Slovenia Team for 2010 World Cup

When the fixture for Group three was released, Poland and Czech Republic received overwhelming support. But both Slovakia and Slovenia proved their critics wrong gaining the first and second position in the group, respectively. Slovenia with a population of a little over a million knocked out Poland, Czech Republic and finally Russia, a country with a population over 142 million to book a berth at the FIFA World Cup 2010 at South Africa. This little nation is all set to take on the big names for the most coveted trophy in the world.

Slovenia started their qualifiers with a draw against Poland, followed by a win against group leaders Slovakia. Slovenia was contending for the top spot in the group till Slovakia managed a 1-0 victory against Poland to retain the top spot in the group. Being paired against favorites-Russia, Slovenia lost the first match 2-1 but came back in the next game to topple the Russians in a thrilling 1-0 victory to book their ticket to South Africa.

 

The Slovenian team is not a team to boast of big names single-handedly responsible for the team’s success, their success is attributed to their collective strength and spirit as a team. Yet the team is not without talents, Cologne striker Milivoje Novakovic who scored five goals during the qualifiers is at the front, with good support from Captain Robert Koren’s support from the midfield and with the consistency of goalkeeper Samir Handanovic, the Slovenian team is ready and raring to play the big guns they will face at South Africa.

In Matjaz Kek, Slovenia found the ideal coach to take them to the sport’s greatest stage. He won three successive titles at Maribor during his playing career. He coached the U-15 and U-16 teams before his true worth was recognized and he was promoted to senior coach leading the un-fancied national team into the FIFA World Cup finals tournament.

 

Slovenia as a country gained their independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, and still managed to qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals tournament. Their performance in the 2002 World Cup was not very inspired as they lost all three matches in the first round and were eliminated. For the 2010 World Cup this little nation is back, beating the odds to compete against the super-powers at the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.

 

The Pre-World Cup list of players for Korea Republic is given below.