Slovakia national football team

Slovakia
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s) Repre[1][2]
Association Slovenský futbalový zväz
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
Head coach Vladimír Weiss
Asst coach Michal Hipp
Captain Marek Hamšík
Most caps Miroslav Karhan (98)
Top scorer Róbert Vittek (23)
Home stadium Pasienky (Bratislava)
FIFA code SVK
FIFA ranking 27
Highest FIFA ranking 17 (May 1997)
Lowest FIFA ranking 150 (December 1993)
Elo ranking 48 (tied with Poland)
Highest Elo ranking 28 (May 2001)
Lowest Elo ranking 58 (September 2001)
Home colours
Away colours
First international
Slovakia Slovakia 2 – 0 Germany Germany
(Bratislava, Slovakia; 27 August 1939)
Second Slovak Republic:
United Arab Emirates UAE 0–1 Slovakia Slovakia
(Dubai, UAE; 2 February 1994)
Biggest win
Slovakia Slovakia 7 – 0 Liechtenstein Liechtenstein
(Bratislava, Slovakia; 8 September 2004)
Slovakia Slovakia 7 – 0 San Marino San Marino
(Dubnica nad Váhom, Slovakia; 13 October 2007)
Slovakia Slovakia 7 – 0 San Marino San Marino
(Bratislava, Slovakia; 6 June 2009)
Biggest defeat
Argentina Argentina 6 – 0 Slovakia Slovakia
(Mendoza, Argentina; 22 June 1995)
World Cup
Appearances 1 (First in 2010)
Best result Round of 16, 2010

The Slovakia national football team represents Slovakia in international football and is controlled by the Slovak Football Association. After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, the Slovakia Football Association was founded in 1993, and has been affiliated to both FIFA and UEFA since the same year. They were participants at the 2010 World Cup for the first time since independence and advanced to the round of 16 after beating the reigning World Champion Italy. Here they lost 2-1 to the Netherlands with Robert Vittek scoring the Slovaks only goal from a penalty kick.

Contents

History

The first official match of the first Slovak Republic (1939–1945) was played in Bratislava against Germany on 27 August 1939, and ended in a 2–0 victory for Slovakia. After the Second World War, the national football team was subsumed into the team of Czechoslovakia, and for over fifty years Slovakia played no matches as an independent country. During this period they contributed several key players to the Czechoslovak team, including the majority of the team that won the 1976 European Championships (eight of the eleven players who defeated West Germany in the final were Slovak).

Slovakia's first official international after regaining independence was a 1–0 victory in Dubai over the United Arab Emirates on 2 February 1994. Their match back on Slovak soil was the 4–1 defeat against Croatia in Bratislava on 20 April 1994. Slovakia suffered their biggest defeat since independence (6–0) on 22 June 1995, in Mendoza, against Argentina. Their biggest wins (7–0) have come against Liechtenstein in 2004 and San Marino (twice) in 2007.

Slovakia played in a major championship as an independent team for the first time in Euro '96 qualifying, but finished in third place in their qualifying group, behind Romania and France, having recorded wins against Poland, Israel and Azerbaijan, twice. In the 1998 World Cup qualifiers, Slovakia finished fourth in their six-team group with five wins, one draw and four defeats. Their first four games in this were all wins, with one of these against their Czech neighbours, helping the team reach their highest FIFA World Ranking to date of #17.

Slovakia participated in the FIFA World Cup for the first time in their history as an independent nation after finishing in first place in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 3 ahead of Slovenia, Czech Republic, Northern Ireland, and Poland. On 14 October 2009, they clinched qualification with a 1–0 away win against Poland.[3] On 24 June 2010, Slovakia finished second in the group stage after defeating World Cup titleholders Italy in a game which ESPN called "epic". The game saw three goals being scored after the 80th minute, two by Italy and one by Slovakia, as well as, a disallowed goal by Italy flagged offside by "the tightest of decisions". The result led Slovakia to the knockout stage and eliminated Italy, which finished last in the group.[4] The result of this match meant that for the first time in World Cup history both finalists from the previous tournament have been eliminated from the first round, champion Italy and runner-up France.[5][6] From here the Slovaks played the Netherlands in the round of 16, Slovakia were complete underdogs going into the game, but for most of the match until conceding their first goal were creating chances. From here Slovakia lost belief they could go back into the match and then fell 2-0 behind only to score a late goal from the penalty spot which turned out to be the last kick of the game.[7] This returned Robert Vittek to the top of the goalscoring charts joint top with David Villa until Villa himself scored against Portugal in a 1-0 win.

