From the interminable winter break to the Eternal Derby

The first round of matches after the winter break (technically round 22), was played over the first weekend of March, with the exception of Mura’s home game against Olimpija (a victim of winter). With that last game played on Tuesday, the chips from round 22 fell as follows:

Gorica 0:0 Celje

Maribor 4:1 Triglav

Rudar 3:0 Aluminij

Domžale 1:1 Luka Koper

Mura 0:4 Olimpija

Last weekend saw the next round, still with plenty of snow still piled up around the grounds. There were banks of the stuff around Celje’s Arena Petrol, a ground that is potentially exposed at the best of times – ideal for spring and summer evenings, but the architecture doesn’t lend itself to a finding a cosy spot from which to view some early spring nogomet.

On the pitch the Grofje welcomed a Mura side further beleaguered by a winter fire sale that cost them many of their experienced players. Over the winter break boardroom changes took place in Murska Sobota, with Nataša Horvat taking up the position of chair. Hopefully this will produce some much needed stability, but, despite some encouraging resistance, they proved no challenge for the home side. Benjamin Verbič scored on the 18^th and 42^nd minutes, before providing for Andraž Žurej with just over ten minutes left. Mura hadn’t looked completely out of it for large chunks of the game, but the collapse was complete when Sebastjan Gobec scored in added time. It was to be the first of two matches in which Mura would ship four goals without scoring, prior to the same result in the rescheduled match against Olimpija.

The man who might once have scored for Mura, Nusmir Fajič, enjoyed an interesting game for champions Maribor, his new home on the over the other side of the Mura river. The oft-over-hyped Eternal Derby took place at Olimpija’s Stožice stadium and Maribor went into the break with a one nil lead courtesy of the aforementioned new boy, Fajič.  Nikola Nikezić restored parity just before the hour in an occasionally bad-tempered game which saw seven yellow cards and a sending off. The dismissal come on the seventieth minute for Maribor keeper Jasmin Handanovič after his over-reaction to a clumsy tangle with the home side’s Damjan Trifkovič.

Not content with a goal to his credit, Nusmir Fajič slipped on the gloves and took a shift between the posts. While it might have been expected that twenty minutes with ten men should give Olimpija all the encouragement they needed, it seemed in many ways to have the opposite effect. For much of the match both teams had enjoyed some nice periods of composure and possession, but with Fajič blagging it in front of a partisan home crowd, Olimpija suddenly gave up all idea of working the ball into the box and instead decided to pump long shots in the vague direction of the Maribor goal.  The strategy was both naive and unnecessary and it might well have cost the team from the capital a valuable two points.  If they’re to have any hope of closing the gulf in quality with Maribor and to become serious challengers for the Prva Liga title, they’ll need to show an order of magnitude more nous than they did in this match.

Round 23 looked like this:

Luka Koper 2:2 Rudar

Celje 4:0 Mura

Aluminij 1:3 Gorica

Olimpija 1:1 Maribor

Triglav P:P Domžale

This weekend’s matches:

(Round 24)

Saturday 16/03:

Gorica v. Luka Koper (15:00 CET)

Olimpija v. Celje (17:30)

Maribor v. Domžale (20:00)

Sunday 17/03:

Rudar v. Triglav (15:00)

Mura 05 v. Aluminij (15:00)

Slovenia play Iceland during the international break, as part of their already surely busted campaign to make it to Brasil ‘14. Three points from four games in a group that should have guaranteed the national team fighting for the top two spots is not the kind of form that leads to a World Cup finals berth.  With a home tie against Iceland the only competitive tie until the return fixture in June, newly returned Srečko Katanec will be hoping to grab another three points to restore some confidence in a team undergoing something of a transition.

Stojanović Steps Down from the Slovenia Job

(January 2013 Update: Srečko Katanec accepted the role of managing the Slovenia national team on 31st December 2012).

On Sunday Slaviša Stojanović finally left his post as the national team manager. A victim of the country’s recent success and increased expectations, the coach’s poor return of only two wins (a friendly against Romania and a competitive tie with Cyprus) has seen his position become harder and harder to justify.

