Slovenia World Cup 2010 Profile

April 23rd, 2010 | by: chris | View Comments

We might be able to toss Slovenia in the “happy to be here” category. For firsts, they have a very humble, and short, World Cup history which consists of three losses and nothing else. Of course making World Cup 2002 was a miracle in itself and brings their record of World Cup qualifying to 2 in 4, a damn fine record for country of their size (2m) and birth date (1992).

For seconds, and for bigger, they pulled off perhaps the upset of qualifying by beating Russia, or Guus Hiddink, or Guus Hiddink’s Russia, over two-legs in the second-placed playoffs. It was something incredible, really, because it was almost an “afterthought” goal in the 87th with Russia cruising 2-0 in the first leg. A 1-0 home win later, and the World Cup has no Russia, but Slovenia.

This is a fairytale – their fairytale.


Nickname: Currently taking suggestions.

Group: C; Algeria, England, USA.

FIFA World Ranking as of March 31st 2010: 29th

Coach: Matjaž Kek Not likely to be well-known outside of Slovenia, he’s very much a man of two teams: Slovenia and Maribor. Incidentally, he’s from Maribor, Slovenia. In 2000, after playing for Maribor, Slovenia’s top team, over much of his career, he coached them for six years. He took over a couple of Slovenian youth sides, before being handed the senior side reigns and masterminding victory over one of football’s masterminds.

Key Players: One name has continually crept up as possibly turning in World Cup 2010 as its continental arrival: keeper Samir Handanovic. Only 25, he’s been a pillar at Udinese for what seems like ages, and he deserves the ticket to a big club he’s likely to earn in South Africa. One of Europe’s next top keepers.

Handanovic, much like this team, is young. Valter Birsa is their precocious and highly gifted winger with pace and skill, while Milivoje Novakovic, a slightly older 30, is the third-leading scorer in national team history with a very modest 14 and will play the point off Slovenia’s Energizer bunny, Zlatko Dedic.

The rest of the midfield, with Birsa, is likely to be made up of captain Robert Koren, Andraz Kirm and the desperately in need of a nickname Aleksandar Radosavljevic. The kid to watch is Inter’s Rene Krkhin, 19 years old and 3 caps to his name.

The defense isn’t exactly household, but Bostjan Cesar does tower above the rest – at least as his 6′5 frame goes.

Player with best YouTube video: This won’t win any cinematography awards, but Samir Handanovic is incredible.

Player with best name: Mirnes Šišić. Disregarding the actual surname itself, look at the structure of it – it’s artistic. Each character has a mark of some sort above. Genius, like little brush strokes.

Player with best nickname: We’re going to need help with this one – there just aren’t any for the picking.

Qualification: A healthy lead into second in the initial stage saw them finish just behind Slovakia, and then a 2-2 away goals win versus heavy favorites Russia won them a second trip to the World Cup.

Interesting: There’s every chance Slovenia will have the tallest team at the World Cup – and by some margin. Only four players on their recent call-up list under 180cm. They must be giants.

National Anthem: “Zdravljica” (”A Toast”)

Kit: The away strip, which slightly resembles Charlie Brown’s outfit, gets more pub, but the home strip is refreshingly crisp and clean.

You can buy both Slovenia shirts in our store.

World Cup History:

Expectations: Most of the English speaking world likely considers England and the US the favorites for passage, but Slovenia are very much capable, and very well might, pip that second spot. They have a solid squad, a solid coach and, above all, no weight of expectation. (Which is their expectation, really.)

Squad: TBA

Blog: Zala covers the Slovenia World Cup Blog.

- More World Cup 2010 Team Profiles.