Stadium

Stadium Pasienky is in capital city Bratislava. The stadium is the home ground for Slovan, MFK Petržalka and also the Slovakia national football team. The stadium holds 13,000 people. Repre also use Stadium Pod Dubňom in Žilina and Stadium of Anton Malatinský in Trnava.

Latest results

2009

Score bar: Blue - WC 2010 Qualification, Green - International Friendly

2010

Date Venue Home Team Score Away Team Goals
3 March 2010 Pod Dubňom  Slovakia 0–1 Norway  67. Moldskred
29 May 2010 Hypo-Arena  Slovakia 1–1 Cameroon  6. Kopúnek – 83. Enoh
5 June 2010 Pasienky  Slovakia 3–0 Costa Rica  16. Sequeira (o.g.), 46. Vittek, 86. Šesták (pen.)
15 June 2010 Royal Bafokeng  New Zealand 1–1 Slovakia  50. Vittek – 90.+3 Reid
20 June 2010 Free State  Slovakia 0–2 Paraguay  27. Vera, 86. Riveros
24 June 2010 Ellis Park  Slovakia 3–2 Italy  25. and 73. Vittek, 89. Kopúnek – 81. Di Natale, 90.+2 Quagliarella
28 June 2010 Moses Mabhida  Netherlands 2–1 Slovakia  18. Robben, 84. Sneijder – 90.+4 Vittek (pen.)
11 August 2010 Pasienky  Slovakia 1–1 Croatia  50. Stoch – 54. Jelavić
3 September 2010 Pasienky  Slovakia 1–0 Macedonia  90.+1 Hološko
7 September 2010 Lokomotiv Stadium  Russia 0–1 Slovakia  27. Stoch
8 October 2010 Hanrapetakan Stadium  Armenia Slovakia 
12 October 2010 Pod Dubňom  Slovakia Republic of Ireland 

Score bar: Blue – World Cup 2010, Yellow – Euro 2012 qualifying, Green – International Friendly, Scorers in bold = Slovakia scorers

World Cup record

Hosts / Year Results Positions GP W D L GF GA
France 1998 Did not Qualify – – – – – – –
South KoreaJapan 2002 Did not Qualify – – – – – – –
Germany 2006 Did not Qualify – – – – – – –
South Africa 2010 Round of 16 16 4 1 1 2 5 7
Total 1/4 16 4 1 1 2 5 7

2010 FIFA World Cup

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Paraguay 3 1 2 0 3 1 +2 5
 Slovakia 3 1 1 1 4 5 −1 4
 New Zealand 3 0 3 0 2 2 0 3
 Italy 3 0 2 1 4 5 −1 2

Match 1

15 June 2010
13:30 (UTC+2)
 New Zealand  1 – 1  Slovakia Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
Attendance: 23,871
Referee: Jerome Damon (South Africa)
Reid Goal 90+3' Report Vittek Goal 50'

Match 2

20 June 2010
13:30 (UTC+2)
 Slovakia  0 – 2  Paraguay Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
Attendance: 26,643
Referee: Eddy Maillet (Seychelles)
Report Vera Goal 27'
Riveros Goal 86'

Match 3

24 June 2010
16:00 (UTC+2)
 Slovakia  3 – 2  Italy Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg
Attendance: 53,412
Referee: Howard Webb (England)
Vittek Goal 25, 73'
Kopunek Goal 89'		 Report Di Natale Goal 81'
Quagliarella Goal 90+2'

Round of 16

28 June 2010
16:00 (UTC+2)
 Netherlands  2 – 1  Slovakia Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban
Attendance: 61,962
Referee: Alberto Undiano (Spain)
Robben Goal 18'
Sneijder Goal 84'		 Report Vittek Goal 90+4' (pen.)

