Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic announced his international retirement last night as his country failed to make the finals of Euro 2012 following defeat to neighbours Slovenia.The 29-year old Manchester United player said that it is "time for a change of generation and for some older players to make way". He continued, saying "I do accept however, that I could have picked a better time than half-way through my run-up to take that penalty".
It wasn't the best time at all. With Slovenia hanging on to a 1-0 lead and just under half an hour left, Vidic had the chance to bring Serbia level in a game they needed to win in order to stand any chance of making the play-offs, when Aleksander Kolarov went down under a challenge from Marko Suler. It looked innocuous, but referee Frank de Bleeckere pointed to the spot. Up stepped Vidic who later described his thought process. "The old cliché when taking penalties is that you shouldn't change your mind. If you look at the tape, you can see the point at which I do precisely that and change my mind about carrying on and decide to retire. That made it too easy for the keeper".
Estonia progress to the play-offs instead of Serbia for one of the remaining four places in the finals.
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Showing posts with label Slovenia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Slovenia. Show all posts
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
Last minute Americans send Slovenia packing
In truth, that headline should have been written last Friday night when only a bonkers refereeing decision helped Slovenia to a draw with the USA. Instead, the Americans got their revenge in the final group games and it's they that go through and Slovenia who are on their way home.
It wasn't like that throughout proceedings though. England took a lead midway through the first half, but with the USA being held 0-0 by Algeria, that was still enough for Slovenia to join England in the second phase. England had chances, but couldn't kill the game off. The best chance for an equaliser ended with Valter Birsa shooting wide with the fourth effort of a barrage of shots blocked by England defenders. At the final whistle, it still remained goalless in the other game. Happy days. Well it might have been had there not been a couple more minutes of stoppage time left when Landon Donovan broke, Jozy Altidore's shot wasn't held and Donovan followed in to snatch a dramatic late winner for the States which saw them top the group ahead of England.
Heartbreak, then, for Matjaz Kek and his team, but let's be realistic. Slovenia is tiny - a nation of two million with only around 450 registered professional footballers to call their own. Man City have about that many. This has forced Kek into forging the side into a fairly rigid starting XI with minimal changes which produces it's own pluses and minuses. On the plus side comes a team harmony many others envy (we mean you, France) with more of a feel of a club side about it. Players know instinctively how their colleagues play and that allows them to play in a way that gets the best out of each other. On the flip side, when it comes to chasing a game like they had to against England, it becomes very difficult to change personnel, let alone the system. The lack of a plan B really counted against them. While the nation has such meagre playing resources, that's unlikely to change and while the disappointment is tangible, it has to be remembered that getting to this point is a major victory. It may take a couple of days and a couple of beers to realise this, but that's the reality of the situation and it's a big feather in Kek's cap.
It wasn't like that throughout proceedings though. England took a lead midway through the first half, but with the USA being held 0-0 by Algeria, that was still enough for Slovenia to join England in the second phase. England had chances, but couldn't kill the game off. The best chance for an equaliser ended with Valter Birsa shooting wide with the fourth effort of a barrage of shots blocked by England defenders. At the final whistle, it still remained goalless in the other game. Happy days. Well it might have been had there not been a couple more minutes of stoppage time left when Landon Donovan broke, Jozy Altidore's shot wasn't held and Donovan followed in to snatch a dramatic late winner for the States which saw them top the group ahead of England.
Heartbreak, then, for Matjaz Kek and his team, but let's be realistic. Slovenia is tiny - a nation of two million with only around 450 registered professional footballers to call their own. Man City have about that many. This has forced Kek into forging the side into a fairly rigid starting XI with minimal changes which produces it's own pluses and minuses. On the plus side comes a team harmony many others envy (we mean you, France) with more of a feel of a club side about it. Players know instinctively how their colleagues play and that allows them to play in a way that gets the best out of each other. On the flip side, when it comes to chasing a game like they had to against England, it becomes very difficult to change personnel, let alone the system. The lack of a plan B really counted against them. While the nation has such meagre playing resources, that's unlikely to change and while the disappointment is tangible, it has to be remembered that getting to this point is a major victory. It may take a couple of days and a couple of beers to realise this, but that's the reality of the situation and it's a big feather in Kek's cap.
