Our Legends
What is the difference between a hero and a legend? Simple, heroes are born, but they only become legends decades later. Slovenia has, despite its relatively small, but not poor in talent, football space, individuals, who stand out from the crowds of »good«. Those, who were during the times of their active football careers simply referred to as - »the best«. We present Slovenian football legends - Branko Oblak, Zlatko Zahovič and Srečko Katanec.
Branko Oblak
One of the legends of Slovenian football was born in late May of 1947. Branko Oblak began writing his football story in Vič, with Ljubljana's Svoboda. In the seventies, Oblak's most prominent characteristics were his strength and stamina, while he shone on the pitch showing off his football talent, drenched with daring courage and self-confidence. During his days, Oblak was known for his exceptional running ability. In Oblak's prime, Yugoslavia had enforced a rule that enabled players to leave the country and play for foreign clubs only after they have reached 28 years of age. That rule prevented Oblak from making an even greater career than the one he had.
In the year when Germany became the World Champion and beat the Holland team in the finals, Oblak put in some great performances, hitting the post against Brazil and stopping Rivelino. That put him next to the best players of that time, as the coaches voted Oblak the fifth best player of the World Cup 1974.
Oblak's national team career began in 1971, when he made his debut against Romania. In 1972 he became one of the first Slovenian players, together with Danilo Popivoda, to play at a mini World Cup to commemorate the 150th year of Brazilian independence. Almost six years later, Oblak retired from international football. His record showed 46 appearances and six goals. He was also honoured with an invitation to play for one of the best players of all time - Pele. Oblak played at that match and was given Pele's jersey as a souvenir.
However Oblak's story didn't end there. After the independence of Slovenia, Oblak at some point took over the U21 national team and became an assistant coach during Zdenko Verdenik's era as head coach. In May 2004 Oblak was given a chance at the driving seat of the national A team. In two and a half years, he managed 23 matches (13 qualifiers) and won six, drawn seven and lost ten matches, with 1,09 points in average per match.
Zlatko Zahovič
Zlatko Zahovič remains an undisputed record holder in appearances for national team (80) as well as goals scored (35). One of the greatest Slovenian players to grace the football pitch started his career in Maribor's third club, Kovinar. He left Slovenia during his U18 year and his international reformation into one of the pillars of Slovenian national team was under way. Despite the fact that Zlatko last pulled on a national team jersey in 2004 after a friendly against Switzerland, his successors were left with huge shoes to fill, especially if they want to outshine the only Slovenian player to have played in UEFA Champions League finals match, with all the characteristics of a star player, which is what the former president of FA Rudi Zavrl once labelled him as.
The legendary number 10 made his biggest impact far away from Slovenian pitches. His best year in club football was 1996, when he finally made an impact on the Iberian Peninsula. The Portuguese adventure at Porto brought him three Portuguese league and one cup championship, six goals at seven Champions League matches in the 1998/99 season made him top Porto scorer for the campaign. In 2001 he appeared in the Champions League final with Valencia against Bayern, where he couldn't help his team beat the Munchen-based team on penalties.
Zahovič made a debut for the national team in November 1992, but only later become a star player when he lead the team to the European Championships with his goals and assists during Euro 2000 qualifiers. In Belgium and Netherlands he scored three of four Slovenian goals. In 2002 he travelled to South Korea and Japan for the World Cup, where the Slovenian national team was first played at final tournaments. Proud Styrian made a humongous contribution to Slovenian football fairytale with his great talent and incredible sense for finding the opposition's net and will be remembered by many generations to come.
Srečko Katanec
The third in the series of men, who significantly shaped Slovenian football, was Srečko Katanec. The former national team head coach was known for an iron fist squad management and an approach that favoured the sporting, rather that commercial, side of the game. His football career started at the age of seven at NK Ljubljana, from where he traded up into the colours of the city rivals, Olimpija. After that, Katanec left Slovenia to play for former Yugoslav clubs. After winning the league with Beograd's Partizan, Katanec left to German Stuttgart, where he played in the finals of the UEFA Cup. He ended his career at Genova giant Sampdoria, where he played from 1989 until 1994.
Katanec debuted on the international scene in 1984, when he was a member of a Yugoslav Euro Championsip team for the tournament in France. In the very same year, the team took part at the summer Olympic games, winning a bronze medal in Los Angeles. As the third Slovenian player, he took part at the World Championship, where the team qualified during the 1989 qualifying campaign. Katanec played only one official match in Slovenian jersey as a part of the Euro 1996 qualifying campaign. The match against Italy in Maribor ended 1:1 and Katanec ended his international career. In total, he played 31 matches for the Yugoslav selection, scoring on five occasions. He played 5 matches for Slovenian team (4 unofficial), scoring one time.
A few years after he has finished his playing career, Katanec went on the coaching path. Having been the first national team coach to take Slovenia to two big tournaments, without him the Slovenian football could still be marginalized, instead of claiming its spot with the best teams, where, considering the achievements of a small country, it definitely belongs. After a brief stint In Hit Gorica, Katanec partnered with Drago Kostanjšek to take charge of the U21 team. During that period, he got his coaching credentials and was put on the spot as the national team coach in 1998.
In his debutant spell, Katanec took Slovenia to the European championship 2000, starting football frenzy in Slovenia. The euphoria continued and grew in 2002, when Slovenia qualified for the World Cup in South Korea and Japan. Despite the fact that Slovenia failed to get a win in Asia, Slovenian national anthem was played for the first time at the mundial and Sebastjan Cimirotič scored Slovenia's first goal.
The men, who paved the way for today's generations of players and guided Slovenia on the right track, have all made contribution to Slovenia being where it is today. They will never be forgotten as the legends of Slovenian football, but they left the limelight for others now. In eight years time, or hopefully even sooner, we'll be writing about the legends, which took Slovenia to FIFA World Cup 2010. For such a small country, Slovenia sure has a lot of players, who can rightfully take the title of a legend.