European Championship record

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Russia 4 3 0 1 6 3 +3 9
 Republic of Ireland 4 2 1 1 7 5 +2 7
 Armenia 4 2 1 1 9 4 +5 7
 Slovakia 4 2 1 1 4 4 0 7
 Macedonia 4 1 1 2 4 4 0 4
 Andorra 4 0 0 4 1 11 −10 0
  Andorra Armenia Republic of Macedonia Republic of Ireland Russia Slovakia
Andorra  — 2 Sep '11 0–2 7 Oct '11 0–2 26 Mar '11
Armenia  4–0 — 7 Oct '11 0–1 26 Mar '11 3–1
Macedonia  6 Sep '11 2–2 — 4 Jun '11 0–1 11 Oct '11
Republic of Ireland  3–1 11 Oct '11 26 Mar '11 — 2–3 2 Sep '11
Russia  11 Oct '11 4 Jun '11 2 Sep '11 6 Sep '11 — 0–1
Slovakia  4 Jun '11 6 Sep '11 1–0 1–1 7 Oct '11 —

3-way tiebreaker: Republic of Ireland (4 pts); Armenia (3 pts); Slovakia (1 pt)

Current squad

The following squad was selected to face Macedonia and Russia on 3rd and 7th September 2010.
Caps and goals as of 7 September 2010.

# Name Date of Birth (Age) Club Caps (Goals) Debut
Goalkeepers
1 Ján Mucha 5 December 1982 (1982-12-05) (age 28) England Everton 22 (0) v Hungary, 6 February 2008
Dušan Kuciak 21 May 1985 (1985-05-21) (age 25) Romania Vaslui 3 (0) v UAE, 11 December 2006
12 Dušan Perniš 28 November 1984 (1984-11-28) (age 26) Scotland Dundee United 2 (0) v Iceland, 12 August 2009
Defenders
5 Radoslav Zabavník 16 September 1980 (1980-09-16) (age 30) Germany Mainz 05 49 (1) v Greece, 30 April 2003
3 Martin Škrtel 15 December 1984 (1984-12-15) (age 26) England Liverpool 46 (5) v Japan, 9 July 2004
2 Peter Pekarík 30 October 1986 (1986-10-30) (age 24) Germany Wolfsburg 26 (1) v UAE, 11 December 2006
15 Tomáš Hubočan 17 September 1985 (1985-09-17) (age 25) Russia Zenit Saint Petersburg 8 (0) v UAE, 11 December 2006
16 Kornel Saláta 24 January 1985 (1985-01-24) (age 26) Slovakia Slovan Bratislava 8 (0) v Switzerland, 24 May 2008
4 Mário Pečalka 29 December 1980 (1980-12-29) (age 30) Slovakia Žilina 2 (0) v Ukraine, 10 February 2009
Midfielders
6 Miroslav Karhan 21 June 1976 (1976-06-21) (age 34) Germany Mainz 05 98 (13) v Israel, 6 September 1995
17 Marek Hamšík (c) 27 July 1987 (1987-07-27) (age 23) Italy Napoli 39 (8) v Poland, 7 February 2007
10 Marek Sapara 31 July 1982 (1982-07-31) (age 28) Turkey Ankaragücü 28 (2) v Estonia, 8 February 2005
8 Zdeno Štrba 9 June 1976 (1976-06-09) (age 34) Greece Skoda Xanthi 26 (0) v Cyprus, 13 February 2003
Dušan Švento 1 August 1985 (1985-08-01) (age 25) Austria Red Bull Salzburg 20 (1) v Malta, 15 August 2006
9 Miroslav Stoch 19 October 1989 (1989-10-19) (age 21) Turkey Fenerbahçe 19 (3) v Ukraine, 10 February 2009
7 Vladimír Weiss 30 November 1989 (1989-11-30) (age 21) Scotland Rangers 14 (0) v Iceland, 12 August 2009
Kamil Kopúnek 18 May 1984 (1984-05-18) (age 26) Russia Saturn Moscow Oblast 12 (2) v France, 1 March 2006
19 Juraj Kucka 26 February 1987 (1987-02-26) (age 23) Czech Republic Sparta Praha 12 (0) v Liechtenstein, 19 November 2008
Strikers
11 Róbert Vittek 1 April 1982 (1982-04-01) (age 28) Turkey Ankaragücü 75 (23) v Germany, 29 May, 2001
13 Filip Hološko 17 January 1984 (1984-01-17) (age 27) Turkey Beşiktaş 42 (6) v Germany, 3 September 2005
18 Erik Jendrišek 26 October 1986 (1986-10-26) (age 24) Germany Schalke 04 20 (2) v San Marino, 11 October 2008
Tomáš Oravec 3 July 1980 (1980-07-03) (age 30) Slovakia Žilina 8 (3) v Iran, 15 August 2001
20 Jakub Sylvestr 2 February 1989 (1989-02-02) (age 22) Croatia Dinamo Zagreb 1 (0) v Macedonia, 3 September 2010

