Soccer: Slovenia hope peace will lift morale

TAEGU - A Slovenia team scarred by internal dissent will be seeking a touch of Irish magic when they face South Africa tonight in a group B match without their most influential player.

Like the Irish, Slovenia have sacrificed a key man, Zlatko Zahovic, in a bid to preserve squad unity after a bitter row with the coach.

But whereas the Irish bust-up between coach Mick McCarthy and captain Roy Keane took place before the tournament and the team has gone on to record two battling draws, Slovenia decided to expel Zahovic only on Thursday after a week of bitter rows with coach Srecko Katanec since their 3-1 loss to Spain.

Whether they can regroup in time to match a fired-up South Africa remains to be seen.

South Africa come full of belief after fighting back from two goals down to secure a 2-2 draw with Paraguay, after midfielder Quinton Fortune converted an injury-time penalty to register his first goal for his country in his 40th international.

The Slovenian mood looks far less positive, battered by a week of divisive in-fighting and "harmful behaviour" that the federation blamed squarely on the fiery Zahovic.

Zahovic finally got the boot "with an aim of calming the atmosphere in the squad and putting all the energy to the following World Cup matches", according to the Slovenian soccer federation.

The row was only the latest clash between the stylish Benfica attacker and the coach, who is widely credited with guiding the tiny nation of two million people to their first World Cup since Slovenia split from the Yugoslav Federation in 1991.

Milenko Acimovic is likely to replace Zahovic in the midfield.

South Africa, playing in only their second World Cup, are optimistic that defender Pierre Issa, who twisted his ankle in the Paraguay match, will recover from the injury in time to play against Slovenia.

Probable teams:

South Africa: Andre Arendse; Cyril Nzama, Bradley Carnell, Aaron Mokoena, Pierre Issa, Lucas Radebe; Macbeth Sibaya, Quinton Fortune, Tebeho Mokoena, Sibusiso Zuma; Benni McCarthy.

Slovenia: Marko Simeunovic; Aleksander Knavs, Marinko Galic, Zeljko Milinovic, Amir Karic; Doni Novak, Ales Ceh, Miran Pavlin, Mladen Rudonja, Milenko Acimovic, Milan Osterc.

- REUTERS

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