Will this small country will upset the giant underdog of soccer?
U.S. soccer players Howard, Dempsey and Donovan comment.
Slovenia, a small country the size of New Jersey with a population of 2 million, will compete against the U.S. on Friday morning, June 18 at 7:00 am (PST) and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.
Formerly part of the Yugoslav republic and on the eastern edge of the Alps, this is a very small country. The Slovenia team approaches the up coming match with heart. As Slovenia's midfielder Dalibor Stevanovic said "The important thing is the heart, not how big you are as a country."
The contest between the two countries is heating up and words between the players have started to fly.
U.S. World Cup goalkeeper Tim Howard said in response to Slovenia midfielder Andrej Komac's declaration of victory "Talk is cheap. He has got to stand toe to toe and they have got to stand toe to toe with us for 90 minutes. If he is still standing, I will take my hat off to him. We know they are probably feeling confident after getting three points, and rightfully so."
Howard said Wednesday that he was planning to play in the game against Slovenia and that his rib injury has left him sore but "when you get on the field and your mind is on the game, it takes away from the pain." Howard never had X-rays or an MRI exam but he has said, “I don't think it is" broken.
Even U.S. midfielder Clint Dempsey believes Slovenia is “a tough team.” Dempsey said “we’re going to have to play our best game to get something out of it.” According to U.S. midfielder Landon Donovan, this match “will be different. Obviously England was very aggressive and they like to dictate the tempo and the way the game goes and you have to match that. It will be interesting to see how this game shapes up because with a win, Slovenia are qualified. So it’s hard to know whether they’re going to go all out or whether they’ll be happy with a point. We’re going to have to try to assess that, and adjust in the game accordingly depending on how they play.”
Here are some fun facts on Slovenia
:
There are 150 times more Americans than Slovenes in the world.
U.S. is ranked 14 and Slovenia is ranked 25thon the FIFA world rankings.
Slovenia is performing well in South Africa, with one win already the country is in first place in Group C after England and the U.S. tied their game.
SOCCER TODAY June 10, please click here
SOCCER TODAY June 9, please click here
ShareThis
Print
