Slovakia - History is now

Slovakia 

It’s one of the most recent national teams in the world, after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993. Since them they’ve been a tough opponent in qualification but only once they achieved a final stage, in 2010.

 They are now stronger than ever, carried by Hamsik, and with the experience the players gained playing in the big leagues, they can be a very dangerous team. 

How they qualified

 It’s was the perfect start to guarantee qualification. Slovakia started with a trip to Ukraine and hosting Spain, and they won both games, making six, unexpected and very welcomed, points. After that they won four more games in a row and glory was just around the corner.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Matus Kozacik (Viktoria Plzen), Jan Mucha (Slovan Bratislava), Jan Novota (Rapid Vienna).

Defenders: Peter Pekarik (Hertha Berlin), Milan Skriniar (Sampdoria), Martin Skrtel (Liverpool), Norbert Gyomber (Roma), Jan Durica (Lokomotiv Moscow), Kornel Salata (Slovan Bratislava), Tomas Hubocan (Dinamo Moscow), Dusan Svento (Cologne).

Midfielders: Marek Hamsik (Napoli), Juraj Kucka (AC Milan), Miroslav Stoch (Bursaspor), Vladimir Weiss (Al-Gharafa), Robert Mak (PAOK), Patrik Hrosovsky (Viktoria Plzen), Jan Gregus (Jablonec), Viktor Pecovsky (Zilina), Stanislav Sestak (Ferencvaros), Ondrej Duda (Legia Warsaw).

Forwards: Michal Duris (Viktoria Plzen), Adam Nemec (Willem II).

Marek Hamsik

Club : Napoli (ITA)

Age : 28 years

 Arrived at Brescia with 17 years old, as a wonderkid, status he confirmed with three good years, before being poached by Napoli in 2007, as they made their way back to Serie A. And 9 years after Napoli is the one team that battles Juve’s domination, and that’s in part because of Marek Hamsik. Creative, quick, full of energy he’s a leader and the soul of his team and best Slovak player. He started with 20 in the national team, and already has 83 caps, being the main hope of a surprise for the young country.

Ondrej Duda

Club : Legia Warsaw (POL)

Age : 21 years

 Great technical ability, to which he adds quickness while carrying the ball, made way to nicknames like Dudinho or Ondrej Di Maria for this name for the future. Duda plays for Legia Warsaw since 2014, and has been one of their biggest names, with his very latino style of play that might add something different to Kosák’s team.

Ján Kozák

 He marked Czechoslovak football, being elected their best player in 1981, and played in Euro 80 and World Cup 82. As a manager he won 3 Slovak leagues with Kosice and was appointed national team manager in 2013 where he achieved the 1^st Euro qualification with historic results like the win against Spain

What to expect from them?

Very hard defensively, never giving up on pressuring the opponent, they’ll have to be at their best in the Euro. Kozák should employ a 4-2-3-1 where the attacking element is sometimes Ondrej Duda as a false nine which, with the 3 silver arrows behind him create very quick movement that is very hard to defend.

 In a very open group they have a chance to create a bit more history for Slovakia. 

FIL's Starting XI prediction