Nickname: None
Manager: Matjaz Kek
Previous Cup appearances: One
Best finish: Group stage
If Croatia and Serbia were supposed to be the two top footballing sides to emerge from the former Yugoslavia, then clearly no one told Slovenia who have qualified for the World Cup for the second time in three tournaments.
This tiny country with just two million caused perhaps the shock of the entire World Cup qualification process by beating Guus Hiddink’s Russia on away goals in the European play-offs, to add to the scalps of the Czech Republic and Poland in their group.
It was not the first time that Slovenia have sprung a surprise against more illustrious opposition. They were the only team to beat Italy in qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup, and saw off Romania and, most memorably, the remainder of the Yugoslavian federation in their successful qualification campaign for the 2002 tournament.
That 2002 side was built around the talented but aging playmaker Zlatko Zahovic. In contrast, the current team contains no superstars and is likely to be one of the youngest squads in South Africa.
English fans may recognise captain Robert Koren of West Brom, and striker Milivoje Novakovic plays up front for Bundesliga side Cologne, but most of the rest of the squad are scattered across the backwaters of European football, from Belgium to Cyprus – although teenage midfielder Rene Krhin has forced his way into Jose Mourinho’s first-team plans at Inter Milan this season.
Coach Matjaz Kek is a former defender who played for Slovenia in the early days of the country’s independence in the early Nineties.
After winning the domestic league title twice with Maribor, he took over as coach of the country’s youth teams, bringing through a crop of players who are now knocking on the door for full international honours.
He has put together a team that is well-organised and hard to beat. They lost just three matches out of 12 in World Cup qualification, and considered themselves unfortunate to go down 2-1 to England at Wembley in September 2009, following a highly debatable penalty decision.
Very little will be expected of the smallest nation to be making the trip to South Africa but, if past form is anything to go by, larger countries would be well advised not to take them lightly.