Saturday, 19 June 2010
Blundering ref keeps Slovenia alive
After a less-than-convincing win over Algeria, could Slovenia carry it on against the USA? On paper, it looked like a far tougher assignment, but a stunning strike from Valter Birsa and a tidy finish from Zlatan Ljubilankic saw them into a comfortable 2-0 half-time lead. USA coach Bob Bradley made a couple of changes during the break and they worked. Landon Donovan scored from a stupidly tight angle - the otherwise exemplary Samir Handanovic at fault on his near post - a couple of minutes after the restart and then it was backs to the wall for Slovenia, hoping to hold off the resurgent Americans.
They couldn't hold out, the boss's son Michael lashed home from the edge of the box to square it up with five minutes to go, but that was just the start of it. Enter Koman Coulibaly. Donovan curled a free-kick into the box which one of those half-time subs, Maurice Edu, stuck past Handanovic for the apparent winner, but Coulibaly had blown for a foul. Repeated viewings showed none. If anything, it was the Slovenians guilty of pushing, grabbing and wrestling. The irate Americans pressed the ref for a reason why, but they got little change from the Malian who we saw referee in the Africa Cup of Nations earlier in the year where he showed little sign of the erratic display he gave here. It wasn't just that game-turning decision as he'd been - to put it kindly - idiosyncratic throughout.
Had he called it right, the group would be wide open. Instead, Slovenia lead the way with a game against England remaining. They need to get something out of it to progress and keep the Euroballs pound alive.
Elsewhere, we had a real collectors item with Germany's first penalty miss in a World Cup finals since 1982. Lukas Podolski had the chance to level from the spot after Miroslav Klose had been sent off and Milan Jovanovic had put Serbia ahead, but a weak effort was relatively simple for Vladimir Stojkovic to push away. The Dutch are two-for-two without impressing in either game. Received wisdom says they're poor at the back, but two clean sheets puts that in question although tougher tests will follow. France are in utter disaaray after losing to Mexico in a display that does the good name of insipid a disservice. Nicolas Anelka is the latest to face being dropped after a fall-out with coach Raymond Domenech. Anelka screamed at him during half-time in that game "screw you, dirty son of a whore" after being berated for drifting out of position. There's only Patrice Evra who looks like he cares.
They couldn't hold out, the boss's son Michael lashed home from the edge of the box to square it up with five minutes to go, but that was just the start of it. Enter Koman Coulibaly. Donovan curled a free-kick into the box which one of those half-time subs, Maurice Edu, stuck past Handanovic for the apparent winner, but Coulibaly had blown for a foul. Repeated viewings showed none. If anything, it was the Slovenians guilty of pushing, grabbing and wrestling. The irate Americans pressed the ref for a reason why, but they got little change from the Malian who we saw referee in the Africa Cup of Nations earlier in the year where he showed little sign of the erratic display he gave here. It wasn't just that game-turning decision as he'd been - to put it kindly - idiosyncratic throughout.
Had he called it right, the group would be wide open. Instead, Slovenia lead the way with a game against England remaining. They need to get something out of it to progress and keep the Euroballs pound alive.
Elsewhere, we had a real collectors item with Germany's first penalty miss in a World Cup finals since 1982. Lukas Podolski had the chance to level from the spot after Miroslav Klose had been sent off and Milan Jovanovic had put Serbia ahead, but a weak effort was relatively simple for Vladimir Stojkovic to push away. The Dutch are two-for-two without impressing in either game. Received wisdom says they're poor at the back, but two clean sheets puts that in question although tougher tests will follow. France are in utter disaaray after losing to Mexico in a display that does the good name of insipid a disservice. Nicolas Anelka is the latest to face being dropped after a fall-out with coach Raymond Domenech. Anelka screamed at him during half-time in that game "screw you, dirty son of a whore" after being berated for drifting out of position. There's only Patrice Evra who looks like he cares.
Sunday, 13 June 2010
Keeping track of investments
Slovenia, the side we're backing in the World Cup to the tune of one pound lest you forget, got their campaign underway today. And the good news is that the pound is still safe! In a pretty dull game, Slovenia took advantage of Abdelkader Ghezzal's dismissal and some comedy goalkeeping to secure a 1-0 victory, the nation's first ever at the World Cup finals. Ghezzal was a second half substitute and picked up two soft bookings in quick succession, the second, for handball, earning him a red. Seven minutes later, Slovenian skipper Robert Koren hit a tame shot almost right at Algerian keeper Faouzi Chaouchi, but he palmed it into the net with nobody really clear as to what he was actually attempting.
