Could Benjamin Verbič be the hot Slovenian trumph card? Greek giant Panathinaikos member to return to his old “home” on Friday
Photo: Grega Valančič / Sportida
Even if statistics and history for Friday’s showdown with Denmark do not point in favour of the Slovenian team, on the other hand, selector Matjaž Kek has a hidden trump card in his squad who knows Copenhagen and especially the Parken stadium very, very well. It should not be forgotten that Benjamin Verbič, after exploding in the Celje jersey and really impressing for a while in the Slovenian top flight, left his homeland at the age of just twenty-one and moved to the Danish capital for a cool €1 million.
In a Kobenhavn jersey, the current member of the Panathinaikos has made a staggering 99 appearances, adding 22 goals and 15 assists to his personal tally, winning two national and two cup titles with the club, while also making his debut on the biggest stage in the Champions League. After two and a half seasons, Verbic was sold by the Lions for €4 million to Ukraine, where he signed for Dynamo Kyiv.
Benjamin Verbič certainly knows the feeling of victory at Parceno, having experienced many of them, but there’s no doubt that celebrating with his national team teammates in front of his former supporters on Friday would be the sweetest… However, this raises the question of what role selector Kek will actually give to the 29-year-old footballer, who has not been playing much in the jersey with the national emblem lately.
Benjamin Verbič has indeed played in seven matches in the qualifiers for next summer’s European Championship in Germany, but in the last three he has spent only 40 minutes on the pitch.
This text was automatically translated using AI.
Author: editorial Football Planet
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