Having reached the knockout stages of the European Championship for the first time in their history, Slovenia are already making new history. Ahead of the round of 16 clash against Portugal, Slovenia coach Kok said he hopes to lead the team to a further step.
Slovenia beat Portugal 2-0 in a friendly match in March this year. Now the two sides meet again in the knockout stages of the European Championship, Slovenia coach Kok remains calm. Kok said: “We beat them in March? These are two completely different games! That game was important because it gave us a positive signal, but it would be foolish to think we will easily beat them in the next game. Lying on that 2-0 win would get us into big trouble. Anyone knows which team is favored, but we still have a strong motivation to take on the challenge. We’re not on holiday yet.”
Kok said that although Slovenia is a small country with a population of just over 2 million, the players are still confident of beating Portugal. Kok said: “I always felt that these boys knew what would happen in this tournament, so much so that not many people were surprised when we actually qualified. We come from a country with a small population base, but we must realize our own potential. Failure is not a tragedy, our players have mature enough minds and strategies to deal with it, which amazes me.”
Kok believes Slovenia will embrace any challenge. He said: “We are still on this big stage, like the Georgians (who beat Portugal), we may be considered the ‘outsiders’ in this circle, but that suits me fine because I like challenges. I don’t want to be a replica of the Croatians, Germans or Portuguese, Slovenia needs to go its own way.”
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