Goalscoring opportunities were few and far between. Samir Handanovic had to be alert as a lazy clearance from him almost fell to Karim Ziani and he pulled off a smart save early on from Nadir Belhadj. Chaouchi also saved well from Valter Birsa. The goal put a scarcely deserved gloss on the performance for Koren who was unusually slack in midfield. The country relies heavily on his distribution, but he gave the ball away far too often and the performance was disjointed as a result. The win is great, but the performances against England and the USA will have to be much better.
Elsewhere in the competition, Serbia are going to have to have a look at things following a loss to Ghana. Milos Krasic looked a bit-part player stuck out wide on the right. He constantly came inside searching for the ball and the shape went as a result. Ghana deserved the win, but it only came as a result of an inexplicable handball from Zdravko Kuzmanovic which handed Ghana a penalty. Goals have been in short supply in the opening round of fixtures with most sides seeming more keen not to lose rather than go and press for a win. Hopefully once the opening game nerves are out of the way, it'll open up.
Goalscoring opportunities were few and far between. Samir Handanovic had to be alert as a lazy clearance from him almost fell to Karim Ziani and he pulled off a smart save early on from Nadir Belhadj. Chaouchi also saved well from Valter Birsa. The goal put a scarcely deserved gloss on the performance for Koren who was unusually slack in midfield. The country relies heavily on his distribution, but he gave the ball away far too often and the performance was disjointed as a result. The win is great, but the performances against England and the USA will have to be much better.
Elsewhere in the competition, Serbia are going to have to have a look at things following a loss to Ghana. Milos Krasic looked a bit-part player stuck out wide on the right. He constantly came inside searching for the ball and the shape went as a result. Ghana deserved the win, but it only came as a result of an inexplicable handball from Zdravko Kuzmanovic which handed Ghana a penalty. Goals have been in short supply in the opening round of fixtures with most sides seeming more keen not to lose rather than go and press for a win. Hopefully once the opening game nerves are out of the way, it'll open up.
Thursday, 13 May 2010
Kek keeps the faith
Slovenia boss Matjaz Kek has kept faith with the core of the squad which qualified for just their second World Cup finals. That means no late call-up for Newcastle youngster Harris Vuckic and former skipper Klemen Lavric.
It's no surprise that the squad is made up from players from all corners of the European footballing world and beyond. The German Bundesliga supplies the main source of goals, Bochum's Zlatko Dedic got the crucial goal which saw them past Russia in the play-offs and Milivoje Novakovic of Cologne will partner him. Tim Matavz, currently with Groningen in the Netherlands, keeps that pair on their toes.
Robert Koren won promotion to the Premier League in England with West Brom and spearheads the midfield threat while the defence is led by Bostjan Cesar who was relegated from the top flight in France with Grenoble, but shone in a very poor side.
Given that they were the only side to emerge as non-seeds from the rigged play-offs in UEFA qualifying, Slovenia are the side Euroballs will be backing in South Africa and we've got the betting slip in the office desk drawer to prove it.
The squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Samir Handanovic (Udinese, Italy), Jasmin Handanovic (Mantova, Italy), Aleksander Seliga (Sparta Rotterdam, Netherlands), Jan Koprivec (Udinese, Italy)
Defenders: Bojan Jokic (Chievo, Italy), Marko Suler (Gent, Belgium), Bostjan Cesar (Grenoble, France), Branko Ilic (FC Moscow, Russia), Matej Mavric-Rozic (Koblenz, Germany), Dejan Kelhar (Cercle Brugge, Belgium), Elvedin Dzinic (Maribor, Slovenia), Miso Brecko (Cologne, Germany), Aleksandar Rajcevic (Koper, Slovenia), Suad Filekovic (Maribor, Slovenia)
Midfielders: Andraz Kirm (Wisła Krakow, Poland), Andrej Komac (Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Israel), Rene Krhin (Internazionale, Italy), Mirnes Sisic (Giannina, Greece), Darjan Matic (Rapid Bucharest, Romania), Dare Vrsic (Koper, Slovenia), Dalibor Stevanovic (Vitesse Arnhem, Netherlands), Robert Koren (West Brom, England), Aleksander Radosavljevic (Larissa, Greece), Valter Birsa (Auxerre, France)
Forwards: Milivoje Novakovic (Cologne, Germany), Zlatko Dedic (Bochum, Germany), Zlatan Ljubijankic (Gent, Belgium), Nejc Pecnik (Nacional, Portugal), Miran Burgic (AIK Solna, Sweden), Tim Matavz (FC Groningen, Netherlands).
