'We have the belief'
Tuesday, 22 June, 2010
Slovenia believe they can produce a shock against 'toughest' team.
Slovenia admit they face their toughest game in Group C when they take on England with a place the last 16 at stake for both sides.
The Three Lions need to win the match in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday to guarantee their qualification to the second round in South Africa, while Slovenia need just a point to go through.
Slovenia face the mental challenge of responding to their 2-2 draw with the USA last Friday, a game they led by two goals at half-time.
And playmaker Valter Birsa has challenged his team to produce a shock against Fabio Capello's England, who he considers to be the strongest side in the group.
"England are the most difficult team in this group, but you have seen already at this World Cup that the small teams can win against the big teams," said the Auxerre star. "We know we have a possibility."
"It should not have been so difficult against the USA but in our heads everything was going down, down, because they scored very quickly and that made it very difficult for us.
"We allowed too much space for them to play, but now we know what we must do against England."
Slovenia currently sit at the top of Group C on four points after winning their opener 1-0 against Algeria.
Coach Matjaz Kek, who is expected to name an unchanged starting line-up with the exception of a replacement for the injured Nejc Pecnik, says belief is vital if Slovenia are going to cause an upset by beating England.
He said: "The most important thing for such a small country as Slovenia is belief.
"You must believe you can achieve, then you have a chance. That goes for any team and my team believe they can beat anyone.
"I'm not thinking 'OK, we came to South Africa but we're small and we must try to avoid catastrophe'.
"For me, success is to reach the second round, but for England success is winning the tournament."