World Cup guide - Slovenia
England's Group C opponents Slovenia named their 23-man World Cup squad on Tuesday and there were no surprises. The three players omitted from coach Matjaz Kek's final party were defender Dejan Kelhar and midfielders Mirnes Sisic and Darijan Matic. Influential midfielder Robert Koren, who has been released by West Bromwich Albion, is expected to be captain. Slovenia play Algeria on Sunday 13 June, then face USA on 18 June and finish against England on 23 June. Kek, whose side face New Zealand in their last World Cup warm-up friendly in Maribor on Friday, says he wants Slovenia to play attractive, attacking football in South Africa.
 |
WORLD CUP PHOTO ALBUM
|
"As far as I am concerned, we can lose all three group matches as long as we play entertaining football to please the crowds and get them on their feet," said Kek. "We don't want to win the sympathy of neutral fans as underdogs, we want to win their hearts by playing an attractive game and presenting ourselves in the best possible way. "The most difficult thing in football is to play with an eye-catching style and win games but that's what we will try to do because playing a destructive game with 10 men behind the ball is not my philosophy." Slovenia were surprise qualifiers for South Africa when, after coming second to Slovakia in their qualifying group, they progressed at the expense of Guus Hiddink's fancied Russian side on away goals after their play-off finished 2-2 on aggregate.
Goalkeepers: Samir Handanovic (Udinese), Jasmin Handanovic (Mantova), Aleksander Seliga (Sparta Rotterdam) Defenders: Bojan Jokic (Chievo Verona), Marko Suler (Ghent), Bostjan Cesar (Grenoble), Branko Ilic (Lokomotiv Moscow), Matej Mavric (Koblenz), Elvedin Dzinic (Maribor), Miso Brecko (Cologne), Suad Filekovic (Maribor). Midfielders: Andraz Kirm (Wisla Krakow), Andrej Komac (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Rene Krhin (Inter Milan), Dalibor Stevanovic (Vitesse Arnhem), Robert Koren (West Bromwich Albion), Aleksander Radosavljevic (Larissa), Valter Birsa (Auxerre). Forwards: Milivoje Novakovic (Cologne), Zlatko Dedic (VfL Bochum), Zlatan Ljubijankic (Ghent), Nejc Pecnik (Nacional), Tim Matavz (Groningen).
|
~RS~a~RS~International~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~52~RS~){kind=small}
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~52~RS~)
E-mail this to a friend
Printable version
Bookmark with:
What are these?