It's no surprise that the squad is made up from players from all corners of the European footballing world and beyond. The German Bundesliga supplies the main source of goals, Bochum's Zlatko Dedic got the crucial goal which saw them past Russia in the play-offs and Milivoje Novakovic of Cologne will partner him. Tim Matavz, currently with Groningen in the Netherlands, keeps that pair on their toes.
Robert Koren won promotion to the Premier League in England with West Brom and spearheads the midfield threat while the defence is led by Bostjan Cesar who was relegated from the top flight in France with Grenoble, but shone in a very poor side.
Given that they were the only side to emerge as non-seeds from the rigged play-offs in UEFA qualifying, Slovenia are the side Euroballs will be backing in South Africa and we've got the betting slip in the office desk drawer to prove it.
The squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Samir Handanovic (Udinese, Italy), Jasmin Handanovic (Mantova, Italy), Aleksander Seliga (Sparta Rotterdam, Netherlands), Jan Koprivec (Udinese, Italy)
Defenders: Bojan Jokic (Chievo, Italy), Marko Suler (Gent, Belgium), Bostjan Cesar (Grenoble, France), Branko Ilic (FC Moscow, Russia), Matej Mavric-Rozic (Koblenz, Germany), Dejan Kelhar (Cercle Brugge, Belgium), Elvedin Dzinic (Maribor, Slovenia), Miso Brecko (Cologne, Germany), Aleksandar Rajcevic (Koper, Slovenia), Suad Filekovic (Maribor, Slovenia)
Midfielders: Andraz Kirm (Wisła Krakow, Poland), Andrej Komac (Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Israel), Rene Krhin (Internazionale, Italy), Mirnes Sisic (Giannina, Greece), Darjan Matic (Rapid Bucharest, Romania), Dare Vrsic (Koper, Slovenia), Dalibor Stevanovic (Vitesse Arnhem, Netherlands), Robert Koren (West Brom, England), Aleksander Radosavljevic (Larissa, Greece), Valter Birsa (Auxerre, France)
Forwards: Milivoje Novakovic (Cologne, Germany), Zlatko Dedic (Bochum, Germany), Zlatan Ljubijankic (Gent, Belgium), Nejc Pecnik (Nacional, Portugal), Miran Burgic (AIK Solna, Sweden), Tim Matavz (FC Groningen, Netherlands).
Thursday, 19 November 2009
What the f
France 1-1 Ireland
France win 2-1 on aggregate
Slovenia 1-0 Russia
2-2 on aggregate. Slovenia win on away goals
Bosnia 0-1 Portugal
Portugal win 2-0 on aggregate
Ukraine 0-1 Greece
Greece win 1-0 on aggregate
You can only really start a World Cup round-up at Stade de France. Ireland came up with a battling performance against France and forced extra time after Robbie Keane converted Damien Duff's pinpoint cross. That was the only time the Irish beat the inspired Hugo Lloris in the French goal. Ireland had marginally the better of the extra half hour as well, but then came the controversy. After the referee had denied France a penalty, probably correctly, when Shay Given came off his line sharply at the feet of Nicolas Anelka, he summarily failed to see Thierry Henry handle the ball twice before squaring it to William Gallas who turned in an equaliser on the night and the winner overall.
Henry didn't deny that he'd handled it, instead claiming it to be the duty of the referee to spot it. He has a modicum of a point, but one which was greatly undermined as he wheeled away on celebration as if he'd just been granted the kingdoms of France, Spain and Portugal as reward for his cunning and then the faux-sportsmanship after the game as he commiserated with Richard Dunne. Frankly, if Dunne had punched him the throat and told him to fuck off, he'd have been more than justified.
