Published: 17 November, 2009, 17:55
Edited: 17 November, 2009, 18:09
Slovenia are injury-free ahead of the crucial World Cup 2010 qualifier, but they are even happier to be back playing on a real surface, after taking on the Russians on artificial grass in the first leg.
For a team ranked a lowly 49th in the world, the Slovenians punched well above their weight in qualifying, finishing in front of the Czech Republic and Poland.
And after their late goal on Saturday, they know a 1-0 win at home will send them into their first World Cup since 2002 and only their second ever since the break up of Yugoslavia.
“We showed a good result in Moscow. We played 2-1, and if we win here 1-0 this will be good,” says defender Bojan Jokic.
An added incentive for a fighting performance on Wednesday is the promise of the country's Prime Minister Borut Pahor to clean his players' boots if they can pull off an upset.
And giving a proper respect to the Russian team, Slovenian goalkeeper Samir Handanovic hopes his team will show their best football on Wednesday.
”Russia are the strongest opponent our team have recently faced. We played not very well on Saturday; made too many errors. Our team can play much better. In order to win, we plan to show our best football. We believe we’ll manage to put up a good show tomorrow,” Handanovic said during a news conference on Tuesday.