Slovenia Football Fans

SLOVENIA END QUALIFIERS WITH WIN

Slovenia had known that they won’t be at next year’s World Cup tournament in Qatar since last month after they had an inferior record to the top two teams namely Russia and Croatia who reached the final of the last edition before they were beaten 4-2 by eventual winners France. Ironically, Russia were the hosts of that last edition three years ago. Russia and Croatia were both drawn in Group H of the European qualifiers alongside Slovenia, Slovakia, Malta and Cyprus. At the end of proceedings in the group, Croatia sealed automatic qualification as winners, while Russia will have to navigate their way to Qatar 2022 via the playoffs.

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At the top of the group, Russia were in pole position to take the sole automatic spot before they were beaten to it by the Croatians thanks to the slender 1-0 win recorded at the expense of the Russians. Fyodor Kudryashov scored an unfortunate own goal nine minutes from time as Croatia beat Russia 1-0 to usurp them at the summit of Group H and book their passage to next year’s World Cup tournament. Croatia finished at the top of the group with 23 points from ten games, while Russia had 21 points from ten games.
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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: CAN OBLAK STOP SALAH?

Atletico Madrid shot stopper Jan Oblak is widely seen as the best goalkeeper in world football and the Slovenia goalkeeper will most likely have his work cut out when he faces Liverpool attacker Mohamed Salah who’s at the peak of his powers at the moment. Slovenia national team skipper Oblak and his Egyptian counterpart Salah will face each other when Spanish La Liga champions Atletico Madrid play hosts to Liverpool in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

While Slovenia shot stopper Oblak and his Atletico Madrid teammates were not in leagueaction over the weekend, Salah was netting a world class goal against Watford in the Premier League to add to the one that he scored in the 2-2 home draw with defending champions Manchester City in the same competition. Continue reading

GROUP H: SLOVENIA DROP TO FOURTH

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Slovenia are down to fourth place on the Group H standings after their latest World Cup 2022 qualifier, a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of hosts Croatia. The Slovenians missed out on the opportunity to close the gap on the top two teams in the group namely leaders Croatia and second-placed Russia.

The latest set of World Cup 2022 qualifiers in Group H started with Slovenia in third place and three points off the top two of Croatia and Russia. Slovakia, Cyprus and Malta are the other three teams in the group. Continue reading

ATLETICO WIN JESUS GIL TROPHY

Spanish La Liga champions Atletico Madrid began preseason by winning the Jesus Gil Memorial trophy. The Jesus Gil Memorial trophy is named after the former, controversial and longtime Atletico Madrid president, Jesus Gil.

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In their first preseason this summer, Atletico Madrid saw off Numancia via penalties to win the Jesus Gil Memorial trophy. Atletico Madrid and Numancia played out a 1-1 drawbefore the La Liga champions won 5-4 during the penalty shootout in the friendly encounter played last week Wednesday.
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OBLAK BAGS LA LIGA AWARD

Atletico Madrid shot stopper Jan Oblak has been rewarded for his stellar season with his club after he won the La Liga Player of the Year accolade ahead of both Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi and teammate Luis Suarez. The Slovenia goalkeeper was a regular in the Atletico Madrid starting XI as they saw off city rivals Real Madrid to win their first league title in seven years.

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Slovenia shot stopper Oblak finished the season as the best goalkeeper in the Spanish top flight, conceding just 25 goals in 38 appearances in the league. The Slovenia national team player was able to fend off the great Messi to win the Player of the Year award. Argentine international Messi was a consistent performer in the Barcelona team that struggled evidently without the excellent attacking output from Messi who scored 30 times in La Liga to win the Pichichi for a record eight times.The little magician played 35 times for his Catalan team in the league.
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ATLETICO EXTEND LA LIGA LEAD

Atletico Madrid have extended their lead at the top of the La Liga standings following the slender win over Real Sociedad at home. The two teams met at the new Wanda Metropolitano Stadium and it was the league leaders that secured the win needed to go close to winning the league title for the first time in seven years.

