Montenegro: Background

The who, what, where, why and when of Montenegro

The background:Montenegro (population: 650,000) formed a union with Serbia following the break-up of Yugoslavia but after a referendum in 2006 declared independence. The countries' appearance at that summer's World Cup finals was their last as a united team - they lost all three of their group games, including a 6-0 drubbing by Argentina.

Their first campaign:Independence didn't come in time for the qualifying draw for Euro 2008 (which took place in December 2005) so the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign is Montenegro's international debut.

Results so far:They played their first match since independence in March of last year, beating Hungary 2-1 in Podgorica in front of a crowd of 12,000. Since then they've played nine more friendlies, beating Estonia, Norway and Kazakhstan, drawing with Slovenia and Hungary (in Budapest), and losing to Japan, Colombia, Sweden (their only home defeat so far) and Romania. They played their first competitive international last Saturday, drawing 2-2 with Bulgaria at home.

Fifa ranking:As a new nation they started out with a ranking of 199 in June of last year but have since risen to 136, 98 places below the Republic of Ireland. That they are level with Yemen and a point behind Eritrea is a fair indication of how meaningless their ranking is for now.

The manager:Zoran Filipovic. With 20 years' coaching experience behind him the 55-year-old former Yugoslav international was appointed Montenegro's first manager in February last year. He was a prolific goalscorer in a decade-long playing career with Red Star Belgrade before having spells in Belgium with Club Bruge and in Portugal with Benfica and Boavista. He began his coaching career in Portugal (Boavista, SC Salgueiros and SC Beira-Mar), had a brief spell as part of the staff at Sampdoria before taking over at Red Star Belgrade. He was assistant coach with Yugoslavia at the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.

Former greats:Dejan Savicevic (now president of the Montenegrin Football Federation), who won the European Cup with Red Star Belgrade and AC Milan, and Predrag Mijatovic, who won the same competition with Real Madrid, were the most feted Montenegrins to play for Yugoslavia. Former Espanyol defender Branko Brnovic, the current assistant coach of the national team, was another of the country's most highly regarded players.

Current stars:Filipovic believes he has four players who "can compete at the highest international level", Mirko Vucinic, Stevan Jovetic, Simon Vukcevic and Igor Burzanovic. Captain Vucinic, the 24-year-old forward for whom Roma paid Lecce €12 million, has been impressing in Italian football since 2005 when he was named Serie A Young Player of the Year after scoring 19 goals in 28 appearances for Lecce. Eighteen-year-old striker Jovetic, signed by Fiorentina in May for €8 million, is tipped for great things, as are Vukcevic (the Sporting Lisbon midfielder) and Red Star Belgrade attacking midfielder Burzanovic - the latter two, though, only came on as substitutes against Bulgaria last Saturday.