Montenegro: Nikola Janovic absent from World Championships?

Nikola Janovic

The Montenegrin national team might have to make their try for a 2nd straight World Championships final berth, in Kazan late July, without their captain Nikola Janovic. A local report by Montenegrin portal Vijesti.me indicates on Tuesday that sources say Janovic has informed national team head coach Ranko Perovic of being close to the decision of taking a break from the national team duties for the upcoming summer after a grueling season in Dubrovnik, Croatia with Jug which is still ongoing (play-offs finals). The 35-year old veteran has not missed a major tournament since the existence of the Montenegrin national team in 2006 so could use a break but it would definitely be concerned a big blow to the team that made it all the way to the final of the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona.

Janovic is currently in the final stages of a busy season with Jug Dubrovnik with whom he qualified for the Champions League Final Six in Barcelona late May and currently is gearing up for a decisive 5th game of the Croatian play-offs finals against Primorje. Vijesti however reported that the possible absence of Janovic at the 2015 World Championships is not the only problem coach Perovic is dealing with. Fellow veteran, centre-back Antonio Petrovic is reportedly set to announce his retirement from the national team while centre-forward Sasa Misic is expected to miss out on the action in Kazan due to a biceps injury, not likely to be healed in time.

Montenegro will travel to Canada on June 10 for a 10-day joint training camp with the Canada national team where Perovic is expected to first trim down his roster. Predrag Jokic will surely be absent there due to commitments with his German team in the championship while young Aleksa Ukropina also misses out as he participates in the 1st European Games in Baku with the Montenegrin junior national team.

Montenegro at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan is drawn in group D for the preliminary round where the teams from Serbia, Japan and Australia are the opponents.

 

Source: vijesti.me.