content – Page 6 – Slovakia Football Fans

FilipHolosko rejected Slovakia’s call-up as he wants to help Sydney FC

FilipHolosko is a 32 year old Slovakian defender who is performing for the Australian club Sydney FC and taking into consideration the decline that his team is going through, Holosko decided to not perform with his national side and instead remain with Sydney FC.

Holosko has been playing for the Slovakian national football team since his younger days at the age of 19 and ever since then, he has managed to make over 60 appearances for the national side as he turned into an influential player for Slovakia.

The head coach of the Slovakian national side is JánKozák and he recently called up FilipHolosko but the 32 year old player opted to reject the chance to represent Slovakia in their upcoming matches as Holosko instead wants to focus on getting Sydney FC back on track.

Slovakia has to play a friendly match against Republic of Ireland on March 29 but Holosko will not be forming part of this game as he has different priorities.

Sydney FC is currently positioned in the 7th spot of the A-League and they have not been able to win a single league match since January. The Australian club has been dropping points at a consistent basis for the past few weeks and it’s because of this recent streak of draws and defeats that Holosko wants to solely focus on helping Sydney FC end their string of disappointing results and avoid having any distractions.

“It was not an easy thing to decide, because to play for Slovakia is to play for my country, and of course I am proud. But for me, what’s important now is that we are in seventh and we need to be higher. So I sent to the Slovakian coach a message on Saturday after we drew, and I said I had to stay. He told me, Ok, no problem, I respect your decision.”FilipHolosko said as he unveiled his decision to decline Slovakia and just focus on aiding Sydney FC as they are going through some difficult times.

Slovakia is one of the newcomers for the 2016 Euro’s

This is the very first time that the Slovakian national football team will be competing in the European Championship since claiming their independence and separating themselves from Czechoslovakia.

Slovakia has showed potential in the past as they managed to get passed the group stages of the 2010 World Cup which is a fairly impressive result, especially taking into consideration the fact that they finished ahead of Italy and even claimed a victory over the Italian nation.

This is the very first time that the Slovakian national football team will be competing in the European Championship since claiming their independence and separating themselves from Czechoslovakia.

The Slovakian national side has a few well renowned players such as: Martin Skrtel and Marek Hamsik. Skrtel is a veteran defender who performs for the Premier League side Liverpool meanwhile Hamsik is a regular starter for Napoli. Not all the coaches of national teams have the advantage of being able to utilize the experience of players who are competing in some of the biggest leagues and clubs in Europe but Slovakia’s Ján Kozák has a few players that know what it’s like to perform in top competitions.

“It is important that the team has not reached its best. There’s still room for improvement. We’ve been fighting for something and succeeded. Now we need to do the same at the championship.” Slovakia’s Ján Kozák said as he talked about how big it’s been for his team to qualify for the 2016 Euro’s but the Slovak manager also said that there still is more growth and enhancement that needs to be done in his squad.

Slovakia’s upcoming 2016 Euro’s matches are scheduled to take place on June 11 as they face off with Wales and 4 days after that Slovakia will play against Russia and their last opponent is England in a match that will be played at the Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium.

Ján Kozák’s team managed to qualify for the 2016 Euro’s by finishing as runners up in Group C behind Spain and they are now aiming to reach even further.

Napoli could only manage a draw with Roma

Napoli could only manage a draw with Roma just before the winter break and this was a result that was really disappointing for midfielder Marek Hamsik.

The Slovakian midfielder says that the club gave everything in order to win the match and to come away with a 0-0 draw is not the right result. Napoli have been highly consistent in recent weeks, but they were looking to bounce back from a 3-2 defeat against Bologna in the previous league match. Prior to this defeat, they have had an impressive winning run that have almost put them as title contenders for the campaign.

Napoli could only manage a draw with Roma just before the winter break and this was a result that was really disappointing for midfielder Marek Hamsik.

In the previous 10 matches, the team had achieved nine wins and dropped only two points. The defeat against Bologna, however, has now been followed up with more dropped points. Apart from allowing the likes of Inter Milan to extend their lead in the table, it has also seen the likes of Juventus close the gap towards Napoli. Hamsik will be worried that he does not have a lot of opportunities to play in the Champions League at Napoli. At 28 years of age, the midfielder is at the peak of his career and he will want to feature regularly in the European competitions.

Napoli’s biggest disappointment in the match would be the fact that they did not manage even a single shot on target in the entire 90 minutes.“We gave everything we had and deserved to win, the ball just didn’t want to go into the net. We should be satisfied with the performance and have to carry on like this.We are not thinking about the pressure of getting closer to the top of the table. We gave our all, the result was just disappointing. The only thing we were missing was a goal. Unfortunately we were unlucky,” said Hamsik.

Manchester United is rumored on demanding Modric in exchange for David de Gea

Real Madrid wants David de Gea but despite all of the money and financial freedom that Rafael Benitez has during the summer transfer window it might not be enough to sign David de Gea as Manchester United is believed to be interested in snatching Luka Modric.

