The last representative of the Russian championship has been selected for Euro 2024: Vanja Drkusic of the Slovenian national team. The 24-year-old Sochi defender’s performance in his first major tournament was a pleasant surprise. Now Drkusic and his partner in the centre of Slovenia’s defence, Jaka Bijol, who we remember from CSKA, will have to face the attack of the Portuguese national team led by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Few people believed in the Slovenian team in what seemed to be a fairly strong group with England, the last European finalist, Denmark, the semi-finalist, and the picturesque Serbia. But the team of the wily old fox Matjaz Kek, who also beat Russia at the 2010 World Cup, did not lose to anyone in the group stage.
They conceded just two goals: only Spain (0), England, France and Belgium (one each) had fewer in three rounds. At the same time, the Slovenians did not display any anti-football. A normal, balanced team, which tried to play football as well as their opponents and their level of skill allowed.
The main star of the Slovenian team is Atlético goalkeeper Jan Oblak. This is the case when the goalkeeper is half of the team. But at Euro 2024, after three rounds, Oblak, according to Sofascore, finished in the top 10 in number of saves (9). He had much less work to do than the group stage saves leader, Giorgi Mamardashvili (21), of the Georgia team, and some of his other teammates in the position. This fact is a praise for the defenders of the Slovenians. And especially to the central duo.
The leader of the Bijol-Drkusic pair can be considered the most experienced former military player, who now plays in Italy for Udinese. According to statistics, he became the best of the Slovenian team in the group stage in terms of number of tackles (9), interceptions (6) and clearances from his own area (25), and second in duels won ( fifteen). , with a 58% success rate). Furthermore, he is the first outfield player to make accurate long passes (12).
A story about the coach of the Slovenian national team
Kek is amazing. He kept Russia out of the World Cup and 14 years later he is leading the team to history at the European Championship.
Drkusic was second in clearances (11) and accurate long passes (9). He is not far behind Biyol in tackles (6) and fights won (10, with a 56% success rate). Meanwhile, Vanja has been playing for the Slovenian national team only since March 2023 and before the European Championship he only played seven matches, and only two from the first minutes. With Biyol there was no talk of good teamwork. But the Sochi defender fit Keck’s team like a glove.
The goals lost by the Slovenian team in Euro 2024 cannot be blamed on the center backs. In the episode of Christian Eriksen’s goal, the Danish midfielder was lost by Timi Elshnik, who was looking after him. And Serbian striker Luka Jovic scored with a header from a Zhan Karnicnik corner. Drkusic could not prevent Wind from giving a backheel assist to Eriksen, but in that episode the Sochi defender generally did everything right. He controlled his opponent, who had his back to the goal and received a throw-in pass, so Wind had virtually no options other than a smart pass.
Drkusic’s progress during his RPL career is astonishing. In general, no one except Sochi fans noticed his transfer in January 2022. Legionnaires from the former Yugoslavia constantly come to the Russian Championship, but many leave without leaving a deep mark. In addition, the Sochi team took Vanya directly from the Slovenian league, paying Club Bravo only 120 thousand euros. At that time, Drkusic had not yet played for Slovenia’s first team and the defender only had one game for the youth team. , played in 2019.
Vanja Drkusic
Photo: Dmitry Golubovich, “Championship”
In the last Russian Championship, Drkusic, as captain of Sochi, played 23 matches and scored 2+1. In a defence that often looked like a passing yard, he was an unusual strong link. During the season, French Nantes and Serbian Red Star wanted to buy Vanya, but the Sochi club did not let him go. The southerners hoped that the central defender would help them survive in the RPL. Drkusic was upset and offended by the failed transfer, because, according to him, he would have earned more in Nantes than in Sochi.
It is now difficult to imagine that a participant in the 1/8 finals of Euro 2024 will continue his career in our First League. The tournament in Germany will surely increase the demand for Drkusic. “Championship” wrote in May that Vanya was on the short list of Spartak, CSKA and Dynamo. Then information appeared about Krasnodar’s interest in him. The Slovenian himself admitted that he likes living in Russia.
The defender’s agent, Mladen Ratkovica, does not rule out his client staying at the RPL:
“Interest in him has increased because he played well in these Euro Cup matches. But I can’t say anything about his transfer now… Could Vanya stay in Russia next season? If possible. “We are ready to consider offers from the best clubs in the RPL.”
Every upcoming Euro 2024 match for Drkusic is a battle for a solid new contract in the summer window. So far, Vanya is “selling” very successfully. If he manages to deal with Ronaldo, Gonçalo Ramos and Diogo Jota, it is possible that new buyers will come with nice numbers.
