Sašo Udovič: Once Three Foreigners in Clubs, Today Three Local Boys

The guest of Delo's football podcast VAR was Sašo Udovič, a former excellent striker and long-time member of the Slovenian national football team. Few know that Sašo Udovič was the first Slovenian footballer to "defeat" Serbia or its predecessor Yugoslavia. In the Euro 2000 match in Charleroi, he left the game when Slovenia was leading 3-0, and it ended 3-3, with Slovenians even trembling for a point.

Today, he can enjoy playing tennis

"These are beautiful memories; it was the first time we played in a major competition. Before the match, everyone, including the president of the country, would have surely signed up for a scenario to win a point... It was a privilege for me to be part of the story on the field; the atmosphere in the stands was crazy. When something like this happens for the first time, it is historic. We didn't even realize how much we were actually enjoying it. It was nice to be part of the national team, which was then led by coach Srečko Katanec," reminisced the 55-year-old from Ljubljana, who had a successful career without serious injury or surgery. This is also why he can enjoy playing tennis and constant movement today.

Jernej Suhadolnik, Gorazd Nejedly, and Sašo Udovič. PHOTO: Marko Feist

What was the reason for the Slovenian success back then? There were several, but one stands out: "We had Zahovič, to whom you had to pass the ball 25, 30 meters from the goal, and it was always dangerous for the opponents. We had Pavlin. Above all, it is worth highlighting something else: we played to our strengths, something that characterized us, we didn't try to follow some trends. Even in old Yugoslavia, they said: choose a system based on the players you have, not the other way around."

In the podcast, we opened many interesting topics, including several controversial ones. We compared the Slovenian national team in the period of 2000 and 2024, or the characteristics of football then and now, assessed the chances of Olimpija, Maribor, and Celje in the fight for the championship title, and discussed coaches Albert Riera, Victor Sanchez, and Boštjan Cesar. And, last but not least, Udovič extensively talked about foreigners in clubs then and now. We tried to answer the question of when is the right time for a young footballer to go abroad and what needs to happen for it to make sense.

Sašo Udovič PHOTO: Marko Feist

"Olimpija plays matches with eight or nine foreigners. I have nothing against foreigners; I was abroad for ten years too, but a foreigner must be better than a local player in the same position by at least 30 percent, then it all makes sense. Maybe this is not even a problem in Olimpija, which has quality foreigners; maybe the bigger problem is somewhere else in Slovenia," Udovič is convinced.

The result is king, as it dismisses and appoints coaches

"The result is king, as it dismisses and appoints coaches and others at the highest levels of world football, how could it be different with us? You must have a vision and courage to push forward a 17-year-old boy, which regularly happens in the best foreign clubs. But if there are four such boys, the result will surely suffer. This is also why I can't imagine Maribor and Olimpija doing this. There is room for one or two, which is why there are so many foreigners. In Maribor, we have seen Grlić in recent matches, in Olimpija it was Ratnik, who is already a finished product, not a newcomer. Ratnik was a club project, a smart project. It is certainly easier to profile a young boy in Radomlje or Lendava than in Maribor and Olimpija," our interlocutor, who scored 16 goals in 42 matches for Slovenia, is convinced.

Udovič also answered the question of whether Olimpija and Celje can defeat his former club LASK or the Turkish Başakşehir, and explained why. Answers to the above questions and more are available in the VAR podcast, as well as the answer to the provocative question of whether Celje's coach Albert Riera is really a so-called "troublemaker" in his opinion.