Petar Stojanović is aware of the power of Kazakhstan, but he is in an optimistic mood: “We are ready for everything that awaits us, but we want to win!”

Published on 8. September 2024 8. September 2024

Photo: YouTube (NZS) - screenshot

On Monday, Slovenia will face Kazakhstan in what will be the last international match before club football takes center stage for a month. Slovenia will be playing for the second time in a row at Stožice, where they will host a quality opponent, as Petar Stojanović points out. Despite this, the newly signed Salernitana player has only one scenario in mind: a home win.

“We have another tough match against a quality opponent ahead of us. Many might think that this game should be an easy win, but I don’t think it will be that simple. We must not forget that we played two very difficult matches against them in the qualifiers. Against Norway, Kazakhstan once again proved how quality they are. They have a new coach, so there is definitely new energy and additional motivation in their squad. We are expecting a tough game, but we are prepared. We want to win! We will do everything to achieve our goal,” emphasized Petar Stojanović decisively at the press conference at Brdo pri Kranju.

Petar Stojanović — Photo source: YouTube (NZS) – screenshot

Slovenia did not shine against Austria, but the Ljubljanian is still convinced that not everything was bad. “We analyzed Friday’s game just like any other. We highlighted both the good and bad aspects, and we can look at it positively. There were many good moments. It is true that we suffered on the field for a while, but that is normal. We played against a top opponent. If we had utilized some of the chances we had better, we could have even won. If that had happened, we probably wouldn’t be talking about having played a slightly poor game… I don’t agree with that anyway. The positive thing is that once again we did not lose. We showed that we can compete against any team. However, we need to give a bit more if we want to beat Kazakhstan,” acknowledges 28-year-old Petar Stojanović.

Stojanović: “We know what lies ahead”

The former player of Interblock, Maribor, Veržej, Dinamo from Zagreb, Empoli, and Sampdoria also talked about how Slovenia is simply not a team expected to dominate from start to finish against anyone, not even Kazakhstan. “We have our principles, always the same. However, it is important to know that some opponents let you play on the field, while others do not. We wanted to dominate against Austria, but against tougher opponents, you also have to endure if you want to achieve a result. We must be ready to suffer at times against Kazakhstan. We cannot expect to have the ball and create chances one after another for 90 minutes. Our goal is, of course, to show good energy and force the opponent to adapt to our game. But it doesn’t always go as planned before the game. We will try to do everything agreed upon with the coach on the field. I am confident that it will be good and that we will achieve a positive result,” said Petar Stojanović.

The 58-time Slovenian international concluded by emphasizing that the players have already forgotten everything that happened during the summer at Euro 2024 and are not looking back too much, only forward: “As soon as we regrouped at Brdo pri Kranju, we switched our minds to what lies ahead. We know what is coming. You cannot live off past glory. Everything that is behind us is nicely written down, but it is no longer in our heads. If we want to live the dreams we have already lived, we have to go from training to training and from match to match as we did before the European Championship and at Euro 2024. Thank God I have been here for a long time, and I can honestly say that this team is very healthy psychologically. So, we have no problems with that and are ready for whatever comes our way.”