World Cup Team Profiles: Group C: Slovenia

Teams / Ari Last / 18 February 2010 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet

World Cup minnows no doubt, yet there's more to Slovenia than most people give them credit for...

Only five teams have been given less chance of winning the World Cup than Slovenia ([430.0]), which is surprising when you consider that they beat some good teams in qualifying, and overcame Russia in the play-offs. They're priced at [2.72] to make it out of Group C, which may represent decent value to some.

Nation: Slovenia

Route to South Africa...
When pitted in a group involving Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland, most felt that Slovenia had little hope of turning out in South Africa this summer. How wrong they were. Slovenia, led by Matjaz Kek stunned their more experienced opponents by winning four of their five home ties and by entering the final match-day on course for automatic qualification.

Slovakia's shock 1-0 win in Poland meant they had to settle for the play-offs. While at the time being drawn against Russia was a daunting task, looking back now, it set the Slovenians up for the finest moment of their short footballing history, as they went on to beat their esteemed opponents on the away goals rule.

World Cup Pedigree...
They have very little of it, but then again, they've only been an independent nation since 1990, and when looking at it from that point of view, the fact that 2010 won't be their first World Cup is quite remarkable. Losing all three group games, they didn't make much of an impact in 2002, and their campaign was overshadowed by the bout of fisticuffs between their star player - Zlatko Zahovic - and manager Srecko Katanec. Even so, they'll be looking to that experience for some valuable lessons going into the summer, as they attempt to reach the last 16 for the first time.

They'll be relying on...
The same type of togetherness and work ethic that got them to South Africa in the first place. The Slovenia team boasts no real stars, and the only name most people may have heard of is that of West Brom's Robert Koren. Having said that, one only needs to look at Greece's win in Euro 2004 to know that in tournament football, a unified team can pose a major challenge to any opposition.

Something you may not have known is that...
After the Netherlands, Slovenia had the best defensive record in World Cup qualifying, having only conceded four goals in ten games. And when you consider that the Dutch played two games less than them, it further emphasises just how impressive they were during the campaign.

And if you still needed convincing of the size of their achievement, you should know that the nation boasts a population of less than two million people, which is approximately 140 million fewer than the combined total of Poland, Russia and the Czech Republic, three sides they overcame on their way to the World Cup!

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