Slovenia's Spirited Rebirth to the 2010 World Cup

It was the smallest nation among the 32 participants to play at the 2010 World Cup. A country of two million people defied all odds to finish within minutes of a shocking knockout stage berth. Slovenia's high point in 2010 was upsetting Russia to reach the World Cup. It was an achievement unto itself when the nation fell on hard times just nearly two years earlier and needed a revival.

A journey that started with questions ended with Slovenia achieving the five Rs to have a country believe in its football team again: rebirth, restoration, rejuvenation, restoration, and redemption.

Slovenia had returned to the days that helped the country reach both Euro 2000 and the 2002 FIFA World Cup. It certainly was no easy task, but Slovenia defied all odds en route throughout the journey to South Africa. Before its 2010 World Cup qualifying, Slovenia went through a drastic lull that started after the nation missed out on a berth at Euro 2004.

Slovenia had rarely had much to celebrate afterward, with its only highlight being a 1-0 victory over eventual champions Italy early in 2006 World Cup qualifying. Slovenia had trouble finding key players, as nearly 40 players earned a cap for Slovenia in 2004 and 2005.

Before the 2010 World Cup qualification campaign, Slovenia went through a drastic lull that started after missing out on Euro 2004 against fellow Balkan nation Croatia. Slovenia's only notable result was a 1-0 victory over eventual champions Italy early in 2006 World Cup qualifying.

Slovenia had trouble finding key players, as nearly 40 players earned a cap for Slovenia in 2004 and 2005. Winning proved difficult, including a 1-1 draw against Montenegro, who played only its fourth match as an independent nation. Slovenia won only three Euro 2008 qualifiers en route to a sixth-place finish in Group G.

Slovenia had been through lulls before as they lost all three games at the 2002 World Cup. Following that tournament, Slovenia lost faith in soccer. Throughout most of that Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, Slovenia had Matjaz Kek as its manager, but speculation arose that Kek might not be the prominent individual.

Kek got another opportunity as he would be in charge of Slovenia during the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign. The task would not be easy as Slovenia would face the Czech Republic and Poland, both having reached Euro 2008 and possible contenders Northern Ireland and Slovakia.

Slovenia's journey to South Africa began in Wrocław on Sept. 6, 2008, as it looked to score against Poland for the first time. The opportunity seemed likely as Poland suspended its goalkeeper Artur Boruc for the match. Things started roughly for Slovenia as they allowed a penalty 17 minutes into the game. Bostjan Cesar brought down Jacek Krzynowek in the penalty box, with Michal Zewlakow converting that penalty attempt. Poland sat back throughout the first half, delivering Slovenia a valuable opportunity to capitalize. In the 35th minute, Milivoje Novakovic found Zlatko Dedic inside the penalty box, and Dedic scored to tie the match. Dedic obtained two chances to win the game, but Slovenia escaped with a 1-1 draw.

It started right for Slovenia on the road. Still, at home, Slovenia made Maribor its fortress that opponents feared to visit. Before 2008, Ljudski vrt in Maribor last hosted a qualifying match for a major tournament on Nov. 9, 1999. Throughout qualifying, Ljudski vrt became home sweet home for Slovenia. An influential striker in FC Köln, Novakovic began an impressive qualifying campaign in which he scored twice against Slovakia. Although Slovakia pulled one back after Novakovic's second goal, Slovenia hung on to win 2-1. Seldom did Slovenia know that the Martin Jakubko goal would be the only goal Samir Handanovic and his defense allowed at home. Slovenia would withstand its most grueling test of what would be Slovenia's first meeting ever against Northern Ireland.

Slovenia's task was to keep Northern Ireland's David Healy at bay. In the previous qualifying campaign saw Healy as the first player to score 13 goals. Healy could not break Slovenia's defense, but Slovenia's offense was looking to expand on their lead. With 10 minutes remaining, Novakovic and Zlatan Ljubijankic managed to breach the Northern Irish defense in two minutes. Ljubijankic scored his first goal in over two and a half years as Slovenia won 2-0.

Optimism arrived for Slovenia and looked to continue against the Czech Republic. Slovenia had hoped to capitalize with Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech, who was not in this match with a severe injury. Slovenia never took advantage, and Libor Sionko scored the lone goal to give the Czech Republic a 1-0 victory over Slovenia. The result dropped Slovenia to second place.