Going into the draw for the World Cup qualifiers, the performances of the past few years meant that Slovenia were placed in the second highest pot. But the team’s performance in a relatively tricky but manageable qualification group for Brazil 2014 has seen them languishing second bottom of group E, with Albania and Iceland above, and Cyprus below only on goal difference. This isn’t the kind of blustering, confident show that the football-watching public have become accustomed to.

While Stojanović had to contend with rebuilding a squad where a number of the most experienced players had decided to turn their back on the national team and an increasing number of the younger players are scattered around the continent, this is arguably a challenge that any manager of Slovenia will have to contend with. In the end the results just weren’t good enough.

With hopes of making it to a second consecutive World Cup all but extinguished, the next holder of the position will be in the enviable position of entering qualification for a greatly enlarged European Championships, in the French edition of 2016. UEFA’s expansion was expected to benefit teams like Slovenia most, so it’s a pretty big carrot for anyone perusing the situations vacant pages.

Local media are suggesting that Srečko Katanec might be able to return to sprinkle a little of his lucky dust on the beleaguered team but in the ten years since his last glorious tenure, the man who’s greatest crime appears to have been not being Zlatko Zahovič has had frankly torrid spells at the helm of Olympiacos, Macedonia and the UAE.

It’s tempting to say that it could be time for Zahovič to put his money where his mouth is, but that’s unlikely to be a good solution for either him or the national team. Darko Milanič is currently the coach with the chops in the domestic game, but it’s hard to see why he’d leave Maribor during their appropriately purple patch.

Slaviša Stojanović seems a decent club manager, and no doubt he’ll find a rewarding post in the near future, but severing ties with Stojanović’s predecessor, Matjaž Kek, is starting to look like a distinct mis-step for the Slovene F.A.

Round up of Maribor’s catch-up, and the Americans come to town…

A pretty quiet week for Slovene football.  The international break meant that the only weekend match was the game in hand for Rudar and Maribor. The Viola seemed to recover easily enough from their European mauling at the hands of Braga to put three past the team from Velenje without reply. Having caught up with that missing game from round 12, all of the teams have now played 17 matches and Maribor are still comfortably out in front on 37 points – 7 clear of second-placed Olimpija.

On Tuesday, the national team hosted the USA in Ljubljana, where the Slovenes turned out for the very last time in their now famous white and dark green.  I’ll be doing a proper piece on this in the near future to explain the change, but for now, it feels a bit like the end of an era. The match was, coincidently, against one of the many teams who already play in the combination of white/blue/red that the association are switching to.  Following last year’s unbearably tense encounter between the two in South Africa, a match that ended two-a-piece with the Slovenes two up at half time, it was the Americans’ turn to come out of the blocks like a greyhound that left the gas on. David Beckham’s former teammate, and current Ingolstadt 04 striker Edson Buddle put the visitors up on 9 minutes. Tim Matavž equalised on the 26^th, but pre-half time goals from Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore all but wrapped the game up. Matavž popped another one in on the hour, but the match finished 3:2 to the USA. Not a classic, but it’s good to see Tim Matavž continuing to improve following his summer move to PSV.

The only other action was another catching up session for Maribor, this time in the Hervis Pokal – the Slovenian Cup. They had an over-due second leg against NK Zavrč. Maribor’s opponents currently lead the Eastern division of the Slovene 3^rd league, and managed an impressive 3:3 draw with the Prva Liga champions in their home tie. Back at the Ljuski Vrt on Wednesday night, the Viola managed a routine 1:0 win against the team two leagues below them – a team incidentally, who beat (an admittedly understrength) Domžale 5:0 in the previous round. Maribor go into the draw for the semi-finals and keep their hopes of a double alive – a feat that hasn’t been accomplished since they themselves managed it in 1998/99.

