EURO 2024: Slovenia, continuing the fairy tale?

Before EURO 2024 officially kicked off, Slovenia was not highly rated by experts for its chances of reaching the round of 16. Simply put, the team nicknamed The Boys fell into Group C with the presence of England, Denmark and Serbia. These are all famous and powerful opponents.

However, under the guidance of coach Matiaz Kek, Slovenia surprised and impressed the fans. They held Denmark (1-1), Serbia (1-1) and England (0-0) to draws. Even if luck had not turned against them, Slovenia's score would not have stopped at 3.

In any case, coach Matiaz Kek and his team have secured a ticket to the last 16. Don't forget, Slovenia have never made it past the group stage at the EURO. It should be noted that apart from Jan Oblak, Josip Ilicic and Benjamin Sesko, the rest of the players are relatively unknown.

With the above achievements, coach Matiaz Kek and his team are considered heroes of Slovenia, a country that separated from Yugoslavia in 1991 and has a population of just over 2.1 million people. It is not an exaggeration to say that Slovenia is one of the "interesting phenomena" at EURO 2024, alongside Georgia.

Matiaz Kek and his team's next opponent is Portugal - the EURO 2016 champions. In every aspect, superstar Cristiano Ronaldo's team is superior to Slovenia. According to Transfermarkt, the value of Portugal's squad is more than 1 billion euros and Slovenia's is more than 140 million euros. Too much difference.

Obviously, to defeat Portugal, coach Matiaz Kek must have a reasonable strategy, and Jan Oblak and his teammates must play at 100% of their ability. Once they have made England, Denmark and Serbia "regret", there is no reason for Slovenia to fear Portugal.

The match between Slovenia and Portugal will take place at Deutsche Bank Park, home of Eintracht Frankfurt, at 2:00 a.m. on July 2 (Vietnam time). Let's wait and see if coach Matiaz Kek and his team can continue their fairy tale in Germany?