Slovenia, Belgium draw 0-0 in friendly
Slovenia and Belgium played to a scoreless draw in a friendly on Wednesday.
The two teams started slowly and the first half passed almost uneventfully. Slovenia's Milivoje Novakovic attempted a header in eighth minute and Dries Mertens also tried a header in 38th in the best attempts before the interval.
The game picked up in the second half with a number of efforts at goal from both sides.
Slovenia's Josip Ilincic had a close-range shot in the 51st. Belgium stepped up the pressure and had three chances in as many minutes from the 53rd onward, but goalkeeper Samir Handanovic saved them all.
Handanovic was the star of the match, stopping Belgium's best chance when he blocked Bjorn Vleminckx's shot from 10 meters out in the 60th.
In the 70th, Branko Ilic's error gave Belgium's Igor De Camargo a chance but Handanovic was in the right place once more.
Slovenia's best attempt in the second half was a volley by Vrsic in 88th that was stopped by goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.
The friendly comes ahead of European Championship qualifiers next month. Slovenia will next face Estonia in their Group C, while Belgium plays Azerbaijan in Group A.
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Lineups:
Slovenia: Samir Handanovic, Miso Brecko, Bostjan Cesar, Branko Ilic, Bojan Jokic, Aleksandar Radosavljevic, Robert Koren (Nejc Pecnik, 77), Andraz Kirm (Dare Vric, 77), Valter Birsa (Armin Bacinovic, 62), Josip Ilicic (Zlatan Ljubijankic, 57), Milivoje Novakovic (Zlatko Dedic, 84).
Belgium: Simon Mignolet, Toby Alderweireld, Daniel Van Buyten, Vincent Kompany, Nicolas Lombaerts (Sebastien Pocognoli, 76), Timmy Simons, Marouane Fellaini (Igor De Camargo, 46), Axel Witsel (David Hubert, 58), Dries Mertens, Yassine El Ghanassy (Derick Tshimanga, 86), Romelu Lukaku (Bjorn Vleminckx, 58).