Pihler and Šporar replace injured Kampl, Berič and Bezjak in Slovenian football team

Slovenia to play against Malta on 11th and Poland on 14th November

Roman Bezjak has played 15 matches for the national team and in scored one goal. Foto: Reuters

The Slovenian football team will continue the qualifications for the world championship in Russia with a match against Malta. However, Kevin Kampl, Robert Berić in Roman Bezjak will not be able to play.

Roman Bezjak is the latest to appear on the list of injured team members. According to a statement made by head coach Srečko Katanec to TV Slovenija’s reporter Urban Laurenčič, a medical examination has shown that Darmstadt’s forward has a broken bone in his toe. The pain in his foot started during a match of the German cup against Leipzig (0:2) last Saturday, when he left the field in the 79^th minute of the game.

Katanec has thus invited two more players into the selected team: Maribor’s midfielder Aleks Pihler and Basel’s forward Andraž Šporar.

Kampl wears a special shoe
Kevin Kampl, who plays for Bayer, score the winning goal (1:0) in the Champions League on Wednesday but hurt his ankle in the 85^th minute and will need to rest for a while. However, his ankle is not as badly injured as it seemed at first. An MRI examination concluded that he suffered a contusion in his right instep.

“I was terrified at the thought of having a broken foot. The feeling is very unpleasant. The pain is much stronger than during my injury in the spring, when I had a broken fibula. I can’t play at the moment,” explained Kampl to Bild newspaper. Immediately after landing in Cologne on Wednesday night, he visited the hospital. He was put on crutches and will need to wear a special shoe for a few days. It is not yet known whether he would be able to join the Slovenian national team for practice at Brdo near Kranj. He had already cancelled before the previous match due to exhaustion.

Berić pulled his thigh muscle
Robert Berić also proved to be the key man by scoring the winning goal for St. Etienne’s win against Gabala (2:1) in Euroleague, but hurt this thigh muscle and left the game in the 62nd minute. He will need to rest for three or four weeks.

Slovenian head coach Katanec had already had some problems before the latest round of injuries – Bojan Jokić is also injured while Aljaž Struna is not allowed to play due to penalty. Rene Krhin and Boštjan Cesar, on the other hand, are ready to perform.

Slovenia will play against Malta on 11^th November. Three days later (14^th), the team will also take part in a friendly game against Poland.

A. V., M. R., U. L.; translated by K. Z.