Proper Tidy
Arsed
Viva Slovenia.
Christ I hope England flop at 3pm.
Some useful facts for honourary Slovenians:
- Slovenia is in Central Europe, between the Alps and the Med, and borders Croatia, Hungary, Austria and the Adriatic.
- The capital is Ljubljana.
- The population is a mere two million, around 4% of the population of England.
- It is in the EU and WTO and is the richest of the Slavic nation-states.
- Slovenia has been occupied/co-opted by various political bodies, from the Romans, the Frankish, the Holy Romans, the Venetians, the Habsburgs and the French. Slovenia was occupied by the Germans, the Italians and the Hungarians in WW2 before becoming a 'socialist republic' within Tito's Yugoslavia. Slovenia did not gain her independence until 1991.
- Prior to the Romans occupying the territory now known as Slovenia, it is believed it was inhabited by, amongst others, Celts.
- Unlike other former Communist states, Slovenia managed to repel shock therapies, instead favouring a more gradual economic transformation. Consequentially, the left and the labour movement is still strong and Slovenia has a strong welfare state.
- The prime minister is Borut Pahor, of the Social Democratic party. Pahor is a former Communist who was a key figure in transforming the old Communist left and merging forces with yer liberals and what not to form a more 'moderate' centre-left formation. The Social Democrats - actually a coalition not a party - and the right-wing 'liberal conservative' Slovenian Democratic Party vie for power in what is effectively a two party system.
- The main ethnic group of Slovenia is the Slovenes, who comprise 91% of population. The official language is Slovene, although Italian, Hungarian and Serbo-Croat are also widely spoken.
- Jacobus Gallus was a Slovene.
- Football is not widely regarded as the most popular sport, although it has become increasingly popular since independence. However, it is often stigmatised as being a sport of immigrants and the working class. Fencing, handball, basketball, ice hockey and volleyball are also hugely popular in Slovenia.
- Slovenians love nothing more than a plate of Bujta Repa - a pork and sour turnip hot pot - washed down with Kislo Mleko, or sour milk to us.
- Goalkeeper Samir Handanovic and midfielder and captain Robert Koren - released by West Brom and expected to sign for Accrington Stanley shortly - are considered key players for the Slovenian national team, managed by fellow Slovenian Matjaz Kek.
- Zlatko Zahovic, formerly of Porto, Benfica, Valencia - where he was a Champions League finalist - and Olympiakos but who retired in 2005, is widely regarded as the finest player to have played for the Slovenian national team - as opposed to Slovenians who played for the former Yogoslavia. Zahovic was regarded as a fiery player often mired in controversy and prone to disputes with his club managers. He is now, perhaps ironically, a director of football for NK Maribor.
- The national team currently play in green and white, but this is controversial as green and white are not the traditional colours of Slovenia but of the capital Ljubljana. From 2012 onwards, when their current kit sponsorship deal ends, Slovenia will revert to the traditional colours of red, blue and white.
- Slovenia's greatest rivals are the other former Yugoslavian nations, particularly Croatia, and former colonial power Hungary.
We are all Slovenians now.
Forza Slovenia.
