Not just pride at stake as Katanec sets his sights on fondest farewell
THE words of optimism regarding World Cup qualification may ring hollow, but there is plenty of substantial evidence to suggest Slovenia are prepared to go toe-to-toe with Scotland in Ljubljana tonight.
A sense of personal pride abounded at the picturesque rural training base of Brdo by Kranj ahead of the Group F finale — principally from manager and captain.
Coach Srecko Katanec has announced that he is to quit after a five-year stint in charge and he does so nursing a grievance against a local media he believes has been hyper-critical of he and his players’ efforts.
Captain Bostjan Cesar stands behind his coach and there is also the small matter of the imposing defender celebrating his 100th international this evening, a feat no one has achieved for Slovenia before.
The Slovenians are also proud of their defensive record in this competition and wish to preserve it. Despite trailing behind England, Scotland and Slovakia in the section, theoretically they could still finish second, although that would require the Slovaks to slip up at home to Malta.
Impressively, Slovenia have yet to concede a goal at home in this campaign. If Scotland are to make it to the play-offs, they will have to break new ground and find a way to force the ball behind goalkeeper Jan Oblak tonight.
‘We have conceded just five goals in the group and those have all been away from home,’ said Katanec. ‘Two of those came during the first game in Lithuania, but since then we have been very good at the back and have had some solid results, but still there is negativity.
‘I notice that some of the Slovenian journalists who have been trying to undermine me over the past year are not here.’
Katanec was preceded at yesterday’s pre-match news conference by Cesar, who looks in the mood to shrug off the misery of midweek, when Harry Kane dealt a near-fatal blow to their hopes of reaching Russia.
‘It was hard for the team after England because we conceded so late,’ stated the 35-year-old.
‘It was the last seconds, but we were happy with the way we played for the majority of the game.
‘Scotland will be tough in front of the home crowd, but we want to finish the group with a win.
‘The players are not concerned with the other match. We will do our own business and if there is a positive reaction from the crowd because of the other game, then of course it will give us additional motivation.’
Given the events on Thursday night, there is the potential for two tired teams to slog it out this evening.
While Slovenia were undone by Kane’s late intervention as they chased a winner against England at Wembley, Scotland were throwing everything at Slovakia in the hope of securing the winning goal that arrived on the brink of stoppage time at Hampden.
Gordon Strachan’s team have made a habit of scoring late goals in these qualifiers and kick-started the campaign with substitute Chris Martin’s late winner over Slovenia in March.
‘I would change the rules of the game and make it that it lasts for just 85 minutes!’ joked Katanec.
‘We have conceded a lot of late goals in the last five minutes which have put us further away from the chance of qualifying.
‘Late goals happen to teams. At the end, the physical strength and experience of players is the important factor.
‘When players have played alongside each other for a long time, they understand the mechanisms of the game, so it is better and easier to control.
‘There is also a factor of luck and also the referee. For example, against England maybe the referee could have pointed to the spot, but he didn’t.
‘We had the mentality that we wanted to win the game, so we pressed forward in the final minutes. If we wanted to hold the 0-0, we would have played differently. Maybe Oblak would have held the ball a bit longer, we would not have had so many players forward and we might not have conceded.’
Katanec regards Scotland as streetwise opponents. He continued: ‘The Scotland team has strong characteristics and they will want to be aggressive here. I saw the first game they lost against Slovakia and they played well until they conceded.
‘I am not surprised by their good form this year. They have a style of play which we are not too comfortable with.
‘It is very important that you are aggressive, compact and win the second ball. We know there will be a lot of Scotland fans at the game, so that will give them an additional boost and make it hard, but we will do our best.
‘I believe, and I wish, that we do our part and hope for the best in Slovakia.’