Pitch battles cramp Montenegro's style

FK Mogren coach Dejan Vukićević has pointed the finger at the nation's pitches as Montenegro seeks to explain why it has one of Europe's lowest scoring leagues.

Rain supreme
With only 163 goals in 89 matches so far, goalmouth action has been hard to come by in the newest former Yugoslav republic, and former Sevilla FC star Vukićević feels surfaces are to blame. "Football infrastructure is the biggest problem in our country," said the 39-year-old, one of only three Montenegrin top division coaches with a UEFA Pro Licence. "There are only three or four stadiums with good pitches. In a rainy season we can't play football, we can only fight for the ball. You can't demonstrate tactics and players can't show their skills on muddy pitches."

Worrying examples
Another UEFA Pro Licence holding coach, FK Lovćen's Nikola Rakojević agreed, and feared that frustration over pitches might hasten some players' departure for foreign clubs. "We have great potential, but if we don't play and train in good conditions, we can't achieve anything," he said. "In recent years, young and talented players have left Montenegro to join clubs where they have everything they need to improve. We have some excellent examples. Mirko Vučinić left [FK] Sutjeska where he was 16 and go to US Lecce and Simon Vukčević was 14 when he quit [FK] Budućnost Podgorica for [FK] Partizan. The biggest Montenegrin talent Stevan Jovetić also left [FK] Mladost as a kid to play at Partizan."

'Big responsibility'
Independence and the increased international significance of the Montenegrin league has only served to highlight weaknesses in the nation's footballing infrastructure. Football Association of Montenegro (FAM) general secretary Momir Djurdjevac said: "We don't need ten UEFA-standard stadiums because we are a small country. We need three or four stadiums where our clubs and national teams can play international matches."

Major investment
The FAM is ready to stand up to that challenge, possibly with help from UEFA's Hat-Trick assistance programme. Djurdjevac added: "From July we will invest €4m in infrastructure, but we also count on help from the Montenegrin government, because this is a state problem as well as a footballing one. We will also enforce club licensing for domestic competitions. We didn't do it before because we are a new organisation and most clubs are small. We thought it would be fair to give them a chance to compete in the first of independent Montenegrin championship."