Can Serbia find the missing ingredient?

“More disappointed than after the first match,” was how Kristina Liscevic described the feeling in the team the morning after the game against Denmark. “I know we have a new team, but we had such a great atmosphere and great trainings and preparation and everything. Nothing was really missing for us this time — just plenty of players, of course. But sometimes with spirit you can fill in, but it didn’t work for these two matches and then you just end up disappointed and sad, but let’s say we have one more chance.”

Although Serbia have not had a strong result at the EHF EURO for some years, with their only ranking inside the top 10 since their semi-final appearance in 2012 being a ninth-place finish at the 2016 edition, they were in good form at the last two World Championships. At both, the team missed the knockout stage by just one point in the main round.

Additionally, Serbia’s results in the most recent encounters against Denmark and Sweden gave them reason to hope for more level games. They drew with Denmark at the 2019 World Championship and won at the EHF EURO 2018, and they beat Sweden in the home leg of EHF EURO 2022 qualifiers in March.

Element of mystery

Coming off the court in Celje, the players and coach Uros Bregar have struggled to outline exactly what has gone wrong for them so far.

“I cannot be satisfied with this game. We made so many mistakes in attack and we really didn’t have luck with shots from distance,” said Jovana Stoiljkovic after the opener against Sweden, while Jelena Lavko commented on the match against Denmark: “I don’t know what to say. We played really bad. We couldn’t find good solutions and chances for attack and then defence also didn’t work so good.”

As Liscevic highlighted, the team do have some player changes at this EURO, but many in the side are also long-time stalwarts. Aside from the few squad changes, Liscevic underlined that the preparation felt successful. So why exactly have things not aligned on court as yet?

Perhaps it comes down to the mystery missing ingredient that decides sports results — a team or an individual can do all the right preparation, feel mentally prepared and physically ready, yet there is no guarantee that the highest performance level will come. That is the beauty and the brutality of sport, where things can click into place, but they can also go so wrong in comparison with what is expected. It is nothing new for players at this level.

“Sometimes I cannot even sleep because of those things, like in the last periods, in my club, things didn’t go well and I was feeling so down. Then I came here, it was huge amount of hope, beautiful energy, everything was so good. I was believing like hell more than ever, and then it happens, something like that — the complete opposite than in my head,” said Liscevic.

Slovenia were also dissatisfied with their round 2 game — a 22:33 loss to Sweden, following a stellar opening that saw them overthrow 2020 semi-finalists Denmark 28:26. Slovenia delivered a great first half against Sweden, with a score of 14:13 for the Scandinavian side at the break, but seemed to tire in the second period as their opponents slipped away. Regarding this kind of fatigue, Liscevic believes there is more than physical conditioning at play; that perhaps the expenditure of emotional energy plays a role as well.

“It’s very strange. We have been doing some tests, conditional tests before we came here, and then everything went wrong. Then you catch yourself in minute five, you are like, out of breath. I guess it’s like these emotions and additionally just this feeling that you really want something,” said Liscevic.

“You’re training every day. You’re doing things every day. You can run. You’re running in your club without problems for 60 minutes without changing. But OK, I understand there is a different tempo, but I still I think it’s pretty much about emotions.

“I guess for them [Slovenia] it is the same. Maybe yesterday or the match before, they gave all of them, all of themselves. And I just think maybe they’re a bit tired and for them it will be the same, like for us — as soon as possible, finish this psychologically. Go out of it, forget it and start all over again.”

That is the challenge for athletes, and especially at a tournament such as the EHF EURO, where a tough match awaits every two days. As Denmark goalkeeper Sandra Toft pointed out, the key for the match against Serbia would be who could adjust their mentality the fastest after their opening defeats. In round 2, it was Denmark. Now, Serbia face the challenge again. Can they lift themselves up to be ready to deliver their best against Slovenia?

Element of interest

Aside from the main round ticket, there is another element of interest surrounding this match: the meeting of current Serbia coach Uros Bregar with his former team, Slovenia. Bregar coached Slovenia from 2015 to 2021. He is also married to Slovenia wing Tamara Mavsar, so will face his wife in what is perhaps a first at the EHF EURO.

“It will be an interesting, really interesting, match for me. First of all, I’m home. The second, Tamara is on the opposite team. There will be a lot of emotions,” said Bregar. “I am happy this tournament is in Slovenia, in Celje.

Speaking to Liscevic on Monday morning, ahead of the match on Tuesday night, the centre back knew the day needed to bring a transformation for Serbia, but she also knows that nothing is guaranteed in the brutally tough competition.

“Right now, we need to get back physically, to give our last power. It can be amazing or it can be horrible — we have no idea.

“We need to pass the training and we need to pass this. Study about Slovenia and get physically as soon as possible back, because I think that now everything is mental. And [we’ll] try to give our best until the end, to say, ‘okay, we did what we could’ — and we go farther or we go home.”