This week sees the Prva Liga back on, here are round 18’s fixtures (all times CET):

Saturday 19^th November:

Triglav Kranj v. Gorcia 13:30

Domžale v. Olimpija Ljubljana 15:00 (TV)

Maribor v. Luka Koper 17:00 (TV)

Rudar v. Nafta 17:00

Sunday 20^th November:

Mura 05 v. Celje 13:30

Kek Exits Stage Left & Maribor Draw in Europe

Today was supposed to be all about reviewing Maribor’s first Europa League point last Thursday, before taking a look at the weekend’s Prva Liga results, but things moved on, blind-siding us on a Monday morning with the news that Matjaž Kek and the Slovenia national team had parted company.

The fifty-year-old had been in charge of the national team for over four years – the culmination of an incredibly obscure career trajectory: six years at the helm of Maribor, before working with the Slovenia under-15s and -16s. Kek went straight from there into the top job.  At the time of his appointment, Slovenia had been languishing under the uninspired leadership of Branko Oblak (voted Slovenia’s golden player for UEFA’s 50 birthday celebrations). The days of Katanec’s golden generation seemed a long way off.

Kek seemed a safe choice to begin with, and not much was expected of his stewardship. The incredibly slim chances the team had of making the 2008 European championships soon disappeared, and Kek focused on rebuilding the team – an aspiration that was met with some cynicism.  Although there was talk of his being replaced once the Euro 2008 qualifiers were over, he was allowed to continue. With the team’s strong showing in the qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup, followed by victory over Russia in the play-offs, Kek had managed to equal the country’s highest achievement.

Arriving in South Africa, Kek then outdid Katanec, picking up Slovenia’s first points at the finals. Victory over Algeria in Polokwane was followed by one of the South Africa World Cup’s most entertaining matches – Slovenia nearly held on for a somewhat cheeky victory over the USA having gone 2:0 up, only to draw 2:2. The next match against an impotent England side saw the Slovenes loose 1:0 and nearly make it through to the knock-out stage until a late, late, American goal against Algeria sent them home. Still, four points was not a haul to be sniffed at.

Qualification for Euro 2012 saw Slovenia placed in a difficult group, we’ve covered where they wobbled off course already here, but it’s worth saying that they could quite easily at least have made the playoffs. Kek, however, had won many admirers. Statistically, he’s Slovenia’s most successful manager. Aside from this, Slovenia have been handed a qualification group for the 2014 World Cup that should inspire optimism.  Kek’s departure has apparently come by mutual consent with the nations governing body, but there are rumblings that there was more to it than merely missing out on Euro 2012. I’ll bring you more when it comes.

Kek’s replacement has been named as Slaviša Stojanović, who was last seen assisting Katanec at the United Arab Emirates. Stojanović was the man who led Domžale to their league titles in 2007 and 2008, having brought the team up to Prva Liga in the first place. A young manager, if the post has to go to anyone after Kek, it could certainly be said that, on merit, Stojanović deserves the opportunity to take this exciting group of players forward. Srečno Slaviša…

Viola, et, Voilà

Last Thursday saw Maribor stage their second home game in the Europa League. The visitors this time were last year’s vanquished finalists, SC Braga. The combination of an early-ish kick-off, and the fact that I’m contractually obliged to work unconventionally late into the evening meant that I missed Agim Ibraimi’s opener on the 14^th minute, before settling down to watch an particularly entertaining, and from a Maribor point of view, competent, display. In spite of Elderson’s somewhat avoidable equaliser just before half time, the Viola really looked like a decent outfit.  It’s always interesting to see the best in Slovenia take on teams from more competitive leagues, but Maribor did far more than just hang on. They could have got more than a point out of the clash, although, on balance a draw was definitely the right result. Many of the squad put in a good shift, with Ibraimi, Mežga and Volaš harrying Braga and keeping the Portuguese side wide awake all evening. Dejan Trajkovski continues to be impressive and one worth keeping tabs on, an old head on young shoulders.

