Gorica from Slovenia visits Israel to face Maccabi Tel Aviv in the first round of Europa League qualifying this week and we’ve got an insiders view to who the best players on the squad are, who their coach is and much more.
“Gorica have a few quality players in promising keeper Grega Sorcan, attacking midfielder Andrej Kotnik and Amel Džuzdanović who is recovering after an ACL injury,” said the @Sloveniafooty Twitter account which is run by a number of the league’s rabid fans.
“We had a relationship with Parma from Italy for a number of years but once the club dissolved, Gorica was left with a huge debt. Parma had loaned Gorica practically their entire squad including the most famous loanee, Gianluca Lapadula who now is with AC Milan.”
facebook.com/ndgorica ()
Sanel Konjevic, former CEO of FC Olimpija Ljubljana also commented on the financial situation that faced the club: “The same scenario that happened with Parma was almost seen in Gorica which was saved by some local patriots. They are still paying off the debt but last season’s transfers eased the situation.”
When it comes to manning the sidelines they have a wily veteran leading the team explained @sloveniafooty: “The coach is Miran Srebrnič and he happens to be a club legend having played many years with the team as well as coaching them on a number of occasions. He primarily plays from the wings with a 4-4-2 formation.”
Konjevic also spoke highly of Srebrnič: “He is doing a good job with the club.” He also brought up the fact that one of the assistant coaches of Gorica, Andrej Komac played for Maccabi back in the 2009/10 season.
“Gorica probably don’t expect that they will make it past Maccabi but they always attempt to reach Europe through the League or Cup,” @Sloveniafooty continued. “The locals also don’t know much about the Israeli league as it would not really be of interest to them and their fan base is small with an average attendance of less than 900 supporters.”
“I think the tie will already be solved in Israel for Tel Aviv as Gorica is well behind Maccabi at least the one I watched last season this time in Europe. But the Slovenian side will play tough and will be combative throughout though they lack real strength,” Konjevic concluded.
