How Kek became King Matjaž: the master who learned how to outplay fate and the expert who opened the door to football paradise

Published on 21. November 2023 22. November 2023

Photo: Vid Ponikvar / Sportida

He is neither Hans Christian Andersen nor one of the Brothers Grimm. Nevertheless, he wanders the world and writes a fairy tale wherever he goes. Whether in Slovenia or Croatia. Or with an African or German twist. But even though he is in many ways greater than many, and indeed a true giant, he remains thoughtful, serious, grateful and humble, and above all realistic, so that he could hardly be more so. His name is Matjaž Kek.

This and many other words could be used to describe the Slovenian selector, who was the first to take two different generations of the Slovenian national team to a major competition. Meanwhile, he is worshipped as a god at Rujevica, because he has done what no one has ever done before, and he enjoys a great deal of respect in his hometown of Maribor, where he grew up just a stone’s throw from the local football capital.

His coaching career, interestingly enough, started in 2000, when Slovenia played in a major competition for the first time. But Matjaž Kek was still far, far away from the big stage. He started in his home town, Ljudski vrt, practically across the road from his home. He stayed in Maribor for four years, experienced many sweet and many bitter things, and after his farewell he disappeared from the eyes of the football public. He took up the job of selector, but almost at the bottom. First he was in charge of the U15 team, then the U17 team.

In 2007, when Slovenia was pretty much on the rocks, an unexpected offer came along that marked him for life. On 3 January of that year, he was appointed selector of the national team, which at that moment was far away from the level left by Srečko Katanec to his successors. Kek made his debut a month later in a friendly against Estonia, then almost lost his job later that year, but eventually rose like a phoenix from the ashes and led Slovenia on an 8000km journey to the south of the Black Continent.

Although at one point he was so unpopular that most fans demanded his head, he became … King Matthias! In his People’s Garden, he fell the magnificent Russian bear, Slovenia defeated Algeria in South Africa to win its first and only major competition, and with Keke on the bench, the national team climbed all the way up to 15th place in the FIFA rankings. No one has taken it higher.

Of course, every fairy tale comes to an end, and Kek’s first one on the bench in Slovenia was relatively quick. In the Euro 2012 qualifiers, everything went wrong, then came Aleksander Čeferin and the story was over. Then came Slaviša Stojanović and Matjaž Kek went on a crazy journey that brought him everything and more.

Matjaž Kek and Miran Pavlin — Photo: Vid Ponikvar / Sportida

He initially found refuge in the Middle East, specifically in Saudi Arabia, where he went many years before Cristiano Ronaldo. Kek took over Al Ittihad, for whom Karim Benzema now plays, but the adventure was short-lived. At the airport, he was greeted with a bouquet of flowers by the Arabs, and when he left, they hadn’t completely wilted… Kek realised then that not all that glitters is gold… A brave decision followed – to jump to neighbouring Croatia. Janez came among the cubes.“What’s a Slovenian going to tell us,” many probably thought. But Matjaž Kek has shown how to serve. In the port city, he and his former protégés made it to the Europa League group stage in 2013/14 and three seasons later won the first national title in the club’s history. He resigned as coach of Rijeka in October 2018, as the most popular Slovenian in Croatia, he was a candidate for Dinamo and Hajduk several times, but he did not go to Zagreb or Split. King Matjaž returned home. To complete unfinished business.

In 2018, he returned to the bench and came as a saviour. In the eyes of the public, he was almost the only one who could wake up the sleepy national team princess. Now we know how the story ended – he succeeded. But it hasn’t always been easy.

First, he led the Slovenian national team to the second tier of the Nations League after failing to qualify for Euro 2020, followed by another unsuccessful qualification for the last World Cup in Qatar and then a poor start in the Nations League. Just when it looked like the selector’s chair was shaking, suddenly everything changed. Matjaž Kek has once again “outwitted” fate and become a hero. Slovenia remained undefeated in the remaining four matches of the competition and stayed in the second tier. What followed has probably gone far enough to not need a detailed description, but the fact is that at next year’s European Championship the selector will be chasing a new milestone in the history of Slovenian football, of which he has already set many. But there are still enough. Breakthrough from the group stage of a major competition?