Slovenia is considerably more mature than it was: We used to lose such matches, emphasized Matjaž Kek, who is confident in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup
Photo: Luka Vovk / Sportida
Austrians dominated, while others went without a win, as highlighted by the media in the northern neighboring country after last night’s match in Stožice. And they were not far from the truth. Austria was – to be honest – (somewhat) the better opponent. Matjaž Kek agrees that they primarily statistically dominated on a poor pitch in Stožice, yet the selector of Slovenia pointed out a somewhat different aspect after the match. An aspect that is hard to disagree with.
“”We used to always lose such matches,“” emphasized Matjaž Kek. And he is right. This was a typical match that the “old” Slovenia would have lost. However, “new” Slovenia is indeed much tougher – both in organizational and especially psychological terms. All of this fills the Maribor native with optimism, and Matjaž Kek made an interesting “promise” – Slovenia will play in the next major tournament!
Matjaž Kek: “We convincingly lost three times”
“It is also possible to reach the World Cup through the Nations League. We will have to endure a lot more to reach a sufficiently high level. This time, a point against Austria, who declared themselves the favorites of this group, was enough. They were very confident before the match, and perhaps that is why there was some anger when a piece of grass was torn off. They apparently think we are used to playing on fields,” was Matjaž Kek’s insightful comment after the match in Ljubljana, who, despite the given promise, is aware that it will soon be necessary to step on the gas.
“Such performances will not be enough for the road to the World Cup. But this is the beginning of an adventure titled ‘we’re going to America’. I am confident that we will play in America! At the same time, I firmly believe that there will be challenges along the way. We have already seen some challenges in this match. But we used to lose such matches… We convincingly lost to the Austrians three times in a row,” Matjaž Kek did not forget to mention that Slovenia, despite remaining winless, broke the negative streak against Austria… And sometimes small things are key on the path to great successes.
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This text was automatically translated using AI.
Author: editorial Football Planet
National Team
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