Board – Viva World Cup– Europeada
Flag of Montenegro.svg     National sports teams of Montenegro
Basketball • Football (F, M, U-21) • Futsal • Handball (F, U-21 F, M, U-21 M) • Tennis (F, M) • Volleyball (F, M) • Water polo
Olympic Games