Slovenia
Thursday 3 July 2008
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Slovenia (©NZS)
Slovenia have tended to fall just short of qualification for major tournaments in the small-sided game but have reached the UEFA European Under-21 Futsal Tournament finals at the first time of asking.
Qualifying
They had among the most comprehensive preparation campaigns of any of the qualifying contenders, starting under coach Zoran Tesko in May 2007 with a draw and loss to the Czech Republic. Six months later they had 2-2 draw against Hungary followed by a 2-1 defeat. They travelled to St Petersburg for the annual Autumn tournament and, after losing 1-0 to eventual winners Spain, beat Slovakia 5-2, Belarus 5-1 and the Netherlands 4-1. Although they then lost home friendlies to Croatia and Italy, they hit form when it mattered in qualifying, defeating Georgia 5-1, Bulgaria 12-0 and Belgium 4-2.
Senior achievements
Although Slovenia have always been strong contenders to reach final tournaments at senior level, only once have they made the breakthrough, beating Greece, Armenia and the Netherlands to qualify for the 2003 UEFA European Futsal Championship, where they lost to hosts Italy, Russia and the Czech Republic. They had the misfortune to draw Spain in the 2004 FIFA Futsal World Cup play-offs and 2005 European qualifying – that nation went on to win both titles – and they were pipped to EURO 2007 by the narrowest of margins by Romania in a three-way head-to-head tie-break after losing their last game 3-1 to Belgium.
Key players
Reflecting on their qualificaiton, Tesko said: "I cannot highlight a single player, we are strong as a team." The core of the squad is based on players from KMN Svea Lesna Litija and KMN Puntar, but they have a team spirit all of their own. The likes of top scorer Kristjan Čujec, Gaj Rosič, Rok Mordej, and Danijel Pantič competed together at August's World University Futsal Championship in Koper, where the hosts came fourth.
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