Slovenia kept their hopes of World Cup qualification alive with a 5-0 thrashing of San Marino.

Koren scores twice as San Marino are thrashed

Slovenia kept their hopes of World Cup qualification alive with a 5-0 thrashing of Group Three minnows San Marino. West Brom midfielder Robert Koren grabbed the opening goal in the 19th minute when he turned in a cross from Aleksander Radosavljevic. Slovenia were by far the better team but had to wait until six minutes from the break to double their advantage when Radosavljevic headed home Bojan Jokic's cross. Andreaz Kirm made it three with a header on 54 minutes then Koren produced a fantastic strike to score his second of the night. Zlatan Ljubijankic completed the rout in stoppage-time, heading in a cross from Milivoje Novakovic to extend the lead to five. Slovenia move into third place in the qualifying group, with San Marino still rooted to the bottom of the table with no points and having conceded 37 goals in eight games. Given group leaders Slovakia are still four points ahead of them with a game in hand, it is unlikely that Slovenia will qualify automatically for next year's tournament in South Africa. However, being only two points behind Northern Ireland means that they are now well place to make a run at securing an entry via the play-offs.