The Home Front

With everything else going on, the Prva Liga has taken a bit of a back seat. The teams below Maribor in the table continue to spread points around, failing to make their position count. This time it was Gorica’s turn to misfire against Domžale, allowing Olimpija to reclaim second spot – that man Vršič popping up again in their 1:0 win over Triglav, and taking his tally to 11.  Koper took their turn to open a can of the proverbial brca v rit on a Nafta team who look to be suffering from vertigo every time they clamber any distance north of the foot of the table. They remain three point above fellow wooden-spoon grapplers Triglav Kranj. Here are round 15’s results:

Koper 4:1 Nafta

Gorica 0:3 Domžale

Celje 2:3 Rudar

Mura 1:3 Maribor

Olimpija 1:0 Triglav

The table:

Position	Team	Played	Points
1.	Maribor	14	30
2.	Olimpija Ljubljana	15	26
3.	HIT Gorica	15	24
4.	Rudar Velenje	14	23
5.	Domžale	15	21
6.	Mura 05	15	20
7.	CM Celje	15	18
8.	Luka Koper	15	15
9.	Nafta Lendava	15	14
10.	Triglav Kranj	15	11

Click here for the full table.

A brief history of Slovenia v. Serbia: Drawing Comparisons…

Serbia’s visit to Maribor on Tuesday will be the first meeting between the teams in the second city. Hopefully the match will be a straight winner takes all, although Slovenia’s slim hopes rest on results elsewhere, indeed, it’s possible that they’ll be out of the running by the time the match rolls round, following Serbia’s tie with Italy on Friday. As things stand, Slovenia are three points behind Serbia but have a goal difference of +3, as opposed to Serbia’s current +2. However, if Slovenia are fortunate enough that Estonia are put out of the picture (that’s a massive ‘if’), then tie-breaks in the European Championship qualifiers are decided on the following criteria first:

1.  Higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question

2.  Superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question

3.  Higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams in question

4.  Higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question

5.  If, after applying criteria 1) to 4) to several teams, two or more teams still have an equal ranking, the criteria 1) to 4) will be reapplied to determine the ranking of these teams. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 6) and 7) will apply (courtesy of Wikipedia)

Criteria six is: Superior goal difference, followed by goals scored, away goals, fair play.  The final resort (criteria seven) is to draw lots.

The story so far…

Surprisingly, for teams that are considered so differently matched (Serbia a sleeping giant and Slovenia over-achieving minnows), you can’t get a Rizla between these two. Keener drawers than Rolf Harris, the record between the teams in all competitions reads: Played 5, Drawn 5.

The first encounter between the teams was the famous 3:3 played against ‘Yugoslavia’ in Group C of Euro 2000.  Slovenia’s first ever match on the big-stage, the (first) golden generation turned out an impressive result that could have been so much more impressive. 3:0 up by the hour mark courtesy of two goals from Zlatko Zahovič (who else) and Miran Pavlin. Perhaps the spotlight was too bright, but over the following quarter of an hour the team shipped goals in an obscene fashion. Decent performances against Spain and Norway were to follow, but in the end the team finished bottom of the group.

Shortly after, qualifying for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea paired the teams together once more. Here Slovenia were to get their revenge: although both ties between the teams finished  1:1, it was the Slovenes who were to finish above their southern opponents in the play-off spot of Group 1, just 3 points behind Russia. Slovenia went on to play Romania who they beat 3:2 over two legs to qualify for their first ever World Cup, where Zahovič was to make a name for himself for entirely different reasons.

The next meeting was a 1:1 draw during a friendly in Ljubljana in 2004. The same scoreline was repeated in the first meeting between the teams in this qualifying campaign. The tie in Belgrade saw Slovenia pull ahead through a Milivoje Novakovič goal in the 63^rd minute. The Serbs later levelled the tie through Birmingham-based carthorse and occasional goal-scorer Nikola Žigić.

If you’re looking for a flutter during this round of qualifiers, then past form would make this look like a nailed-on draw. Probably bodes well for the Estonians…

Team to face Serbia on October 11th:

Goalkeepers: Samir Handanovič (Udinese), Jasmin Handanovič (Maribor), Vid Belec (Crotone).

Defenders: Mišo Brečko (1. FC Köln), Marko Šuler (Gent), Boštjan Cesar (Chievo), Branko Ilič (Lokomotiv Moscow), Bojan Jokić (Chievo), Miral Samardžić (Sheriff Tiraspol), Matej Mavrič (Kapfenberg).

