Sport
STA, 13 November 2018 - Slovenia's Jan Oblak has been named the best goalkeeper in the Spanish premier football league La Liga in the 2017/2018 season, which is the third time in a row that the 25-year-old from Škofja Loka, who plays for Atletico Madrid, received the Zamora Trophy conferred by the Spanish daily sport newspaper Marca.
Oblak joined the Spanish side in the 2014/15 season, when he signed a six-year contract worth EUR 16m to become the fifth highest-paid goalkeeper in history, the highest-paid Slovenian football player ever and the highest-paid goalkeeper in La Liga.
He received his first Zamora Trophy, named after goalkeeper Ricardo Zamora, in the 2015/16 season, when he conceded only 18 goals in 38 matches, defending the title in the next season, when he received 21 goals in 29 matches.
In the past season in the Spanish first division, he played in 37 matches for Atletico Madrid to concede only 22 goals for a 0.59 ratio, which was far above the rest of the goalkeeper competition.
With his third title of the best goalkeeper in the Spanish first division, Oblak equalised with Zamora himself and five other goalkeeping legends. The Slovenian is now only behind Juan Acuna and Santiago Canizares (4) and Victor Valdes and Antoni Ramallets (5).
Only two other players received three trophies in a row, with Arconada winning the accolade between the 1979/80 and 1981/82 seasons and Valdes between the 2007/08 and the 2011/12 seasons.
Along with ski jumping and climbing, judo is another of the individual sports that Slovenia does far better than many much bigger nations, a fact that seen over the weekend in Uzbekistan, at the Taskent Grand Prix. Here Slovenia managed to achieve 8th place in the overall rankings, with Adrian Gomboc winning gold in the men’s -66 kg division, while Kaja Kajzer picked up the bronze in the women’s -57 kg, as did Leski Andreja in the women’s -63 kg
Kosovo had the best performance among the nations fielding atheletes, winning three golds and one silver in the women’s events, with the full results available at the International Judo Federation’s website.
STA, 8 November 2018 - Interim head coach of the national football team, Igor Benedejčič, presented on Thursday the roster for the last two matches in the UEFA Nations League, against Norway on 16 November and Bulgaria on 19 November. The roster does not feature star midfielder Kevin Kampl, who has announced his retirement from the national team.
Presenting the roster at a press conference in Brdo pri Kranju, Benedejčič said that Kampl had informed the Slovenian Football Association about his decision last week.
The 28-year old, who plays for Germany's Leipzig, debuted for the national team in 2012, scoring two goals in 28 matches for Slovenia. His last match for the national team was on 6 September, when Slovenia lost at home to Bulgaria.
"I regret that he has made such a decision. He is an excellent player, which he has been proving for years in the club," Benedejčič said, expressing hope that Kampl would change his mind and help the team turn the things around.
This is not the only problem for the new coach, as the team will also be without veterans Bojan Jokić (injury) and Josip Iličić (yellow cards).
Slovenia are at the bottom of Group 3 of League C of the UEFA Nations League with one point and are in serious danger of being relegated to League D. Slovenia are facing the opponents who are at the top of the group with nine points each.
"We are aware of the position we are in. We are facing two tough matches, with both opponents fighting for the first place. It is up to us to give our best and try to stay in the group," said the coach.
* Slovenia's roster for the matches against Norway and Bulgaria:
- goalkeepers: Vid Belec (Sampdoria), Aljaž Ivačič (Olimpija), Matic Kotnik (Panionios);
- defenders: Jure Balkovec (Hellas Verona), Miha Blažič (Ferencvaros), Bojan Jokić (Ufa), Luka Krajnc (Frosinone), Miha Mevlja (Zenit), Nemanja Mitrović (Jagiellonia), Nejc Skubic (Konyaspor), Petar Stojanović (Dinamo Zagreb), Aljaž Struna (Palermo);
- midfielders: Jaka Bijol (CSKA Moscow), Domen Črnigoj (Lugano), Amir Dervišević (Maribor), Josip Iličić (Atalanta), Rene Krhin (Nantes), Rudi Požeg Vancaš (Celje), Rajko Rotman (Kayserispor), Leo Štulac (Parma), Benjamin Verbič (Dynamo Kyiv), Miha Zajc (Empoli);
- forwards: Robert Berić (St. Etienne), Roman Bezjak (Jagiellonia), Andraž Šporar (Slovan Bratislava), Luka Zahović (Maribor).
Slovenia’s Domen Škofic took first place on the podium in Xiamen, China, over the weekend, getting gold in the men’s lead event, with Italy’s Stefano Ghisolfi in second and South Korea’s Hyunbin Min in third.
Sisay Lemma Kasaye, from Ethiopia, won the 23rd Ljubljana Marathon and set a track record of 2:04:58, knocking 3 minutes 21 seconds off the previous fastest time, 2:08:19, achieved three years ago. The current world record for men is 2:01:39, as set by Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya) earlier this year in Berlin.
STA, 24 October 2018 - More than 26,650 runners have signed up for the 23rd Ljubljana Marathon to be held in the capital this weekend. The organisers are hoping for records in both women's and men's competitions. They are also hoping to win the top road race label by the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS).
STA, 21 October 2018 - Slovenia's teen climbing sensation, Janja Garnbret, has secured the overall Climbing World Cup victory in the women's lead discipline for the third consecutive time.
The 2018 ITTF Para World Championships started today in Laško-Celje. The four-day competition will see athletes competing for 21 different singles titles.
The Youth Summer Olympics are currently taking place in Buenos Aires, and a second young Slovene will now be bringing home a piece of gold, as Lan Tominc finished in first place in the men’s kayak obstacle slalom, followed by China’s Changheng Guan, and with France’s Tom Bouchardon in third.
STA, 13 October - Slovenia continued their series of defeats in UEFA Nations League as they played Norway in Oslo on Saturday. Following a lacklustre performance, the Slovenian national football team were beaten 1:0, with Norway's Ole Selnaes scoring the only goal of the game.
STA, 5 October 2018 - Slovenia's best Alpine skier Ilka Štuhec is looking forward to the World Cup opener in Canada's Lake Louis at the end of November after missing the entire last season due to a knee injury. The reigning world champion in downhill is not putting any pressure on herself but says she will give her best in every race.
