LJUBLJANA, June 8: Slovenians have blamed the bust-up between star player Zlatko Zahovic and coach Srecko Katanec for their early exit.

“South Africa played better today and we were completely lost,” Marko Paternoster, a 39-year-old engineer from Ljubljana said Saturday.

“But I was very disappointed with conflicts within our squad that beyond any doubt contributed a lot to our elimination.

“Such incidents are a disgrace for Slovenia. There are wranglings within each football squad but they should be solved from inside not in public,” said Paternoster, who like the majority of Slovenians watched the game at home.

His words were echoed by Alenka Kovac.

“I am very disappointed with both such incidents and Slovenia’s elimination. The World Cup will not be interesting any more,” the 35-year-old saleswoman said.—AFP