Recent call-up

The following players have also been called up to the Slovakia squad within the last twelve months.

Name Date of Birth (Age) Club Caps (Goals) Debut Most recent callup
Goalkeepers
Ľuboš Kamenár 17 June 1987 (1987-06-17) (age 23) France Nantes 2 (0) v San Marino, 11 October 2008 2010 FIFA World Cup preliminary squad
Defenders
Marek Čech 26 January 1983 (1983-01-26) (age 28) England West Bromwich Albion 42 (5) v Japan, 9 July 2004 v Croatia, 11 August 2010
Ján Ďurica 10 December 1981 (1981-12-10) (age 29) Russia Lokomotiv Moscow 41 (1) v Japan, 9 July 2004 2010 FIFA World Cup
Martin Petráš 2 November 1979 (1979-11-02) (age 31) Italy Cesena 39 (1) v Iran, 6 February 2002 2010 FIFA World Cup
Marián Čišovský 2 November 1979 (1979-11-02) (age 31) Romania Timişoara 8 (0) v Iran, 6 February 2002 v Northern Ireland, 9 September 2009
Ľubomír Michalík 13 August 1983 (1983-08-13) (age 27) England Carlisle United 4 (1) v UAE, 11 December 2006 2010 FIFA World Cup preliminary squad
Martin Dobrotka 22 January 1985 (1985-01-22) (age 26) Slovakia Slovan Bratislava 1 (0) v Cyprus, 11 February 2009 v Poland, 14 October 2009
Ľuboš Hanzel 7 May 1987 (1987-05-07) (age 23) Slovakia Spartak Trnava 1 (1) v San Marino, 6 June 2009 v Northern Ireland, 9 September 2009
Csaba Horváth 2 May 1982 (1982-05-02) (age 28) Poland Zagłębie Lubin 1 (0) v Iceland, 12 August 2009 v Northern Ireland, 9 September 2009
Midfielders
Ján Kozák 22 April 1980 (1980-04-22) (age 30) Unattached 24 (2) v Germany, 3 September 2005 2010 FIFA World Cup
Strikers
Stanislav Šesták 16 December 1982 (1982-12-16) (age 28) Turkey Ankaragücü 35 (11) v Luxembourg, 18 August 2004 v Croatia, 11 August 2010
Martin Jakubko 26 February 1980 (1980-02-26) (age 30) Russia Dynamo Moscow 23 (4) v Estonia, 26 March 2005 2010 FIFA World Cup
Ján Novák 6 March 1985 (1985-03-06) (age 25) Slovakia MFK Košice 4 (0) v Turkey, 20 May 2008 v Poland, 14 October 2009

Most goals and appearances

See also: Slovakia international footballers

As of 7 September 2010. Bold are still available for selection.

