Radan shining for Slovenia

His team's hopes might be hanging by a thread following Friday's defeat by Switzerland, but Slovenia goalkeeper Matej Radan is relishing "an experience that will stay with me for the rest of my life" at the UEFA European Under-19 Championship.

'Cherry on top'
The 19-year-old has been one of his side's most impressive performers in Ukraine, keeping a clean sheet to frustrate the hosts – and almost 13,000 supporters – as Slovenia earned a goalless draw on Matchday 1. He then pulled off a series of fine saves, including one spectacular punch away from an Orhan Mustafi drive, against Switzerland only to be beaten twice in the final eleven minutes as Slovenia slipped to a 2-1 defeat. The NK Maribor goalkeeper is nevertheless enjoying himself, telling uefa.com: "We don't feel any pressure because it's a European Championship; we did a lot coming here and this is only a cherry on top of the cake. We hope to do the best we can, but we don't feel under pressure to get results."

Defensive excellence
Although the match with the Swiss ended in disappointment, Radan recognised the achievement of his team-mates in holding the hosts at bay in the first round of games, particularly in front of such a large partisan support. "It was a very tough first game for us, but we deserved our draw," he explained. "Of course it was a great pleasure not to concede a goal in a European Championship match. This was my first experience playing in front of such a huge crowd and it's one that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I didn't feel any pressure because of the big crowd – it was great to play."

'Winning mentality'
Despite their Switzerland setback, a win against England would put Slovenia in contention to reach the semi-finals on their debut in the tournament and Radan is confident their approach can bring success. "We're strong as a team; we have a good defence," he said. "We go from the basis that we don't concede a goal, but that doesn't mean we play defensively. We have good attackers and midfielders and we score a lot of goals; that's what got us here in the first place. It is hard to beat us because this team has the mentality where we want to win every game. We go into each match looking to win, and then we see what happens."

Slovenia significance
Slovenia have not qualified for a final tournament at senior level since the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and Radan recognises the importance of the team's success in reaching Ukraine. "We're the first generation that has managed to qualify for the European U19 Championship and of course it has great significance in Slovenia. Youth football isn't really covered so this has real importance; the boys have had much more attention from the media, the fans and the general public. It's really important for us and for me personally. I hope that this will give me more playing time at Maribor, and that I can move up from third-choice goalkeeper and that I can gain more experience. I know I can still improve a lot, I'm only a young player, but I think I'm good enough."