7560 Minutes Later

"Lies, damned lies, and statistics"

8 attempts - 32 opponents.
7 different managers - over 150 players.
152 goal scored - 106 goals conceded.
84 games - 7560 minutes.

It all ended in frosty Chorzow. All it took was an own goal by the Polish defender Seweryn Gancarczyk in the third minute of the very last game of the third qualifying group, around 90 more excruciating minutes  and the long wait was finally over. The referee blew the whistle and amidst the commentator's loud display of sheer happiness I realized that this was it. 

7560 minutes + 10 seconds later - Slovak joy on Polish snow (photo from sport.cas.sk)

Having followed Slovakia's attempts to qualify for a major football tournament since the very beginning, I was stunned, as I had lost a major deal of my belief while watching Slovakia's encounter with Slovenia - the game in which we needed "only a draw", the game in which we were dismantled by Slovenia, a team that fully deserves to be in South Africa (as confirmed by their performance in the play-offs).

7560 + 1 minute later - Visibly moved Vladimir Weiss Sr. (team manager) (photo from sport.cas.sk)

With about five hours left before the World Cup draw commences in Cape Town, it is time to press "publish post" and bring this blog to life. My principal aim is to enlighten you lot about  the past, the present and the short-term future of Slovak football, with particular attention given to the World Cup. This should be achieved by publishing a mix 'n' match of my personal impressions as well as remarks by Slovak media, and I will do my best to write at least one article a week.

There are various ways to keep up to date with my writings - Twitter ["7560min"], Google Connect, RSS and The Guardian's "Fans' Network at World Cup 2010".

I would also like to encourage you to take part in discussions using the "Disqus" feature below every post - it is very easy to use and I am greatly interested in your opinions/feedback/questions/impressions/etc.