Even before Luka Modric had completed his transfer from Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid in 2012, the Croatian midfielder was a target of Manchester United and the Premier League club is still interested in signing him.

A few weeks before Carlo Ancelotti was sacked and removed from the managerial position in Real Madrid, the Italian coach was asked about what was one of the main reasons of why Real Madrid failed to win any major trophy and Ancelotti responded by saying: “Injuries have burdened us, especially Modric. Modric has missed most of the year and this has hurt us.”
When Luka Modric arrived to Real Madrid on August of 2012, the Croatian midfielder struggled to make an impact at the Santiago Bernabeu. Modric hard a difficult time trying to find a spot in the midfield of Real Madrid which was being filled by: Xabi Alonso, MesutOzil and Sami Khedira.
This forced Modric on only being able to make a limited amount of appearances for Real Madrid as he mostly had to settle with a place on the sidelines.

Things began to change with the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti as the Italian coach turned Modric into a regular starter and now the Croatian midfield has transformed into the central conductor of Real Madrid as Modric does not provide Real Madrid with rhythm in the midfield, he is the rhythm.

Rafael Benitez will have to make a big decision and consider if whether or not he should offload Modric in order to bring in David de Gea. Modric has turned into a key figure at the Santiago Bernabeu but at the same time, Real Madrid need to find someone who can fill succeed IkerCasillas and there is no better player to do that then David de Gea.

Slovakia continued their impressive form

Slovakia continued their impressive form in the last few months after earning yet another Euro 2016 qualification victory.

The 2-1 score against Macedonia helped the Slovakian’s stay in touch with Spain at the top of the table. Slovakia were never expected to be in amongst the leaders, as the season draws to a close. The win against Macedonia was the sixth successive in all competitions and one that places the team’s dark horses for the upcoming final in France. Manager Jan Kosak has been able to achieve this run with relatively the same group of players who have part of the previous managerial reign.

Former world champions Spain were expected to top the group quite comfortably. It was largely thought that Slovakia will be fighting along with the likes of Ukraine for the second or even the third spot. However, Martin Skrtel’s team find themselves with a three-point advantage over Spain going into the final round of fixtures. The national team has now won all of their qualifying matches. Spain have a slender advantage in terms of goal difference and this could likely to come into force when the two teams meet each other in September. This game will potentially determine the leader of the group.

“They weren’t pushing so hard, we were just playing our game. In the second half we stopped playing a little bit but we managed,” said midfielder Viktor Pecovsky after the victory.Saláta gave the lead for Slovakia after just eight minutes while Napoli midfielder MarekHamsik doubled their advantage just before half-time. Macedonia’s Hasaniwas sent off late in the match and thus prevented any comeback from the opposition. After a few wobbles at the start of the qualification campaign, Spain appear to have recovered well and will be a formidable opposition Slovakia’s hopes of topping the group.

Martin Skrtel dismisses any kind of Regret

Liverpool and Slovakia defender Martin Skrtel has denied suggestions that he is feeling regret for his stamp on United goalkeeper David de Gea which earned him a three match ban from the English FA.

Skrtel has consistently denied that the stamp was intentional. The referee failed to spot this incident, which occurred in the final minutes of the recent 2-1 defeat against United, but it was captured on television. The English FA have used the video evidence to retrospectively ban the player. He becomes one of the few to have been banned for a stamp this season.

Liverpool and Slovakia defender Martin Skrtel has denied suggestions that he is feeling regret for his stamp on United goalkeeper David de Gea which earned him a three match ban from the English FA.

Skrtel will miss key matches against the likes of Arsenal and Blackburn Rovers as a result of this ban. It couldn’t have come at a much worse time for Liverpool, who will also be without Steven Gerrard for these matches. The Liverpool captain was sent off with a straight red card for his own stamp on United midfielder Ander Herrera. Skrtel will start serving the ban immediately, but he continues to plead his case of innocence. After a shaky start to the season, the Slovakian defender looks to be once again at his best in the last few months. His absence will pose a lot of problems for Liverpool at the back.

“It feels strange because we appealed against those charges and still I was hit by a three-match ban. I didn’t want to stamp on him. It was an accident and I didn’t do it on purpose. I don’t feel guilty. It was a long ball and he went towards me and I wanted to jump over him. Simple as that,” said Skrtel, who has also failed to win the Slovak footballer of the year award. It has been given to Napoli midfielder Marek Hamsik. Skrtel won this award back in 2012 and several years prior to it.

Marek Hamsik contiunes to be Linked with Several Clubs

Just as with every other transfer window, midfielder Marek Hamsik continues to be linked with several clubs.

This time around, Premier League giants like Manchester United and Liverpool are reportedly interested in signing the Slovakian international. Since Napoli are not doing too well in the Italian league, the 27-year-old may finally decide to leave.

Just as with every other transfer window, midfielder Marek Hamsik continues to be linked with several clubs.

This might be his last opportunity to secure a move to an even bigger club, but Hamsik has confirmed that he is not planning on leaving Napoli anytime soon. The midfielder has denied transfer rumours on several occasions in the past and he continues to do so.

