Our prediction for this Nations League match:
Montenegro play host to Romania at their Stadion Pod Goricom in the opening match of their UEFA Nations League campaign. Montenegro aim to put an end to their three-game winless run, and they are likely to go all guns blazing at the Tricolori. All Djukanovic, Terzic, and Bubanja have received their first call-ups, while Fatos Beciraj is back to the squad. The good news for the hosts is that key attacker Stevan Jovetic has overcome his injury.
The Romanians, on the other hand, aim to make amends for the unsuccessful World Cup qualifying campaign. The Tricolori aim to kick off their Nations League campaign in great manner, but seeing that Jovetic is back for the home side, we are tempted to put our money on Miodrag Radulovic’s troops. A man to watch in the away team will be Steaua forward Florin Tanase, who scored 20 goals in the national championship last term.
Highlighted Player (Nikola Vukcevic):
Nikola Vukcevic is yet another Montenegro footballer who plays for Braga as a midfielder. The 184-cm-tall player was born in Podgorica on 13 December, 1991. Vukcevic began his senior career at his hometown club Buducnost Podgorica and he was part of the team from 2010 to 2013.
The Montenegro footballer scored four goals in 65 league appearances for the club. In 2013 he joined Braga as a free player and he initially played for the reserve team. After making 31 appearances for Braga B he made his debut for the first team against Vitoria, coming from the bench in the stoppage time. Speaking of his international career, Nikola Vukcevic made his Montenegro debut against Ghana on 5 March, 2014 in a friendly game.
The Hrabri sokoli defeated the Black Stars back then. His main position is defensive midfielder, but he plays as a central midfielder and as attacking midfielder as well. Nikola’s contract with Braga expires on 30 June, 2020.
Highlighted Team (Romania):
Romania were one of just four European sides to take part at the first ever World Cup in 1930, and the team have since achieved respectable results on the international stage, albeit failing to challenge for major trophies.
Led by arguably their best ever footballer Gheorghe Hagi, the Tricolorii narrowly missed out on the semi-finals at the 1994 World Cup in the United States, losing to Sweden on penalties. Romania made a total of seven appearances at the World Cup finals, while qualifying for five European Championship tournaments. The Tricolorii went the farthest in 2000, when they were eliminated by Italy in the quarter-finals.
Tied at the top of the goalscoring charts, Gheorghe Hagi and Adrian Mutu are the only two Romanian footballers to have gained worldwide recognition, but Dorinel Munteanu, Dan Petrescu, Gheorghe Popescu and Viorel Moldovan are also worth mention. Romania play their home games at the Arena National in Bucarest.