Midfielders: Valter Birsa (Genoa), Andraž Kirm (Wisła Kraków), Aleksandar Radosavljevič (ADO Den Haag), Josip Iličić (Palermo), Armin Bačinović (Palermo), Dare Vršič (Olimpija Ljubljana), Rene Krhin (Bologna).

Forwards: Zlatan Ljubijankič (Gent), Milivoje Novakovič (1. FC Köln), Zlatko Dedič (Dynamo Dresden), Tim Matavž (PSV).

Maribor’s Jasmin Handanovič and Olimpija’s Dare Vršič are the Prva Liga’s only representatives. I might be wrong, but this may be the last time that Slovenia play in white and green, but there will be more on that later…

Maribor hit Brum Note, and Round 13 of the Prva Liga…

The Europa League dished out another defeat to Maribor, who more than just turned up in their home tie against Birmingham City. For UK viewers, the highlights are here (it’s channel 5’s website, not sure if it’s international).  The Slovenian team had some good chances, especially in the first half, but it took some grade-A comedy goal-keeping to allow the Viola to get in front – Colin Doyle’s missed swipe at a backpass allowed Dalibor Volaš to tuck the ball in on the 29 minute mark. In the second half, however, Birmingham came out the stronger. Scottish midfielder Chris Burke levelled the scores with a nice finish in the 64^th minute, before Wade Elliot’s shot squirmed away from Handanovič’s grasp in the 78^th minute to cruelly deny Maribor what might have been a deserved draw. Although the general expectation is that this Europa League campaign is a good way of getting some experience and cash for the team, it’s surely a shame to have missed out on a hard fought point.

Two days later it was back to the Prva Liga. Koper climbed off the bottom thanks to a win over Domžale: Milan Osterc scoring coolly with a lob in the 8^th minute to open the scoring, followed by a goal for Adnan Aganovič on the 33^rd. Mitja Zatkovič’s freekick in the 66^th minute added a goal for Domžale’s account, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Domžale losing 2:1.

Maribor were back to winning ways following their rousing, but ultimately unsuccessful struggle against Birmingham (that match itself following a limp 2:0 defeat to Nafta last weekend), when Triglav Kranj rolled into town. After a goalless first half where both teams had decent chances, Maribor struck through a cinematic diving header starring Etien Velikonja’s bonce (1:29, here). The second goal, bundled in by Marcos Tavares on the 87^th minute was far less worthy of the red carpet.

Nafta carried on the good work from last weekend’s victory over Maribor when they held Olimpija 1:1 in Ljubljana. Roland Polareczki found space that shouldn’t have existed to plant a header from a corner in the 33^rd minute to put the visitors ahead. Not to be outdone, Dalibor Radujko made the most of a variation on that theme to draw the match level on the hour.

Gorica kept the pressure up on Olimpija in second place when they visited Celje. From the highlights it looks like it was one-way traffic until Celje managed to pop one away from a free kick via Togolese centre-back Serge Akakpo’s head on the 29^th minute. Despite the chances that Gorica had, Celje (despite losing Zoran Pavlovič for a second yellow card on the 80^th minute) held on to their lead as the 90^th minute came and went. Just before full time the team numbers were levelled when Miha Mevlja used his elbow in an extra-judicial manner not often seen in peacetime, his marching orders swiftly followed. By that point the match was setting itself up for a coup de grace of the most careless kind. With the warmth of the referee’s breath on his whistle to call time on the encounter, Celje giving the world a masterclass in what happens if your defenders don’t know what to do with loose balls. Twice. Goals in the 92^nd and 94^th minute marked the comeback and snatched the victory for Gorica. Spinning heads all round for the Celje players.

Decent chances were few and far between in the other tie of the round, which saw Mura and Rudar play out a scoreless draw.  Perhaps after two weeks of midweek fixtures on top of the weekend rounds the teams will be glad of the international break, which means just under a fortnight off for the Prva Liga.

