Milivoje Novaković was the only Maribor team member called to join the national team for the match against Scotland. The only other players to be called from the Slovenian first league were Matija Širok and Žan Majer from Domžale, who are also members of the Slovenian B-team. NK Maribor says that was too little. Foto: Reuters
Milivoje Novaković was the only Maribor team member called to join the national team for the match against Scotland. The only other players to be called from the Slovenian first league were Matija Širok and Žan Majer from Domžale, who are also members of the Slovenian B-team. NK Maribor says that was too little. Foto: Reuters

The NK Maribor football club writes that it is "difficult to stay calm after the continuous underestimation of Slovenian club football and everyone involved in football at home."

The Violets are of the opinion that more players from the Slovenian league, and not only from NK Maribor, deserve to be called to play for the national team. The club says Slovenia’s last poor performance against Scotland proves exactly that. The Maribor team adds that it has faced teams from Scotland four times in European competition - Celtic, Glasgow, Hiberninan and Aberdeen - and eliminated all four of them.

Are we really that weak?
"Are we really that weak? Is foreign really that much better than domestic? There are many reasons that say it is not so… Haven’t almost all of the players, which the head coach puts on his roster, and which are allegedly the only ones mature enough to play in national qualification matches, grown on Slovenian fields? Respected head coach, we don’t demand a lot. Just a little more respect. And especially more trust. If you wish to be respected, it is necessary to also show respect," concluded the team from Maribor.

When Coach Katanec presented his roster of players on the 16th of March, he said he did intend to call up several more players from Maribor, but that he later decided against it because of the "specifics of the match": "I did have in mind several more players from Maribor, but I later came to the conclusion that the match against Scotland will be very specific, that we probably won’t have a lot of ball possession and be that dominant. It will be a great battle, with a lot of high challenges and tackles. That’s why we only have Novaković from Maribor."

A. V.; translated by K. J.