Marooned and ignored in a patch of central Europe since a dramatic birth 10 years ago, Slovenia sails into the European Championship astonished that football is about to alert the world to its existence.
A squad of no-hopers playing an unfamiliar sport are poised to banish anonymity and succeed where a war of independence and earnest nation-building failed. Starting with its national anthem and teamsheet, the world will discover that between Austria and Croatia lies a country the size of Wales which feared it was forever fated to be confused with Slovakia.
Not known for being excitable, Slovenes are turning positively giddy. From the Julian Alps to the capital Ljubljana, flags are unfurling and optimism blooming.
The architects of it all, the footballers, have zoomed from near-zeros to heroes. Kicking a ball around a field, or watching others do so, has never held much joy or beauty for their 1.9m countrymen. Skiing, ice hockey, hiking and basketball is where the action is. Or was, until against all the odds a fairytale unfolded.
Finishing eight points behind Norway in a weak group, Slovenia staggered into a play-off expecting to receive the coup de grace from Ukraine. Instead about 9,000 fans inside the Ljubljana ground witnessed the substitute Milenko Acimovic intercept a pass six minutes from time and score with a lob from near the halfway line. A 2-1 victory.
"I have never scored a goal like that before and I still can't believe I did it," gasped Acimovic. His epiphany was replayed endlessly.
Miracle number two arrived in Kiev in the away leg when Slovenia held Ukraine to a 1-1 draw in a blizzard. The team returned home at 2 a.m. to 5,000 freezing, delirious fans. President Milan Kucan hailed them as the best Slovenian athletes on snow.
"This is brilliant. We've had a lot of clubs and people asking about the country, the history, everything," said Angela Rennie, of the Slovenian tourist office in London. "They only know Slovenia as the one which started it all."
It, in this case, is the break-up of Yugoslavia. Alarmed at the 1991 crackdown in Kosovo by the Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, Slovenia stockpiled weapons and after a 10-day war with federal troops became the first of the Yugoslav republics to gain independence.
Joining the United Nations, being visited by Prince Charles and initiating daily flights from Heathrow failed to raise its profile. That is what happens when you become a stable liberal democracy rather than an ethnic conflagration. "It stayed out of the news, you see," explained Rennie.
For the past two weeks all attention has turned to the training base in Brdo, 15 miles north of Ljubljana. A bullish mood is growing. The squad and the coach Srecko Katanec have sniffily discounted bookmakers' odds of 80 to 1 against winning the championship.
"Of course we are the underdogs," Katanec said. "This is normal. But things do happen in football so there could be a surprise."
His team came close to a major upset in a friendly at the Stade de France in April, racing to a 2-0 lead against the world champions before losing 3-2 in injury-time. After Saturday's 2-0 win at home to Saudi Arabia Katanec said: "I think we will be a big problem for all our opponents if we play as we did today."
Zlatko Zahovic, Slovenia's inspiration, got the first goal against the Saudis. A playmaker and goalscorer, he is free to roam across the otherwise rigid 3-5-2 system.
The Olympiakos player, once of Porto, is short of match practice after first going on strike - claiming the Greek league was full of "jealous, lazy and unprofessional" players - and then being suspended for two months by his club for swearing at the coach, but he has been working with a personal trainer. Of the 15 goals the team scored to reach these finals, the 29-year-old got 10.
"People look at me as the star," said the man known as ZZ Top, "but it is the team that is the star. That is how we have come so far: by teamwork."
Katanec, a former Sampdoria and Yugoslavia player, has imposed a rigorous work ethic. Asked if his players had been dope-tested yet, he replied: "No, but we will be soon because we have been training so hard no one will believe us."
That the first match next Tuesday should be against Yugoslavia has galvanised the team and nation. "Whatever else happens we will not lose that one," growled a spokesman for the national football association. Spain and Norway follow.
For Acimovic the Yugoslavia game carries particular resonance. Not only does he play for Red Star Belgrade but his sister is married to the Lazio and Yugoslavia midfielder Dejan Stankovic. "I play in Yugoslavia. I know how they play and it's possible to beat them," Acimovic said. "I do believe that."
Whatever happens, Slovenia reckons Euro 2000 will secure its place in the public consciousness. Possibly as a winner, more likely as a loser, but definitely as a player.
