Kek slips into Slovenia hot seat

Matjaz Kek has been appointed as the fifth coach of the Slovenia national side, succeeding Branko Oblak who left the post at the end of November.

Fifth coach
The 45-year-old has previously worked as a coach of NK Maribor and, most recently, with Slovenia's Under-16 and U17 international teams. He follows Bojan Prasnikar – who had three spells in charge of the country (1991-93, 1998-2002 and 2004) - Zdenko Verdenik (1994-97), Srečko Katanec (1998-2002) and Oblak (2004-06) into the post and will aim to reinvigorate Slovenia's bid to reach UEFA EURO 2008™. His new charges are currently fifth in qualifying Group G with three points from three games and next face Albania on 24 March.

'Big challenge'
"I know it's a big responsibility to lead the national team, but it is also a big challenge," said Kek, who was the second choice of Football Association of Slovenia president Rudi Zavrl after SK Sturm Graz assistant coach Darko Milanić turned down the job. "First I will analyse the situation and build a team of coaching experts, then I will aim to build in an organised fashion. Slovenian players certainly have enough quality and knowledge."