Giovanni Trappatoni has seen pretty much everything in football and was characteristically magnanimous in an FAI press conference the following day. While the FAI barked up very much the wrong tree in pleading for a replay, Trappatoni expressed his disappointment in his now trademark half English-half Italian and seemingly moved on quickly. Dara O'Briain was on the radio and came up with a great idea. Throughout the World Cup finals, they should be referred to as France*. We'll certainly be doing that here.
Elsewhere, seeds Portugal and Greece prevailed. Portugal saw off depleted Bosnia and Miroslav Blazevic will surely now slide gracefully into retirement. What a career he's had and isn't it amazing how black his hair has remained? Raul Meireles struck ten minutes after half-time and Bosnia's fate was sealed when Sejad Salihovic was sent off. They've done well, Bosnia, but this was a bridge too far. Greece won through in a predictably dull game, Dimitrios Salpigidis with the only goal of the 120 minutes. So far so good for FIFA's seeding plan.
But when all else was failing, step forward Slovenia. They gave Russia no breathing space at all and Zlatko Dedic struck a minute before half-time to hand them the lead on the night and, on away goals, in the tie. Russia never got going and Slovenia really got stuck in, making life hard. Andrei Arshavin never got in the game and the rattled Russian finished with nine men as, first, Alexander Kerzhakov and then Yuri Zhirkov were sent off as it threatened to boil over. Slovenia are therefore the only non-seeds to progress and represent a big up yours to FIFA and, for that reason, they are the official Euroballs side of the 2010 World Cup.
France win 2-1 on aggregate
Slovenia 1-0 Russia
2-2 on aggregate. Slovenia win on away goals
Bosnia 0-1 Portugal
Portugal win 2-0 on aggregate
Ukraine 0-1 Greece
Greece win 1-0 on aggregate
You can only really start a World Cup round-up at Stade de France. Ireland came up with a battling performance against France and forced extra time after Robbie Keane converted Damien Duff's pinpoint cross. That was the only time the Irish beat the inspired Hugo Lloris in the French goal. Ireland had marginally the better of the extra half hour as well, but then came the controversy. After the referee had denied France a penalty, probably correctly, when Shay Given came off his line sharply at the feet of Nicolas Anelka, he summarily failed to see Thierry Henry handle the ball twice before squaring it to William Gallas who turned in an equaliser on the night and the winner overall.
Henry didn't deny that he'd handled it, instead claiming it to be the duty of the referee to spot it. He has a modicum of a point, but one which was greatly undermined as he wheeled away on celebration as if he'd just been granted the kingdoms of France, Spain and Portugal as reward for his cunning and then the faux-sportsmanship after the game as he commiserated with Richard Dunne. Frankly, if Dunne had punched him the throat and told him to fuck off, he'd have been more than justified.
Giovanni Trappatoni has seen pretty much everything in football and was characteristically magnanimous in an FAI press conference the following day. While the FAI barked up very much the wrong tree in pleading for a replay, Trappatoni expressed his disappointment in his now trademark half English-half Italian and seemingly moved on quickly. Dara O'Briain was on the radio and came up with a great idea. Throughout the World Cup finals, they should be referred to as France*. We'll certainly be doing that here.
Elsewhere, seeds Portugal and Greece prevailed. Portugal saw off depleted Bosnia and Miroslav Blazevic will surely now slide gracefully into retirement. What a career he's had and isn't it amazing how black his hair has remained? Raul Meireles struck ten minutes after half-time and Bosnia's fate was sealed when Sejad Salihovic was sent off. They've done well, Bosnia, but this was a bridge too far. Greece won through in a predictably dull game, Dimitrios Salpigidis with the only goal of the 120 minutes. So far so good for FIFA's seeding plan.
But when all else was failing, step forward Slovenia. They gave Russia no breathing space at all and Zlatko Dedic struck a minute before half-time to hand them the lead on the night and, on away goals, in the tie. Russia never got going and Slovenia really got stuck in, making life hard. Andrei Arshavin never got in the game and the rattled Russian finished with nine men as, first, Alexander Kerzhakov and then Yuri Zhirkov were sent off as it threatened to boil over. Slovenia are therefore the only non-seeds to progress and represent a big up yours to FIFA and, for that reason, they are the official Euroballs side of the 2010 World Cup.
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