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Road to World Cup 2010

Our Road to Football Heaven

Who in Slovenia would have dared to dream of the football heaven located in South Africa in August 2007, when the team dropped to the 94th place in the FIFA ranking. During the EURO 2008 qualification campaign, the team of manager Matjaž Kek has reached almost the same position, from which one of his predecessors, Srečko Katanec, started the glorious lift to the stars in 1998. With Katanec in charge, Slovenia rocketed itself from the 95th place to reach the Euro 2000 in Belgium and the Netherlands as well as the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korean and Japan. By June 2002, Slovenia has reached the 25th place, its highest mark, believed to be out of reach in 2007. Less than three years later, in April 2010, Slovenia was even higher - 23rd.

In the unbelievable story of the Slovenian return to top international football, there are many heroes, mostly humans, starting with the players, the manager, his background staff and, for sure, the fans. But there are also two other elements, spiritual and even material. The high spirit of the team, which has found an extraordinary composure and discipline, enabled the lift, as well as the refurbished stadium »Ljudski vrt« (People's Garden) in the second largest Slovenian city of Maribor. The arena, which was built in 1962, got a face lifting in 2008 by three new built stands and the increase of the total capacity to 12,435 seats. But it is especially the formidable acoustics of the stadium which gave the emerging team spirit a significant push. So, »Ljudski vrt« became a stronghold of the national team. During the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, this was a fine home for the domestic squad. The visitors, however, all failed to love it.

It was in this very stadium, in which the Slovenian team won five out of six qualification matches (the only draw was a 0:0 vs. Czech Republic), including the return leg of the play-offs against Russia (1:0). Slovenia scored 13 goals and conceded only one (vs. Slovakia in the first home match after taking a 2:0-lead).

But the splendid home form, the incredible sync of the spirits of the team and the fans in the home arena, would simply not be enough. There would be no journey to South Africa without a solid response in the very first qualification match in Poland (1:1), when the highly rated home team grabbed the lead with a converted penalty after 17 minutes (Slovenia, on the contrary, was not awarded a single penalty in the whole campaign). Later, the Slovenian team was able to emerge from setbacks, such as a worthy defeat in the Czech Republic (0:1) as well as a unlucky one in the Windsor Park of Belfast against Northern Ireland on April 1st, 2010.

From that day on it became clear, that Slovenia needed four straight wins to reach the goal (which was apparently located in South Africa). It made it, by comfortably winning at home vs. San Marino (5:0), by letting Poland no comfort in Maribor at all (3:0) and landing a incredible blow to the group leaders Slovakia by beating them 2:0 in their own stadium in Bratislava. The four straight victory was finally achieved in the even tinier nation of San Marino (3:0). Right after the match, the Slovenian team gathered in the centre of the small stadium of Serravalle to listen to the news about the outcome of the match between Poland and Slovakia. A home victory or even a draw in the clash, which was played in unreal snowy conditions, would be enough for Slovenia to qualify directly to South Africa as group winners. However, all credits to them, Slovakia won 1:0.

But the Slovenian road to South Africa was only postponed by a D-tour over Moscow, the Russian capital. In the first leg of the play-offs, the team of the Dutch coaching star Guus Hiddink, dominated the beginning of the match, which was played on artificial turf, and got the lead by 2:0. But, then again, Slovenia repeated the come-back, started to play as it should in the dying minutes of the match and scored two minutes from time.

The return match in Maribor is history, the Slovenian success was destiny, challenged by a group of friends, who believe that the team is the real star. They are supported by fans who believe that the starting point before the 2010 FIFA World Cup - the very same 25th position in the FIFA ranking just before the start of the tournament as it was eight years ago - is not again an end, but a start of a brand new, even more exciting story of Slovenian football.

HypoGroup - Alpe Adria

Nike Telekom Slovenije Union AdriaticSlovenica

Hervis Kompas Harvey Norman Eles Supradyn