However, by March 2009, Slovenia nearly fell out of contention altogether. It would be another five months before Slovenia played the Czech Republic in a World Cup qualifier at Maribor. While Slovenia suffered two losses, two competitors secured victories over San Marino during that span. On Nov. 19, 2008, Slovenia lost 4-3 at home to Bosnia-Herzegovina in a friendly; on that same date, the Czech Republic won 3-0 at San Marino in a World Cup qualifier. The Czech Republic's goals came in 19 minutes in the second half. Similarly, Belgium defeated Slovenia 2-0 in Genk (Feb. 11, 2009); that occurred the same day Northern Ireland won in San Marino 3-0.

Slovenia was ahead of only San Marino in the standings at one point in World Cup qualifying, and scoring dried up as well. After a scoreless draw against the Czech Republic, Slovenia lost at Windsor Park on Warren Fenney's goal (the game's only goal).

Slovenia was behind in the standings, but there was still one advantage the nation had. Slovenia still had two meetings with San Marino, which meant a golden opportunity to make up points in the standings. The Czech Republic also suffered a stunning upset at home to Slovakia, while Poland was not the same nation that had successfully qualified for the 2002 and 2006 World Cups.

Slovenia faced San Marino at home on Aug. 12, 2009, as it happened to be the only World Cup qualifying match for that day. Slovenia did well as it cruised to a 5-0 victory. With Robert Koren scoring twice and Ljubijankic adding a late stoppage-time goal, Slovenia moved to third place.

Not only was this the first of four straight qualifying victories for Slovenia, but during this winning streak, at least one player score his first goal for the country. Two did so against San Marino: Aleksandar Radosavljevic doubled Slovenia's lead in the 39th minute before Andraz Kirm made it 3-0 in the 54th minute. Ljubijankic continued his scoring in Slovenia's friendly against England at Wembley Stadium - a 2-1 loss on Sept. 5, 2009. Slovenia did get some encouraging news: both qualifiers in the group (Poland-Northern Ireland and the Slovakia-Czech Republic) ended in draws.

Group 3 was wide open, and Slovenia was in contention. Slovenia capitalized on those two draws when it cruised to a 3-0 victory over Poland. Dedic and Novakovic scored in the first half while Valter Birsa capped the scoring with his goal in the 62nd minute. Birsa scored another goal in Slovenia's next qualifier at Slovakia, a 56th-minute strike in Bratislava, Slovakia. The hosts were looking for a draw to qualify directly for South Africa, but Nejc Pecnik scored his first goal for Slovenia in stoppage time to sweep Slovakia in both games.

Slovenia was now in position for a playoff berth, but it could also qualify directly for South Africa with help from Poland's match against Slovakia. Slovenia did its part by winning 3-0 at San Marino - Novakovic scoring his fifth goal of qualifying before Dalibor Stevanovic and Marko Suler scored in the second half. Stevanovic scored his first goal for Slovenia, while Suler had only his second goal for his country.

Slovenia had to settle for a playoff because Slovakia's 1-0 victory over Poland meant Slovakia advanced to the World Cup as group winners. Slovenia's had the task of facing Russia to play in South Africa. It seemed daunting, but Slovenia had met Russia before and enjoyed some success. Russia did finish ahead of Slovenia in 2002 World Cup qualifying, but Slovenia secured a hard-fought away draw before winning on a stoppage-time goal.

A lot improved in eight years: Russia was coming off a semi-final appearance at Euro 2008. Russia was looking to be the fourth separate nation Guus Hiddink managed to a World Cup as it displayed numerous stars, including Andrei Arshavin. Russia remained a heavy favorite to reach the tournament, and two goals from Diniyar Bilyaletdinov at Moskva's Stadion Luzhniki had Russia on the verge of reaching the tournament. Slovenia got a vital goal as Pecnik scored a late goal to provide Slovenia confidence ahead of its second leg, losing the first leg 2-1.

The same starting 11 players for Slovenia in Moskva began in Maribor four days later in the second leg on Nov. 18, 2009. Slovenia started attacking very early in the game and before halftime. Dedic broke free from two Russian players to find Birsa's cross and scored on the attempt. Slovenia had the away goal advantage, and so Russia brought in two strikers to get a vital goal. Russia's chances to reach the tournament worsened after the referee sent off Aleksandr Kerzhakov in the 66th minute. The game became chippy, and Russia would have Yuri Zhirkov sent off as well.

Slovenia made history to become the first European nation to reach the World Cup after losing the first leg.