The national team return to Euro 2012 qualifying with hopes of a play-off place very much in other people’s hands.  They will have to hope that Serbia lose at home to Italy on Friday before they host the Serbs, a match that they will also need to win.  Even if they do that, they will need to hope that Estonia lose away to Northern Ireland, before the Irish then lose to Italy. It’s a minefield, and one that Slovenia are unfortunately very unlikely to circumnavigate successfully. Time for crossed fingers and Faustian pacts.

Prva Liga, round 13. Ties played on the 2^nd and 3^rd of October:

Koper 2:1 Domžale

Maribor 2:0 Triglav

Celje 1:2 Gorica

Mura 0:0 Rudar

Olimpija 1:1 Nafta

Uphill Struggle for Slovenia

As if the pressure of climbing into the dizzying heights of Pot 2 for 2014 World Cup draw had a significant effect on the country’s footballing psyche, a low-level collapse of the Slovenian national team seemed destined to occur.  Though, that’s probably being more than a little unfair – if the national team have been punching well above their weight, then letting points slip to an unexpectedly potent Estonia team and losing to undefeated group leaders Italy hardly represents an ignominious return to minor status.

Italy have sealed their place at the top of Group C, and join Germany, Spain and the Netherlands alongside Poland and Ukraine in the finals. The runners-up spot is where the action now lies, and is currently occupied by most people’s pick pre-tournament, Serbia.  The revelation of the round has been, without doubt, a resurgent Estonia (if they were ever ‘surgent’ in the first place).  In the Stožice match on Friday, the Slovenes cancelled out a 29^th minute penalty for Estonia when Tim Matavž scored the very definition of a poacher’s goal in the 78^th minute.  The work was undone three minutes later when Ats Purje slipped from Bojan Jokić’s grasp to turn and pound the ball into the net from 18 yards out.

Disappointments in the last ten minutes were the order of the round for the Slovenes: Travelling to Florence four days later to play the Italians, they held out until the 85^th minute, when Giampaolo Pazzini forced the issue. A stubborn Slovene defence managed to frustrate the Italians for most of the encounter, but in the end the former Fiorentina striker latched onto a deflection from Mišo Brečko’s thigh to half-volley past stand-in keeper Jasmin Handanovič.

With Northern Ireland all but out of the running, Slovenia no longer have qualification in their own hands.  They have to hope that an already qualified Italy still have the chops, and the motivation, to beat Serbia in Belgrade on the 7^th October. The first meeting between the two, in Genoa, was suffocated by crowd trouble from a section of the Serbia fans, leading to a 35 minute delay before kick-off, abandonment after 6 minutes, and UEFA duly awarding a 3-0 win to the Italians. Fingers crossed that the dickheads don’t do for the Belgrade leg – though a 3-0 win to the Italians would help Slovenia’s cause. If it happens, let’s hope it happens on the pitch.

It does, however, go much further than that. In the beautiful spider’s web and scoundrel’s last refuge that makes up mathematical hopes of qualification, Slovenia also need Estonia to become ‘unsurgent’ against Norn Iron in Belfast. So far, the Estonians have been successful on the road against their direct competition, having beaten both Slovenia and Serbia away.  Some consolation comes from the fact that the ‘træske’ recipients (that’s ’wooden spoon’ in Danish, btw – don’t get offended if you’re Faroese, it’s just hard to find a dictionary), the Faroe Islands, managed to beat Estonia 2-0 before the Estonians had begun to consider any kind of surging.

If Estonia draw or lose to Northern Ireland and Serbia lose to Italy, then the Slovenes will know that they have a winner takes all play off against the Serbs in Maribor on the 11th of October (well, unless the Northern Irish win both of their games, isn’t this delightfully complicated?  I’d publish a league table and the fixtures in full if only I didn’t worry UEFA’s lawyers would be on the phone asking for money. Here’s wikipedia doing all the graphics and maths for us)

Failing that, the Slovenes have been handed an unquestionably kind draw in qualifying for the 2014 World Cup. Their group sees them play Norway, Switzerland, Albania, Cyprus and Iceland.  The only problem here is that the Norweigens and the Swiss are as able to blow hot and cold as Slovenia.