Top goalscorers

Most goals for Slovakia (1939–1944 and 1993–present)

# Player Career Goals Caps
1. Róbert Vittek 2001– 23 75
2. Szilárd Németh 1996– 22 59
3. Marek Mintál 2002–2009 14 45
4. Miroslav Karhan 1995– 13 98
5. Peter Dubovský 1994–2000 12 33
6. Stanislav Šesták 2004– 11 35
7. Tibor Jančula 1995–2001 9 29
Ľubomír Reiter 2001–2005 9 28
9. Marek Hamšík 2007– 8 39
10. Jaroslav Timko 1994–1997 7 18
Dušan Tittel 1994–1998 7 44

Most goals for Czechoslovakia (1922–1939 and 1945–1993)[8]

# Player Career Goals Caps
1. Adolf Scherer 1958–1964 22 36
2. Marián Masný 1974–1982 18 75
3. Jozef Adamec 1960–1971 14 44
4. Andrej Kvašňák 1960–1970 13 47
5. Karol Jokl 1963–1972 11 27
6. Anton Moravčík 1952–1960 10 25
7. Ján Kozák 1976–1984 9 55
Ladislav Kuna 1966–1974 9 47
Anton Ondruš 1974–1980 9 58
10. Stanislav Griga 1983–1990 8 34

Most capped players

Most capped for Slovakia

# Player Career Caps Goals
1. Miroslav Karhan 1995– 98 13
2. Róbert Vittek 2001– 75 23
3. Szilárd Németh 1996– 59 22
4. Stanislav Varga 1997–2006 55 2
5. Róbert Tomaschek 1994–2001 52 4
6. Radoslav Zabavník 2004– 49 1
7. Martin Škrtel 2004– 46 5
8. Peter Dzúrik 1997–2003 45 2
Miroslav König 1997–2004 45 0
Marek Mintál 2002–2009 45 14

Most capped for Czechoslovakia[9]

# Player Career Caps Goals
1. Marián Masný 1974–1982 75 18
2. Karol Dobiaš 1967–1980 67 6
3. Ján Popluhár 1958–1967 62 1
4. Anton Ondruš 1974–1980 58 9
5. Ladislav Jurkemik 1974–1983 57 3
6. Koloman Gögh 1974–1980 55 1
Ján Kozák 1976–1984 55 9
8. Jozef Barmoš 1977–1982 52 0
Jozef Chovanec 1984–1992 52 4
10. Jaroslav Pollák 1968–1980 49 1

Managers

See also: Slovak football managers

As of 7 September 2010.

Name Years Pld W D L GF GA GD PG
Slovakia Jozef Vengloš 1993–1995 16 5 4 7 21 30 −9 1.19
Slovakia Jozef Jankech 1995–1998 34 18 6 10 51 33 +18 1.76
Slovakia Dušan Radolský[10] 1998 1 0 0 1 1 3 −2 0.00
Slovakia Jozef Adamec 1999–2001 34 13 11 10 38 31 +7 1.47
Slovakia Ladislav Jurkemik 2002–2003 19 6 5 8 27 26 +1 1.21
Slovakia Dušan Galis 2004–2006 31 12 12 7 53 36 +17 1.55
Slovakia Ján Kocian 2006–2008 17 3 5 9 30 28 +2 0.82
Slovakia Vladimír Weiss 2008– 28 13 5 10 45 35 +10 1.57
Totals 180 70 48 62 266 222 +44 1.43

See also

References

  1. ↑ Slováci na MS s najmenej originálnou prezývkou, sme.sk, 08-06-2010
  2. ↑ Slovakia: World Cup 2010 team guide, guardian.co.uk, 05-06-2010
  3. ↑ "Thrilling win in the snow". ESPN. 2009-10-14. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=236564&cc=5739. Retrieved 2009-10-15. 
  4. ↑ "Champions dumped out". ESPN. 2010-06-24. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=264065&cc=3888&ver=global. 
  5. ↑ "Italy eliminated from World Cup in 1st round". AP. 2010-06-24. http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/sports/article/Italy-eliminated-from-World-Cup-in-1st-round-535620.php. 
  6. ↑ "Italy and France make unwanted history". AFP. 2010-06-24. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g719IP-0ApqNtOYkhTM0B0kfXBEQ. 
  7. ↑ "Robben rocks Slovakia". ESPN Soccernet. 2010-06-28. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=264113&cc=5739&ver=global. Retrieved 2010-08-18. 
  8. ↑ List of players shows Slovak top goalscorers in the Czechoslovakia national football team.
  9. ↑ List of players shows the most capped Slovaks in the Czechoslovakia national football team.
  10. ↑ Only for friendly against Poland at November 10, 1998.

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