Emotional Petar Stojanović, with tears, also proved how connected the national team players are: ‘We know what Verbič was going through… I’m so happy for him!
Photo: Vid Ponikvar / Sportida
In Denmark, where he didn’t play, he was Slovenia sorely missed. Against Kazakhstan, Petar Stojanović returned to Slovenia’s starting XI and was the same as he has been in most of the previous matches in the qualifiers for the Euro 2024 – one of the best.
The quick-footed Ljubljana player kept his eye on the Kazakh defender at the end of the first half, forcing the latter to stop him with a foul in the penalty area. Then an 11th-minute penalty and … Benjamin Šeško! For the first explosion of enthusiasm in Stožice, which has never been more packed. We all know how it ended. That’s history now. Slovenia is going to Euro 2024!
“It was really fantastic to play this time! We enjoyed it, it could hardly have been more, although it was also stressful. It all dragged on for a crazy long time. Kazakhstan is not to be underestimated, and this was already evident in the first match in Astana. Then they beat the Danes and won points against all teams. They are a quality team, but this time we were much better. The fans gave us extra energy,” said Petar Stojanović after the 2-1 win, touching on the eleventh-minute penalty.
Stojanovic: “Bijol and I looked each other in the eye”
“On the 11-metre penalty, I saw that their defence was standing very high, Bijol and I looked each other in the eye and he passed a long ball into the penalty area. I was a bit behind, but I saw that the defender had his back to me and was about to kick the ball. It is strange that the referee had to go to VAR to make the right decision. Thank God Šeško then scored,” said Petar Stojanović in the garage under the stadium in Ljubljana.
Before he left to celebrate with his teammates, he was also overcome by tears when he spoke about Benjamin Verbič, the scorer of the winning goal: “On the second goal, I passed to Verbič and he scored a phenomenal goal. I am incredibly happy and pleased for him, I see him as my brother. We know what he was going through in his private life (divorce, op. a.)… I find it hard… We all supported it. Thank you, Benjamin!”
And then – celebration until the wee hours of the morning! “We will drink all we can. We will enjoy and rejoice,” said Petar Stojanović with a smile on his face.
This text was automatically translated using AI.
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