Stefan Savic thinks small can be beautiful for Montenegro

Framed by the snow-capped Dinaric Alps and not far from the Adriatic Sea, it is easy to see why former Manchester City player Stefan Savic is filled with pride about his homeland as he relaxes at his team hotel ahead of a clash with old foe Wayne Rooney and England.

“Montenegro is a small country but very beautiful,” said Savic, savouring the excitement in Podgorica ahead of Tuesday’s World Cup clash of great significance. “And because we are small, we are more patriotic.”

Montenegro, whose population of 650,000 is roughly the same as the English county of Cambridgeshire, are bidding to become the smallest country to qualify for the World Cup. Victory against Roy Hodgson’s Premier League millionaires would be the biggest thing to happen to this republic since they declared independence in 2006 following the break-up of Yugoslavia.

Scenic it may be in parts, but from the moment England land in the capital on Monday morning their visit will be no tourist excursion. Instead of lakes and mountain ranges, Roy Hodgson’s men will be thrown into arguably the ugliest quarter of the whole country on Tuesday night. The City Stadium is an archaic, decaying structure that fits only 12,000 spectators and is surrounded by grubby shops and housing shacks that will soon be bulldozed to make way for a tunnel.

With a World Cup place in Brazil up for grabs — Montenegro lead the group by two points after beating Moldova 1-0 on Friday — tension will be even higher than during England’s only previous visit 17 months ago, when Rooney was sent off for kicking Miodrag Dzudovic and the visitors scrambled a 2-2 draw to qualify for Euro 2012.

Montenegro fans celebrated their last-minute equaliser by invading the pitch. This time security will be extra tight, with England fans requiring an FA-supplied wristband as well as match ticket to guarantee entry and 700 police and private security personnel will be on duty, nearly one for every 15 supporters.

Montenegrin confidence is raised by having claimed a draw at Wembley without their best two players, captain Mirko Vucinic, of Juventus, and Stevan Jovetic, the Fiorentina forward who has been linked with a £30million (Dh167.8 million) move to Manchester City, Arsenal or Chelsea. Vucinic scored the winner on Friday.

“Jovetic can play for one of the top clubs. I hope he does because he is one of my closest friends,” said Savic. “I would recommend City to him. I think City’s a rising team, one of the best clubs in Europe. They will win trophies and be in the Champions League every year.

“It was hard for me there because I came straight from the Serbian League. I won a league title but, after a season, I knew I had to play regularly to improve as a player. So I left — it was my decision.

“It is different for Stevan. He has five years’ experience, he could play straight away with Sergio Aguero or Carlos Tevez. He is a second striker, similar to Rooney because he’s good with the ball, gifted technically and intelligent. Off the pitch, he is a quiet guy but on it, he fights. I don’t need to advise him how to score against my friend Joe Hart.”

Jovetic has not faced England before. “To draw with England twice shows it wasn’t a fluke the first time,” said Savic. “And now we have Jovetic in the team, we have more chances to score. I am always surprised when England don’t do better in big tournaments. The Premier League is famous for its strength but they don’t use the football like Spain for sure, or Germany. When you see the names of Rooney and Steve Gerrard, you think they must be able to do something. But we have our tactics to stop them.”

Despite defensive withdrawals, Savic believes the absence of Jack Wilshere is the most significant boost for Montenegro. “He’s very talented. I’m sorry for him he’s not playing, but it is good news for us.”

Two players in England’s revamped backline that Savic knows well are former City team-mates Hart and Joleon Lescott.

“I worked with Joe every day — he is one of the best three keepers in Europe with Gianluigi Buffon and Samir Handanovic [of Inter Milan and Slovenia]. Joleon is so experienced, I don’t think it will matter that he’s not played regularly this season. He helped me a lot at City as an older, experienced player. It won’t be like England throwing in a 20-year-old.

“I’ll look forward to seeing them again. One of the last times I met, we were jumping around the dressing-room after the win against QPR to win the title!” Savic’s winners medal is proudly kept in his small hometown of Mojkovac.

The forthcoming match is a big deal in a country of fewer than a million people, whose capital of 170,000 is the size of Warrington.

“People here laughed when Slovenia went to the last World Cup and were called a small country. They have more than two million people,” said Ivan Radovic, of the Montenegro FA.

Indeed, Savic thinks small could be beautiful on Tuesday. “We are not just a little team, we have quality and have shown it,” he said. “And because we are a small country, we are more patriotic. Everyone will be together against England. It will be amazing.”