Slovakia beat off competition from Slovenia, Czech Republic and Poland to qualify for their first World Cup in history. Young Napoli midfielder Marek Hamsik is the team's star player and national team coach Vladimir Weiss is full of praise for the attacking midfielder.

"It’s true that there are older and more experienced players in the team, but Marek is incredibly gifted, a world class player and worth his weight in gold," said Weiss to the FIFA website.