Hamsik recently extended his contract with Napoli and he still has four years left on the deal. He says that he will be 31 by the time the current contract expires and this will be a great time to look at his future. Napoli are looking unlikely to finish in the top three this season.

Poor form just before the winter break has seen the club slip to fifth place in the Italian Serie A. This coupled with the fact that they will be playing Europa League football in the second half of the season may be enough to change Hamsik’s mind, but the player has revealed that he just intends to win trophies whether it is the league title or the Europa League.

“We’ve won three trophies in two years, something Napoli hadn’t managed for decades. When my current contract expires, I will be 31 years old. My head is here and not elsewhere. I think it would be wonderful to win the Scudetto with Napoli, but it’s also great to keep lifting other trophies here and we’re in the running for the Europa League. My immediate plans are to qualify for the Champions League,” said the Slovakian international.

Monaco trouble continues

French club Monaco have been going through a troubled spell over the last few months. After selling a number of important players like James Rodriguez, they have also allowed the likes of Radamel Falcao to leave on a temporary basis.

Even though they came close to winning the title last season under Claudio Ranieri, severe budget cuts are taking place at the club. This has seen them perform poorly in the last few weeks. Manager Leonardo Jardim is struggling to motivate his players to perform well. He has said that the squad must work a lot harder if they are to come close to challenge for the league title.

The prospect of winning the French league looks already out of hands, as they are an incredible 10 points behind table leaders Marseille. Despite this, Jardim is feeling confident that the club can at least reach the top three in the table, which would be enough to see them continue in the Champions League. Monaco recently went through four matches without a defeat but that spell came to an end after a 1-0 defeat against Portuguese outfit Benfica. Ahead of the weekend’s match with Saint Etienne,Jardim has tried to motivate his players by saying that the Champions League qualification places still remain within the grasp but only if the players work harder.

“It was a tough match against Benfica.The difference was on efficiency, this is our current problem.The team needs to work to be more effective. Saint-Etienne are a very strong team that plays with a great atmosphere at home.

My attackers have different qualities that offer me several solutions in every game. Our goal is to make a good game and win,” said Jardim. Monaco have managed only 5 wins in the league out of the 12 matches they have played.

Slovakia come with surprise victory v Spain

Slovakia handed the European Champion Spain a shocking defeat in the qualifier last night.
It’s the first defeat that Spain has suffered versus Slovakia in 5 competitive encounters. Out of the last 4, La Roja had won 3 and the other one was a draw.
Now, Slovakia has overtaken Spain in the Group C points table. They have 6 points from 2 games with a goal differential of plus 2.
Nobody had ever thought that Spain, despite playing in front of a huge Slovakian crowd, would walk out as losers at the end of the game. They had been unbeaten in both World Cup as well as Euro qualifiers for the last 8 years and they were expected to extend this run, but, the home team pulled off the unthinkable.
Iker Casillas will have to take a bit of blame again for Spain’s defeat. If it had not been for his misjudgement in the first half of the game, the free kick taken by Kucka, perhaps, would not have shaken the net.
That advantage was, however, nullified by Spain with Paco Alcacer getting one through to the net from close distance, but, Stoch made the hosts get the lead again as he nailed a header just minutes prior to the end of the game.
As the referee blew the end whistle, the arena erupted. The people out there seemed to be enjoying each and every second of that special night and they deserved every bit of it. The way they were behind their team through those 90 minutes, it was mind-blowing.
Spain would think that their main boys did not do enough. Apart from that Casillas’ error, Diego Costa, the man who is flourishing in English top tier this club season, remained scoreless for the 6th successive time at the international level.

Wenger Signing High Profile Players

Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger has already signing a high profile player after securing the services of Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona as he arrived to the Emirates Stadium with a transfer fee in the region of €35 million. Arsenal is not known or characterized by having an enormous budget to sign their respective targets or at least not so much compared to other top clubs in Europe and the Premier League.

The Chilean attacker Alexis Sanchez is one of the latest signings of Wenger but the Frenchman has also hinted out that another well-known player could be signed before the end of the summer transfer window.

Mario Balotelli of Ac.Milan was one of the priority players in the watch-list of not only Arsene Wenger but also Brendan Rodgers as the Italian forward has displayed flashes of brilliance and at his young age, Balotelli could be developed into one of the best forwards in the world according to many managers and players.

Brendan Rodgers is known to be an admirer of Balotelli but the manager of Liverpool has made it clear to the media that the Italian forward will not join his squad.

Rodgers said: “I was asked the question about Balotelli and spoke about what a talent he is and excellent player he is,” Rodgers explained to reporters on Sunday. I can categorically tell you that he will not be at Liverpool. He is a wonderful player but an AC Milan player. I just gave my opinion of him but that doesn’t mean I will be signing him.”

The future of Mario Balotelli could be lying in the Premier League or in the Italian League, Serie A as he is still being chased around by Arsenal but if the English club is not able to sign him Balotelli is expected to remain performing with Ac.Milan.