England Supporters Club

Ljubljana Fans Friendly: Slovenia Vs England

Posted by Team England at 14:17 on Wednesday 17 June 2015

The game was held to the North of the City on a ground that was part of the Slovenian FA’s (NZS) training facilities

England went into the game with a strong squad of 17 players and faced up against a scratch team of Slovenians who had not played together before.

After a heavy defeat in Dublin, England headed into the game with a few more of their regulars in the side, including Graham Taylor who was able to reform his strong centre-back partnership with Captain Dane Cloke. With a combined age of 100 it may be fair to say that Dane and Graham aren’t the quickest defenders in the world, but they certainly make up for that with their experience, especially the way they read the game.

The Slovenians had the majority of possession in the first 20 minutes but weren’t able to pose a serious threat to England’s goalkeeper Des Ireland. England looked best when they got the ball out wide and had a limited amount of joy down the right hand side with some neat combinations between Will Flack and Rupert Maher.

Whether it was the heat, the hangovers, or the size of the pitch (which was much bigger than what most of us were used to playing on) England were struggling to move up and down as a unit and found themselves surrendering possession to Slovenia. By the end of the first half Slovenia must have had well over 65% possession and on the 40 minute mark they were able to make this statistic count. The Slovenian number 18 pounced on a loose ball just inside the area, swiveled on the spot and dispatched a precision half volley into the England net giving the home team a 1-0 lead going into the break.

The second half was a little more open than the first and saw chances at both ends. Slovenia wasted a great opportunity to extend their lead when their number 9 was put through on goal only to slide his shot wide past the advancing Des Ireland. England manager Ed Rhodes rang the changes in the second half as the heat took its toll. It was two of the substitutes who carved out England’s best chance of the second half, with Simon Price latching on to Gary Shanahan’s cross, only to steer the ball wide of the post.

The game became more open as the second half went on. But it was Slovenia who finished the game the strongest, being able to overrun the English midfield despite the industry of Tim Hort and Alex Moore who must have covered more ground than anyone else on the pitch. After several close chances the hosts eventually made their superiority count when their number 10 stabbed home from 3 yards out following a goal mouth scramble.

At the final whistle the English players presented some gifts (courtesy of the FA) to the Slovenian players and were then treated to a traditional Slovenian lunch at a nearby restaurant. A huge thank you goes out to Nejc Fistrovic, who made the game possible. Not only did Nejc ensure everything ran like clockwork on the day he also starred in the winning Slovenian team.

If you would like to be involved in future fans friendly matches please email fanfriendly@mac1.net with your full name, England Supporters Club number, age and preferred playing position.

A full set of pictures from the game is available here: https://flic.kr/s/aHskaEkoLm