Bad luck in Podgorica serves as additional motivation for Zahović

Berić led the offense against Austria and Belarus, while Matavž was in the forefront against Montenegro

6. september 2018 ob 19.27 • Ljubljana - MMC RTV SLO

Luka Zahović and Robert Berić. Foto: www.alesfevzer.com

Not counting Roam Bezjak, the Slovenian national soccer team is still waiting for a goal from a forward since the retirement of Milivoje Novaković in June 2017.

Among the four who are on the national team list for the first two games of the Nations League against Bulgaria and Cyprus, Robert Berić was the last to score for Slovenia almost exactly three years ago. His goal ensured Slovenia’s 1:0 victory in Maribor’s Ljudski Vrt Stadium. Tim Matavž scored his last goal for the national team on May 31, 2013, in a friendly against Turkey in Bielefeld (0:2), while Andraž Šporar and Luka Zahović are still awaiting their goals.

He feels right at home in Stožice
Zahović was first asked to join the national team for the recent game against Montenegro. He would have played in that team had it not been for Miha Mevlja’s injury, which led manager Tomaž Kavčič to use his substitution to call in a defender.

“I was angry at the time, but I think it was the right thing to do. This only serves as additional motivation for me to perform better in training sessions and to earn a chance to play,” says last season’s top scorer of Prva Liga Telekom Slovenija ahead of tonight’s game against Bulgaria (at 8:45 p.m.; live coverage on TV SLO 2 and MMC). He scored 18 goals last season and five goals this season, two of them in the last round. “I’m happy that I scored twice in Kranj on Sunday. This gave me additional self-confidence. I’m sure of myself right now. The competition is tough everywhere, but if you work hard, you get rewarded. You have to take advantage of every opportunity,” says Zahović.

He remains an optimist: “I believe we have a wonderful team if we look at our players’ teams. We can look forward to the Nations League games; we want to win them. Based on Maribor’s results at Stožice, I feel right at home there,” he laughs.

Šporar: We can score against any team
In Podgorica, Šporar played in the second halftime in place of Matavž but was unable to score in what was his seventh game for the national team. Perhaps things will turn out differently tonight, since he’s currently in good form. With six goals, he is the top scorer of the Slovak League, and he scored five more in the Europa League qualifiers, where Slovan Bratslava was eliminated in a playoff against Vienna Rapid. Last season, he scored eight goals for Arminia Bielefeld and Slovan.