Slovakia Football Fans – Page 6

Jan Kozak watched his team suffered a 2-1 loss

Slovakia coach Jan Kozak watched his team suffered a 2-1 loss against Wales in their opening match of the Euro 2016.

Slovakia coach Jan Kozak watched his team suffered a 2-1 loss against Wales in their opening match of the Euro 2016.

The result is a huge disappointment for Slovakia who were hoping to take advantage of England dropping points in the opening match against Russia.Kozak and his players were aware of the threat from Wales, who have been riding on the success of Gareth Bale, and they were extremely disappointed to lose the game.Kozak felt that there was little to separate the two teams after the end of 90 minutes.

He blamed luck for going against his team. Gareth Bale is one of the main danger men and Slovakia were aware of this aspect going into the match. However, they failed to prevent the Real Madrid winger from opening the scoring after just 10 minutes. Despite this early setback, Slovakia came back into the match through some stubborn play. The equaliser came in the second half through Duda. Both teams had an even number of chances with Wales slightly edgeing the opposition in this regard. Slovakia also nominated the game in terms of territory, as they had slightly more possession than Wales.

The blow for Slovakia came with nine minutes of normal time remaining,as Robson-Kanu came up with the goal that proved to be the winner. The loss has left Slovakia with a mountain to climb in the remaining two matches.”Of course any defeat is unpleasant, especially at a Euro. I knew whoever scored first would have a big advantage as Wales have a well-organised defence.After we conceded we were not really comfortable on the ball, we lost possession, but after half-time we did our best and equalised.Towards the end both teams tried to win, it was an open game, and they had a bit more luck,” said the Slovakia boss.

Slovakia have just announced the squad for the Euro 2016

Slovakia have just announced the squad for the Euro 2016 and there are no major surprises with the likes of Marek Hamsik included without fail.

Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel may be unsure of his future with the Premier League outfit, but he is set to captain the national team as always. The only a few for Slovakia may be the lack of regular gametime Skrtel has experienced in the last few months. On the contrary, this may have helped him to get some much needed energy ahead of the Euro 2016. After the increase in the number of participating teams to 24, the Euro 2016 is expected to be a fast paced tournament with frequent matches.

Manager Jan Kozak has a tough task on his hands to get on the team out of the group, which features top teams like England. Wales and Russia are the other teams in this group. The final 23 man squad was announced byKozak just days after the surprise 3-1 victory over world champions Germany. This was only a warmup game and Slovakia are unlikely to give too much importance to the result. Still, fans will feel confident after having seen the team achieve such a mightily impressive result against a strong team.

Former Chelsea midfielder Miroslav Stoch is also one of the players included in the squad along with Sampdoria defender Milan Skriniar. The latter made his debut only in the game against Germany and he has played only three club matches since January. He made the move toSlovan Bratislava during the last transfer window. Slovan Bratislava striker Adam Zrelak,Trencinmidfielder Matus Bero, and Almaty defender Lukas Tesak are some of the players to miss out on the final squad after having been included in the provisional squad. This will be Slovakia’s first appearance in the European championships since 1993.

Slovakia earned a deserved draw against the Republic of Ireland

Slovakia managed to end the Republic’s home winning streak by drawing 2-2 in Dublin.

Both teams will be at the Euros in France later this year.

Slovakia opened the scoring in the 14th minute by Stoch following a fantastic counter-attack. The Republic will not be really pleased with the way they conceded the goal since it came out of a mistake by a player.

Slovakia managed to end the Republic’s home winning streak by drawing 2-2 in Dublin.

Both teams will be at the Euros in France later this year.

However, the Republic of Ireland’s goalkeeper Rob Elliot will injure himself when trying to save the shot and was stretchered off the pitch. This will definitely jeopardize his chances of making it to the Euros finals.

His injury will definitely motivate his teammates, and they will take the lead on a penalty. Shane Long will convert the first penalty in the 21st minute. Slovakia was infuriated with the decision of the referee to award the penalty after the goalkeeper seems to have clashed with a Republic player.

The second penalty was less controversial with Skrtel clearly lunging at Long having been beaten by the striker’s change of pace. Despite getting a hand to it, the Slovakian goalkeeper will not be able to save the shot.

However, Slovakia never gave up in the game and was threatening through Marek Hamsik and Sabo particularly. They will create some opportunities to equalize but will fail to do so because of poor decision making

They will ultimately be rewarded for their good play in the 45th minute. Peter Pekarik will cross into the box only for McShane to deflect the ball past his astounded keeper. The teams reached half-time with the score 2-2.

Following substitutions after the break the match decreased in intensity and with the substitution of Long, the Republic lacked penetration up front. It was Slovakia who controlled the game without creating too many chances and the match ended 2-2.

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.