STUTTGART, Germany: Slovenia coach Matjaz Kek said his team proved they deserved their place at Euro 2024 after coming from behind to earn a 1-1 draw against Denmark on Sunday.
Erik Janza's deflected goal in the 77th minute earned Slovenia a point in their first appearance at the European Championship since their debut in 2000.
It cancelled out an early opener from Christian Eriksen, who scored almost three years to the day he suffered a cardiac arrest at the last tournament.
"Those were two different halves. I think the result is realistic," said Kek.
"Maybe we showed them a bit too much respect in the first and then in the second half we managed to break free."
Slovenia last played at a major tournament at the 2010 World Cup, going out in the group stage.
They meet Serbia in Munich on Thursday before concluding their Group C campaign against England on June 25 in Cologne.
"Deep down I expected that some might experience the first half that we did. Some of the players have not played at such a big competition," said Kek.
"When they saw it is possible they started playing. I have the feeling we were quite naive after the goal we conceded, but I think we'll learn from this for the other games.
"They saw this is not an insurmountable mountain."