Slovenia will encounter San Marino, Slovakia, Northern Ireland, Poland and the Czech Republic in Group 3 in qualifying for the 2010 football World Cup, according to the FIFA qualifying draw in Durban on Sunday.
President of the National Football Federation Rudi Zavrl, who attended the event in South Africa, said the federation was satisfied with the draw, but added no group was easy.
"The favourites of the group are the Czech Republic and Poland, which they manifested by advancig to the EURO 2008. We'll try to match Slovakia and Northern Ireland, but I hope for a better achievement than the last qualifying for the EURO."
In a similar vein, manager Matjaz Kek added that although the group was tricky Slovenia "have no one to be afraid of". "I hope we can prepare well so as to also measure up to the Czech Republic and Poland, whom I'll be able to examine in detail in the EURO."
The delegations of all three nations playing in Group 3 are to meet at the beginning of 2008 to determine the exact schedule of games. The first date for the qualifiers is 6 September, followed by nine matches for each team until October 2009.
The group winner advances directly to the FIFA World Cup in South Africa from the nine European groups, while the best eight second-placed teams determine the remaining qualifiers in home and away ties.
Slovenia first played in the qualifying for the 1998 World Cup, and the next time became the smallest nation to advance to the 2002 World Cup. The team scored an average 1.23 points per match in 30 qualifiers.
More articles from this issue:
Archive
|