Vähintään yksi voitto pitää ottaa huomenna: tämä porukka peitottava 90 minuutin ajan katsomossa samaan tapaan kuin montenegrolaiset tekivät Stozicessa vuosi sitten, erityisesti kun Suomen kiintiö on tätä porukkaa (200) isompi
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Friday,
13/10/2023; 11.18
UNITED FANS OF SLOVENIA
The mysterious fan group that drove Slovenia crazy overnight #video
The idea of establishing an organized fan group to support the Slovenian national football team came up last year during a friendly match with Montenegro.
They represent a positive revival of Slovenia's national team matches. If in recent years the best Slovenian footballers have counted on a more or less theatrical atmosphere at their home matches, as organized fan groups have not attended national team matches since 2015, this year is significantly different. The ZNS group came to life. United fans of Slovenia.
For now, there are a few hundred of them, they loudly support the national team from the first minute to the last minute of the matches, but we would like to see more of them in the future. We talked to one of the prominent members about the mysterious group that appeared overnight in Stožice and quickly grew to the hearts of Jan Oblak, Benjamin Šešek and the team.
We talked about the phenomenon of the revival of fan support at Slovenian matches with a representative of ZNS, who agreed to the conversation only on the condition that we do not mention him by his full name. In the ZNS group, the rule is that no one exposes himself. Together, they try to create wind at the backs of Slovenian football players and become their loyal 12th player. And not only at home, but also away matches.
Their presence made Keko's team happy, and the results with which they have spoiled Slovenian football fans in the last period are also suitable for this. "It's nice when someone cheers for you. It's always welcome. It's extra help. The whole stadium in general, not just this group of fans, deserves all the congratulations. I believe they'll be even louder at the next home game. We came to greet them after the game , to applaud them. In the end, it's their merit. They deserve it. I hope that the atmosphere at Slovenia's matches will always be better, because then it's much easier for us on the pitch," he said after the last home match, when Slovenia played in Stožice last month defeated Northern Ireland (4:2) in the festival of goals, said captain Jan Oblak .
He shared the opinion of the entire locker room, which is more than excited to have a supporter group, with the help of which they can get through difficult moments on the field and squeeze the last atoms of strength out of themselves. This was not known in the past, at least in the period after 2015. Who are the United Fans of Slovenia, how many are there, how do they work and what are their future plans? More on this in a conversation with a member who took the time to answer our questions on behalf of the group.
Why did you decide to found the United Fans of Slovenia (ZNS) group?
The group was founded on November 20, 2022.
All fans of the Slovenian national football team will know what happened then. A friendly match between Slovenia and Montenegro took place in Stožice. There were 11 thousand Slovenians and 50 Montenegrins in the stadium. And who was louder? It was a close competition between the Montenegrins and the popcorn-munching Slovenes. At that time, the founders and organizers of our group were at the match. They were simply overwhelmed. They decided that something should start happening in the stands, because our boys, and especially the coach, deserve it.
How did the Football Association of Slovenia react to everything?
Very nice. We are on good terms. We also have meetings and are in touch. They helped us financially, especially with tickets and hosting in San Marino.
The ZNS fan group invites everyone who would like to join it. All information will be found on the group's Facebook profile .
Are you preparing any surprise or news for the match between Slovenia and Finland?
First of all, I would like to mention that unfortunately we did not manage to get more tickets. The rush of members was great, but we had "only" 200 tickets available. If we got at least twice as many, everything would definitely work out. So we will watch the match against Finland in the same number as against Northern Ireland, but I believe that the whole stadium will join us in cheering, because this is practically the match of the decade for our boys. Otherwise, on Saturday we will present ourselves for the first time with our T-shirts and a newly created banner that will reveal our full name.
Stožice Stadium is sold out, which could include the possibility of some special choreography.
We will not organize the choreography. It's simply not time for that yet, because we're still too small for something like that. But I can say that something in this sense will definitely happen in the match against Kazakhstan, which next month will most likely decide the passenger to Euro 2024. Whether the entire stadium will participate in the choreography or just us, it is not yet known.
How satisfied are you with the response of Slovenian fans and football fans, how many members or like-minded people have you gained in recent months?
It is not easy to start from zero, but with will, effort and love for Slovenia, anything is possible. For now, there are about 1,800 members in our Facebook group, and about 400 regular members. We believe that after each match there will be more of us and that we will receive even more tickets for the last match of the qualification cycle against Kazakhstan than we have now.
Do you have any membership cards?
No. We don't have membership cards or anything like that yet. In the group, there is a rule that there is no arguing or mentioning Slovenian clubs, because this is about the national team and the rivalry between the clubs must be forgotten on this day.
Where do most members come from?
You could say that they come from all over Slovenia. Prekmurje, Carinthia, Bela krajina, Primorska, Styria... However, it seems to me that members from Notranjska predominate.
Are there ultras of Slovenian football clubs among you?
You know how it is with the national team, NZS and Slovenian ultras and fan groups. There are certainly certain guys among us from different fan groups, but they are just individuals and nothing more.
How satisfied are you with the reaction of the football players? They don't hide their enthusiasm when talking to the public, and after matches they like to come to greet you and thank you for your support.
At home matches, we are very pleased with their nice gesture after the match. We like the statements of the coach and the players. This only gives us an even greater motive and a kind of indicator that we are working in the right direction. The only thing that bothered us a little was their gesture in San Marino, which honestly wasn't the nicest, but the boys are still getting used to finally having a cheering group behind them, and they can't be blamed for that. They will be able to fix all this already on Saturday and Tuesday in Belfast.
In the last away game in San Marino, a discarded torch kicked up some dust. Did it come from your representatives and what is your attitude towards the use of pyrotechnics?
We would not delve too deeply into the events in San Marino. We can only say that we did not drop the torch. We have agreed in the group that pyrotechnics are not used in the stadium. We stick to that. On Saturday, on the way to the stadium, we prepare a very special baklad.
Will the ZNS group also travel to Tuesday's match with Northern Ireland in Belfast?
It will. About 20 fans from our group will travel to Belfast, but according to our information, all Slovenians are gathered in the same sector. In total, there will be around 200 of us in the stadium, so the rest will be able to be engaged to such an extent that we will cheer strongly and loudly in Belfast as well.
Do you have plans to organize an organized campaign for Slovenian athletes in any other sport?
Of course. We recently received a call from the futsal national team selector and responded to it. On Friday, there were about 80 of us at the futsal match between Slovenia and Spain in Tivoli. We cheered loudly. However, the group is still developing, so it would be impossible to be present at all sporting events. If they call us or contact us, we will be happy to respond.
What are the plans for the future? If Slovenia qualifies for Euro 2024, we will witness a huge number of Slovenian fans at the matches. Could the ZNS group lead the cheers then? Would she be up to such a privilege, but also a bite?
Our main goal is that the group does not fall apart in case of bad results and that we are present in large numbers at every home game. The European Championship in Germany is still far away, so it is pointless to say what will happen there. But we can confirm that we have a great leader, drummer and also other important members, so we will definitely be up to any challenge.
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