Soccer: 10 things you didn't know about Slovenia

ONE
The recognition factor isn't strong with Slovenia and they are commonly called a team of no-names. Their captain Robert Koren played for West Bromwich Albion, but has been released by the club since it won promotion to the Premier League. Almost the entire squad plays for European clubs outside Slovenia, and they are said to retain strong bonds from days together in national junior teams.

TWO
Ten years after the break away from Yugoslavia, Slovenia reached the World Cup finals for the first time in 2002 where their star player Zlatko Zahovic had one of his famous tantrums and was booted out of the team after the first match against Spain. They didn't qualify four years later. Slovenia are ranked 25 in the world and beat Russia in a two-leg playoff to qualify for South Africa, where they are in Group C with England, the United States and Algeria.

THREE
Slovenia have only a 46 per cent win record at home, over 67 games. But their record at Maribor, their qualification base and where they play the All Whites, is much healthier.

FOUR
Their major threat is Milivoje Novakovic, who scores at about a goal every second game for his German club and has 14 in 37 appearances for Slovenia. And Slovenia, who usually rely on a 4-4-2 system, are notoriously hard to score against.

FIVE
New Zealand will be a sort of big brother for tomorrow's match. Slovenia has a population of just two million and only 30,000 registered players.

SIX
Maribor is the hometown of Slovenia's coach Matjaz Kek, a defender in his playing days who had one international appearance. Kek was fired as the Maribor coach four years ago amid the club's financial and hooliganism problems, but somewhat surprisingly he took over the national team a year later after coaching the country's youth teams. Kek's previous jobs include working as a Radio DJ. He has also been interviewed by Playboy.

SEVEN
Kek produced a famous quote after their playoff victories. "Our hearts were greater than the whole of Russia," said Kek, who had previously stated: "Our country fits almost exactly into a local community in Moscow."

EIGHT
Visiting teams often joke about the 12,000-capacity Ljudski Stadium, the largest in Slovenia. It was built on an old cemetery, but this little ground in Maribor, the country's second largest city, is a national team stronghold, generating an amazing atmosphere.

NINE
Slovenia beat Slovakia, one of New Zealand's Group-F opponents, twice during qualification.

TEN
Slovenia are known as the Dragons.