Slovenia reached its first major tournament since the 2002 World Cup as it would face Algeria, United States, and England. But Slovenia only played two matches ahead of that tournament - victories over Qatar (4-1 on Mar. 3) and New Zealand (3-1 on June 4) before it kicked off its tournament against Algeria.

Slovenia faced Algeria, having qualified for this tournament via a one-game playoff against Egypt in Omdurman, Sudan. Algeria had finished fourth earlier in 2010 in which it finished fourth in the African Cup of Nations, despite only scoring one goal in the group stage.

Before the game, Algeria got a significant boost when Faouzi Chaouchi and Nadir Belhadj would be in the lineup after the red cards they received from the African Cup of Nations overturned on appeal. Algeria had the game's first opportunity to score when Belhadj curled a free-kick that went over the Slovenian wall before Handanovic tipped the ball. Slovenia's first chance on goal came in the 22nd minute. In the 22nd minute, following a foul against Madjid Bougherra, Kirm fired a 35-yard shot toward Bostjan Cesar. Before Cesar could attempt to head the ball into the net, Chaouchi punched the ball clear.

In the 38th minute, Algeria had its third corner of the match, with Karim Ziani curling his shot toward Rafik Halliche. Handanovic left the goal exposed by Slovenia escaped after the attempt sailed just wide right. Before halftime, Slovenia's best chance of the game came from Valter Birsa. Slovenia strung several excellent passes, ending with Birsa having an attempt on goal and Chaouchi making a great save on goal. Birsa had a similar chance in injury time, but the effort was nowhere close to the target. Forty-five minutes passed, and both teams remained scoreless.

Slovenia's first substitution came in the 53rd minute when it swapped strikers - Ljubijankic replacing Dedic. Algeria's first change came five minutes later - a move that backfired 15 minutes later. Coming on for Rafik Djebbour was Abdelkader Ghezzal, but he received a yellow card for tugging Marko Suler's jersey. In the 73rd minute, Ghezzal received a second yellow and eventually sent off after Ghezzal stretching his arm out to handle the ball inside the penalty area.

Slovenia capitalized on its man advantage when captain Robert Koren drove a low shot toward goal. Chaouchi bobbled the ball before it went into the net. Slovenia was seeking to hold on for the victory, but even with four minutes of injury time. Algeria had one last chance, with Belhadj crossing into Slovenia's penalty box. Handanovic fumbled the save, allowing Bougherra with an opportunity to tie the match, but his attempt went over the crossbar.

Slovenia won its first-ever World Cup match in one of the tournament's ugliest games. Slovenia won the game despite failing to connect on a single cross in 19 attempts, the most for a winning team at a World Cup in 36 years.

Slovenia achieved its first-ever World Cup victory and looked to become the first nation to qualify for the Round of 16 as it faced the United States at Johannesburg's Ellis Park. Slovenia started impressively at Birsa launched a deep ball that went past goalkeeper Tim Howard. Slovenia doubled its lead off a counterattack as Novakovic found Ljubijankic.

Slovenia was only 45 minutes from the Round of 16. However, Slovenia started the second half with Landon Donovan cutting Slovenia's lead to 2-1. Then, Michael Bradley had tied the game in the 82nd minute before a controversially disallowed goal gave Slovenia a 2-2 draw and another chance for a Round of 16 berth at Port Elizabeth.

Slovenia's lineup against England was similar to its lineup from that September meeting in London - only Ljubijankic did not start during that September meeting. Both teams had alternated opportunities early on until the 23rd minute when James Millner swung a deep pass to find Defoe. Defoe last scored for England against Slovenia, and he did it again when he beat out Suler and Handanovic to score.

Slovenia was in trouble as England, whose World Cup campaign was lackluster, nearly doubled the lead when Wayne Rooney had his attempt saved by Handanovic. Slovenia struggled to find that tying goal until the final 22 minutes. Even while losing 1-0, Slovenia was still in the Route of 16 - that was until news from Pretoria came that Donovan scored a stoppage-time goal against Algeria to send Slovenia out of the World Cup.

It was a cruel exit from the tournament. However, Slovenia fared better than expected and achieved its five Rs. Slovenia underwent a rebirth under Kek - in 2007, Slovenia was at its worst ranking in 10 years. In October 2010, Slovenia reached its highest ranking at 15th in FIFA, restoring the pride for a nation that sought to be the best in Europe. Kek redeemed himself on this journey to South Africa. Slovenia garnered respect for its performance and rejuvenated its footballing history.