Prasnikar pulls out of Maribor

Bojan Prasnikar has stepped down as coach of NK Maribor to concentrate on his role in charge of the Slovenian national team.

Stepping down
Prasnikar, who replaced Srecko Katanec as Slovenia coach after the 2002 FIFA World Cup, initially planned to carry on with both coaching roles until November before relinquishing control of national champions Maribor. But the 49-year-old has decided to step down early in order to concentrate on Slovenia's Euro 2004™ qualification campaign.

Solid start
Prasnikar, who guided the national team to a 3-0 win over Malta in their opening Group 1 qualifier on Saturday, has been replaced at Maribor by Matjaz Kek, a former player at the club who has been acting as assistant coach.