Robert Kraner
Football in Slovenia? For the majority of ordinary Inside Futbol readers watching the grass grow can be more interesting but perhaps there is someone who is interested in finding out what is going on in this beautiful small country which has a population of only about 2 million people.
Many of you might remember the beginning of the footballing fairytale which gripped Slovenia. It began in 1999 when seven time domestic champions Maribor managed against all the odds to get through to the Champions League group stage. And the next year the fairytale continued with the Slovenian national team taking part in EURO 2000 in Belgium/Holland. This magnificent period ended with three defeats at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea. Perhaps we Slovenians knew it would go wrong when a disagreement erupted between arguably the finest ever player we have ever produced, Zlatko Zahovic and the coach who had worked wonders for us, Srecko Katanec.
Though 2002 might seem like the distant past, Slovenian football hasn’t trodden the winning path since then. The Slovenian champions are miles away from involvement in the serious business of the Champions League and all of our country’s representatives end their interest in Europe, very early – in August. On a national level, our national team has fallen down to the bottom level of European football.
What really happened? The most realistic reason is the lack of the quality. Clubs in the 1st division are professional but they gather only 1000 spectators per game. They don’t have the money to keep players of promise, who leave for ridiculously low offers from abroad, even clubs from the lower leagues of Western European countries. Every now and then some president, at some club, comes up with an idea of creating an expensive squad (expensive for this area) in the hopes of European progression, but it is only a drop in the ocean compared to wealthy Western clubs.
It is both sad and interesting to watch the decline of arguably our biggest club, Maribor, which, when in 1999 qualified for the Champions League group stage, earned their budget for a few years from doing so. But all the money has been used up and today this club is on the margins. After the Champions League successes players were deservedly rewarded but new arrivals brought to bolster the side were also signed to lucrative contracts. When further European progress did not materialise, the foolishness of awarding these contract became plain and even now the clubs suffers with debts because of it.
Maribor continues to fight every year to qualify for European competitions and here and then even surprises bigger clubs (last year Maribor eliminated Spanish side Villareal in the Intertoto cup). But, unfortunately miserable results are more common, show by this years 5:0 defeat against Serbian’s Hajduk Kula.
An average European football fan has heard about only one Slovenian football player. His name is Zlatko Zahovic (ex-Benfica, Valencia, Olympiacos, and Porto amongst others). He was born in Maribor, the second biggest city in Slovenia. The city was known as a workers city and those cities tend to have the most passionate supporters. It is the same for this Maribor.
Although Zahovic was born in Maribor he never wore the legendary violet jersey. He left Slovenia when he was 18 and only returned this year after a very successful career abroad. He immediately cheered up the Maribor supporters, taking the position of Sporting Director and pledged to try to find the road to success once again.
Zahovic’s first move for Maribor was to turn to another footballing legend to coach the side. Milko Djurovski (ex-Groningen, Partizan Belgrade, Red Star Belgrade) had settled in Maribor and keenly accepted the position. His tenure did not last long though, after a poor set of results, supporters entered the club’s offices to demand his removal and Djurovski’s reign ended.
What’s does the future hold for Maribor then? On the positive side, the club will soon have the most modern stadium in Slovenia (with 13.000 seats) and Zahovic has already visited his friend Predrag Mijatovic at Real Madrid with the wish to make the opening match really stand out, a tie against Real Madrid. Such an event would certainly disguise the reality of Slovenian football where many first division clubs even don’t have floodlights to play matches in the more profitable evening hours. Add to that the fact that two of the biggest clubs in the land (besides Maribor) Olimpija and Mura, went bankrupt several years ago, and the picture is not a healthy one, Maribor itself seems half-dead and two smaller clubs with a minimal fan base (Domzale and Gorica) have taken advantage of this and begun to rule football in this small country.
Perhaps Zahovic can raise Maribor once again, with the infrastructure in place only the team need sorting out. Easier said than done.