Page 16 - Soccer360 Issue 106

S360 PREDICTION | 21ST PLACE
SLOVENIA
Slovenia are one of the real outsiders as they enter their first European Championship finals since 2000, but shouldn’t be underestimated, according to Stephen Donovan
NICKNAME: N/A
EURO APPEARANCES: 1
EURO CHAMPIONSHIPS: 0
FIFA RANKING 57TH
OUT TO IMPRESS
It has been a long time in the wilderness for Slovenia, whose last outing at a major finals saw Landon Donovan’s last-minute goal against Algeria cruelly deny them a place in the last 16 of the 2010 World Cup and sent the United States through at their expense. In the 14 years since, they have been solid in a number of qualifying campaigns only to fall short against the higher seeds, but that all changed on the way to Euro 2024.
In an extremely competitive group, Slovenia were barely out of the top two, winning seven of their 10 games to finish level
on points with Euro 2020 semi-finalists Denmark. They hit an impressive 20 goals in the process, with a quarter of them scored by rising star Benjamin Sesko.
The RB Leipzig forward will be integral
to their hopes of being competitive in Germany, but the same can be said at the other end of the pitch for Jan Oblak, one of the world’s top goalkeepers who finally has the chance to play at a major tournament. With Slovenia being the least fancied side in Group C they need their two big names to step up, and if they do, there is every chance of making the last 16.
With a rematch against Denmark to begin before an intriguing clash with Serbia, Matjaz Kek’s side will look to collect the points they need ahead of facing top seeds England in their final group game. They may be inexperienced at the top level, but they shouldn’t be written off completely.
PROBABLE STARTING XI
THE COACH:
MATJAZ KEK
Experienced tactician Matjaz Kek was
the last man to lead Slovenia to a major tournament back in 2010, and now, six years into his second spell in charge of the national team, he has arguably his strongest squad to choose from. Unlike most other coaches at Euro 2024 he prefers a 4-4-2 formation, so it’ll be interesting to see how that measures up against their Group C opponents.
KEY PLAYER:
BENJAMIN SESKO
He is still a little raw, but Benjamin Sesko is really making a name for himself as one of the most exciting young strikers in Europe. The 20-year-old already has 11 goals in 28 caps for Slovenia and is hard for defenders to contain, frequently finding himself in scoring positions and earning comparisons to Erling Haaland. He is his side’s best hope of making the last 16.
THEIR BEST THREE EUROS
2000
2020
2016
GROUP STAGE
DNQ
DNQ
UEFA EURO OVERALL RECORD PLD:3 W:0 D:2 L:1
ELSNIK
KARCICNIK
SESKO
STOJANOVIC
JANZA
SPORAR
GNEZDA CERIN
BLAZIC
MLAKAR
BIJOL
OBLAK
FACTFILE
POPULATION:
2.1 million
EURO FINALS APPEARANCES: 1
BEST FINISH:
Group stage, 2000
MOST MEMORABLE EUROS MOMENT: Going 3-0 ahead against Yugoslavia in their first ever finals match before drawing 3-3.
HOW THEY GOT TO EURO 2024: Won seven of 10 matches to finish second in qualification Group H.
LAST EUROS APPEARANCE: 2000 - Finished bottom of their group with two points.
MOST CAPPED PLAYER: Bostjan Cesar, 101 caps
LEADING INTERNATIONAL SCORER: Zlatko Zahovic, 35 goals
HOW TO FOLLOW:
ZLATKO ZAHOVIC
VS DENMARK VS SERBIA VS ENGLAND JUNE 16TH JUNE 20TH JUNE 25TH 12:00PM | EST 9:00AM | EST 3:00PM | EST
14 SOCCER360 SUMMER 2024
GROUP C - UEFA EURO 2024