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League leaders Atletico Madrid started the season as third favourites for the La Liga title behind both Real Madrid and Barcelona but they have been able to amass more points than those two teams. Atletico Madrid have watched Barcelona and Real Madrid dominate the division in each of the last six seasons since they won the title at the end of the 2013/14 campaign and this season could finally be the time for the capital club.
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ATLETICO: OBLAK EARNS ANOTHER CLEAN SHEET

Atletico Madrid shot stopper Jan Oblak is widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in world football. A lot of football stakeholders think he’s the best among his peers.

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The Slovenia goalkeeper has shown his worth for Atletico Madrid in their quest to win the Spanish La Liga title this season ahead of more illustrious teams such as defending champions Real Madrid and immediate past champions Barcelona.
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MADRID DERBY ENDS IN DRAW

Slovenia national team shot stopper Jan Oblak was just two minutes away from keeping a clean sheet in the Madrid Derby as his Atletico Madrid team played out a 1-1 draw at home to fellow title challengers and city rivals Real Madrid in the Spanish La Liga. Real Madrid are the defending champions after they won the league title last season but they have been playing catch up for the majority of this season. Atletico Madrid have been the pacesetters in the Spanish La Liga this season and Real Madrid have been trying to keep pace with their city rivals. Slovenia goalkeeper Oblak has been a key player for Atletico Madrid in their run to the top of the table in the Spanish top flight this term. The Slovenia was in the Atletico Madrid goal for the big clash with Real Madrid on Sunday evening. Atletico Madrid took the lead through star striker Luis Suarez. A lot of football stakeholders were shocked when Barcelona let Uruguayan international hitman Suarez join Atletico Madrid last summer and that moved has proven to be costly for the Catalans. Luis Suarez has been scoring the goals for Atletico Madrid in the quest to end a seven-year wait for the league title in Spain. Suarez was deemed to be surplus to requirements by new Barcelona boss Ronald Koemanand he could have signed for Juventus before eventually staying in Spain with Atletico Madrid. Suarez moved from Barcelona to Atletico Madrid for €6m as he had just one year left on his then Barcelona deal.

SLOVENIA DEFENDER SIGNS FOR MONTREAL

Experienced Slovenia defender AljazStruna has left Houston Dynamo to sign for Montreal CF on the American soccer scene. AljazStruna had earlier revealed that he wanted to return to European football but has settled for an extended stay in the United States of America. The six-foot-2 185-pound Slovenia player is expected to anchor the Montreal CF defence following his transfer from Houston Dynamo.

Aljaz Struna was unveiled as a new player for Montreal CF during a video conference last week. In his first speech as a player of the MLS club, Slovenia defender Struna said that the reason behind his move to the club was the interest shown in him. According to the defender, Montreal CF wanted him and that’s why he’s at the club after the MLS outfit conducted a trade with fellow top flight team Houston Dynamo. Continue reading

OBLAK KEEPS ANOTHER CLEAN SHEET

Slovenia national team skipper Jan Oblak is the master of keeping clean sheets in the Spanish La Liga this season. The Atletico Madrid goalkeeper is widely regarded by many as the best shot stopper in the world. The Slovenia national team goalkeeper showed his worth again for Atletico Madrid after he helped the club to keep a clean sheet for the umpteenth time this season during the tricky trip to the Basque region to face Real Sociedad in the Spanish La Liga.

The game was the standout match of the week15 set of games in the Spanish top flight this term. After a goalless affair in the first 45 minutes, Jan Oblak and Atletico Madrid took the lead at the start of the second 45 minutes through Mario Hermoso, who has been in good goalscoring form for Atletico Madrid this season even as a defender.He scored his first goal for Atletico Madrid some weeks back in the Champions League and has added another goal in the league. It took Mario Hermoso four second half minutes to break the deadlock for Atletico Madrid in San Sebastian.

Ex-Real Madrid player Marcos Llorente added a second goal in the last quarter of the game to wrap up the result for Atletico Madrid.