The Slovakian national football team has always struggled trying make an impact in the international scene as they have consistently failed to qualify in the FIFA World Cup as well as the Olympic Games and in the Euro’s.
However, since the introduction of Jan Kozak as the head coach of the Slovakian national football team back on 2013, the Slovakian side was able to compete in the European Championship’s for the first time ever in 2016.
It was after Slovakia lost 1-2 to Czech Republic in the Nations League Group 1 on September 6 of 2018 that the confirmation of Jan Kozak resigning from his managerial position was announced as he was replaced by PavelHapal who had a few things to say concerning his new role with the international side as he said:
"First of all, I have to say that it's a great honor for me to lead the Slovak national team. Not everyone manages to get this post. Maybe it helped that I have worked in Slovakia for a long time and I also achieved good results with the Slovak national U21 team. I appreciate this opportunity and it is very binding for me,"
“"According to the Slovakian Football Association (SFZ) president, Kovacik stated that the recently appointed manager “PavalHapalwas offered a contract that has the duration of one qualification round and an option “"of having it extended.“
It still remains exactly unclear as to what was the main motivation behind the resignation of Jan Kozak as there are rumors suggesting that it was due to some of his own players while other rumors are claiming that it was due to the 1-2 defeat against Czech Republic which put the final nail on the coffin as they had already sustain another loss with Ukraine only 1 month prior and ultimately this led to Slovakia failing to qualify for the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League.