For the fourth time in history, Slovenia men’s senior national team qualified for the Olympic Games, confirming their status as one of the most consistent teams in Europe, constantly bringing new and talented players to the fore. However, Slovenia’s best performance has been the sixth place at Rio 2016, finishing eighth at Sydney 2000 and 11th at Athens 2004.

That means that Slovenia have never secured a medal so far, despite their talented generations, with fantastic players, which have written history in handball. But right now, Slovenia look equipped to potentially fill a dark horse, with a dynamic and experienced team, which can claim some scalps in the proper environment.

Despite a long and gruelling season, which saw injuries to key players like goalkeeper Klemen Ferlin and centre backs Miha Zarabec and Dean Bombač, Slovenia are only missing right wing Gašper Marguč, the experienced 33-year-old, who has not been able to rehabilitate an injury.

"I want our national team to be physically well prepared and to stay healthy. This time it is not a one-week national team action, before which the players from club environments are in full competitive rhythm. Now most of them have come back from vacation and we have to get them to a suitable level of physical fitness willingness to bring me," said Slovenia’s coach, Uroš Zorman.

Zorman has plenty of firepower at his disposal, with a very experienced squad, as Bombač, Zarabec and Ferlin are joined by captain Jure Dolenec, with all of these players probably featuring for the last time at the Olympic Games. Borut Mačkovšek and Blaž Blagotinšek are also over 30 years old and have more than 100 matches played for Slovenia, as the core of the European side is more or less the same for several years.

But younger players like Janc and left back Aleks Vlah, who have been in superb form this season for FC Barcelona and Aalborg Handbold, playing the final in the EHF Champions League Men, also add quality and depth to the squad, crucial ingredients in such an action-packed competition as the Olympic Games, where teams only have 14 players at their disposal.

Slovenia qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after a roller-coaster of a Paris 2024 Olympic Qualification Tournament, where they beat Brazil, 27:26, and Bahrain, 32:26, but conceded a clear loss against Spain, 22:32, underlining the need of improving until the start of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Such an improvement is definitely needed, as Slovenia have four other European opponents, plus an plucky Asian side in Japan. They will face Spain, as well as Croatia, Germany and Sweden, having lost against both Spain and Sweden in 2024, with the Scandinavian side securing a 28:22 win against Slovenia at the EHF EURO 2024.

“The competition will be extremely demanding. Not only because of the rhythm in which the matches will follow each other every other day, but also because of the rivals, because they are all very high quality. Every match will be a derby. Every game, every point, every victory will decide the ranking. A positive start can bring you closer to the quarter-finals, but there will be no room for tactics, it will be necessary to play at full strength from the first game,” added Zorman, who has featured as a player for Slovenia at Rio 2016.

Slovenia

Coach: Uros Zorman

Key players: Jure Dolenec (right back), Blaž Janc (right wing), Dean Bombac (centre back)

Qualification for Paris 2024: Olympic Qualification Tournament #1: 2nd place

Previous appearances: 2000: 8th, 2004: 11th, 2016: 6th

Group at Paris 2024: Group A: Spain, Croatia, Germany, Slovenia, Sweden, Japan