Matjaž Kek sent an appeal to the authorities before the match against Austria: The training process in the 1. SNL is at a high level, the problem is infrastructure
Photo: Nik Moder / Sportida
Matjaž Kek will tonight lead the Slovenian national team for the first time after Euro 2024, where the Maribor native was helped to historical success by players from the Prva liga Telemach. In particular, Timi Max Elšnik (then Olimpija) and Žan Karničnik (Celje) played very visible roles in Germany, proving that it is possible to break through from the 1. SNL to the biggest stage in the world. This shows that the Slovenian league is not as bad as some would like to present it. Matjaž Kek agrees that the quality is at a high level, but he pointed out a problem that no one should really turn a blind eye to. Especially those who are responsible for it.
That the infrastructure in Slovenia is in a catastrophic state in many places is an undeniable fact. This summer, the destroyed playing surfaces are particularly striking, not to mention the other conditions, which in many cases are in a pre-sinking state. There are very few environments that can boast ideal conditions for training and play. But who is to blame? The NZS invests a lot of money in this pressing issue, but the fact is that it often stops where it shouldn’t. At the owners. And these are neither the NZS nor the clubs. Most of the football infrastructure in Slovenia is owned by local authorities.
Kek: “In Europe, this is quite normal”
“The fact is that Slovenian club football has recently positively drawn attention to itself. Two clubs will survive the autumn in Europe, which speaks volumes about the quality. We have seen that it is possible to develop good footballers in Slovenian clubs through quality work, one such player is ultimately Arnel Jakupović, who is no longer in the Slovenian league, but has made it to the strong Austrian national team through his performances at Maribor. It is possible to jump high from our league, we just need to trust and give opportunities,” believes the Maribor native.
Matjaž Kek also touched on the already mentioned infrastructure issue: “In this area, we really need to improve and take some steps forward. We simply need to reach a level that is quite normal in Europe today. We are still lagging behind in this regard… However, the training process in our clubs is at a sufficiently high level that a footballer can also make it to a strong national team like the Austrian one.“
This text was automatically translated using AI.
Author: editorial Football Planet
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