Seven wins and one draw in ten games in the qualifying phase fueled the return of Slovenia in the final stage of the Euro Cup, where it returned after 24 years, led by Jan Oblak and there is success in this tournament pending since then.
The goalkeeper of Atlético de Madrid He is the absolute reference of his team, one of the best goalkeepers in the world, up in the locker room and indispensable on the field of play to compete at the highest level in Germany 2024.
Debutant on September 11, 2012, at the age of 19, with a 2-1 loss against Norway, and has 65 international matches for Slovenia (30 wins, 17 draws, 18 losses and 30 clean sheets, representing 24 of his national team’s 30 wins), the long-awaited moment of his debut in a European Championship has arrived.
Oblak protects the goal, meanwhile Benjamin Sesko He is the scorer Slovenia needs to get past the group stage in a major tournament. He never was. The forward of Leipzigsigned with Salzburg for 24 million euros in the summer of 2023, full of expectations despite his 20 years and a market value of more than 50 million euros, he scored eleven goals and scored six more in his 28 against the Slovenian team.
His season started irregularly at the German club, with just seven goals in his first 25 games, but he finished it with eleven goals in the last 18 games. He has scored at least one goal in each of the last seven and He finished the course with 18 out of 42 commitments.
Only Denmark (2-1) and Finland (2-0) have defeated the team led by Matjaz Kek, asserts the identity of his team, in not being a copy of anyone, for the growth of a team that has achieved its first goal, but not just stopping there. He wants more.
Match by match, the coach established his place in the European Championship even before the qualifying phase began: in the 2022 Nations League, in a row of one win and three draws, and in friendlies against Montenegro and Romania, with two victories . by 1-0 and 1-2, respectively.
“That’s where we laid the foundations and developed a winning and competitive mentality,” declared the coach, who criticized himself for each subsequent setback and created a block that will appear in Germany 2024 to face England, Denmark and Serbia.
This is the second European Championship in the history of Slovenia. From the first, in 2000, he returned without a single victory. Neither against Spain, who beat them 1-2, nor against Yugoslavia or Norway, with whom they drew 3-3 and 0-0, respectively. Deleted.
He did not return to the Eurocup until now. They did play a World Cup recently: South Africa 2010. There they beat Algeria (0-1), tied with the United States (2-2) and lost against England 0-1 to be eliminated.
In that tournament it was also taught by the current coach, who returned to his position in 2019 after an eight-year hiatus. He coached 104 matches in Slovenia, with 47 wins, 25 draws and 32 losses.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
