Slovenia celebrates historic win

Reports from Ljubljana suggest that at least 100,000 fans are gathering to salute their Euro 2000 heroes today in the centre of the Slovenian capital.

Despite freezing conditions at the city airport last night 4000 fans turned out to welcome their side back from the 1-1 draw in Kiev with Ukraine that saw them qualify for their first major football final.

The 3-2 aggregate win made history for Slovenian football and the country's president Milan Kucan will present the players to the fans later today. The qualification is a personal triumph for national team coach Srecko Katanec who took charge of the Slovenian team last April. The ex-Yugoslav international was a the former coach of the under-21 side and will now be in charge of handing out bonuses to his players as reward before the friendly schedule to prepare for the finals is worked out.