In an exclusive interview with GOAL, the 25-year-old discusses facing some of the world's finest forwards after helping Udinese avoid relegation

England, Denmark and Serbia – it's fair to say that Slovenia's Euro 2024 group is pretty daunting. Jaka Bijol is pretty unperturbed, though. Why? Because he can't imagine facing Harry Kane, Rasmus Hojlund or Dusan Vlahovic will be as nerve-racking as being involved in a relegation battle that goes right to the final day.

"Everything turned out well in the end," Bijol says of Udinese's recent brush with Serie B, "but I wouldn't ever really want to go through that again! It was a really hard season for us. Right from the beginning, we had a lot of difficulties, so I'm really proud of the team.

"But escaping relegation on the last day of the season is a really stressful thing!" The Euros, by contrast, is something to be enjoyed, at least in Bijol's eyes.

Getty Coming back stronger

For starters, he was lucky to avoid a lengthier spell on the sidelines after suffering a foot fracture in a Serie A clash with Roma last November. Even still, he spent three months out of action with what was his first serious injury as a professional.

"It's hard when you have to stop playing football for a long time," he admits in an exclusive interview with GOAL, "but I knew that I would be back for the Euros and that I would still have a lot of time to prepare myself and to get back into my rhythm.

"So, I was never really scared that I would miss the Euros. I just thought, 'Right, let's use this opportunity to come back stronger than before' – and I think I managed to do that."

AdvertisementFrustrating 'one of the greatest'

There were nonetheless doubts over his sharpness and match fitness when he joined up with the Slovenia squad for the March internationals having only just returned to action for Udinese.

However, in just his second start at any level since his lay-off, Bijol played a pivotal role in a shock – but fully-deserved – 2-0 win over Portugal. For both Bijol and his colleagues, doing such a successful job of frustrating Cristiano Ronaldo – to the point where the Seleccao skipper began lashing out at the officials – was quite the confidence boost.

"He's obviously one of the greatest players of all time and he’s still in form, too," the centre-back says. "You can still see his hunger for goals. I really respect the fact that he always wants to score in every game, and that he wants to win every game. I think that’s one of the things that make him so great.

"But our whole team managed to contain him and everyone had a really good game against Portugal. And we weren't just good without the ball, we were also very good with it. It was definitely one of our best performances since I've been with the national team."

'Shot at making the knockouts'

Consequently, Slovenia have arrived in Germany quietly confident of reaching the knockout stage of a major international tournament for the first time in the country's history.

The odds are obviously against them. England are one of the favourites to go all the way, Denmark won Slovenia's qualifying group, while Serbia's sheer unpredictability makes them incredible dangerous.

"Look, we know our group is really difficult, but we are positive about our chances," Bijol says. "Not matter what, I know that we are going to do everything possible to get good results, so I really do think we have a shot at making the knockout stage."

Getty Another date with the Danes

Their opening game will likely be decisive, and Matjaz Kek's players are taking heart from the knowledge that they can cause Denmark problems. Slovenia held the 1992 champions to a draw in Ljubljana before suffering a narrow 2-1 loss in Copenhagen that saw the Danes progress as group winners on account of their superior head-to-head record.

It's also worth noting that Slovenia actually scored one more goal in the qualifiers than the Scandinavians (20), and conceded one fewer too (nine). Consequently, Bijol firmly believes that they can compete at the very highest level. They won't want for motivation, that's for sure.

"The Euros is a really big thing for us, something we've been chasing for a long time," he says. "We worked really hard to make it happen and, in the end, we succeeded. So, now we can enjoy ourselves a little bit.

"But we are also going to Germany to get good results and to do our nation proud. We also expect to have a lot of fans there supporting us and that should help a lot."