On Sunday, Slovakia to assume England in the round of 16 in Gelsenkirchen. Progress to the knockout stages – their second in eight years – is already a great success, but Slovakia feel there is more to achieve against a heavily criticized country. Gareth Southgate side.
This is especially true after a surprising 1-0 victory over Belgium, the favorites from Group E, in the opening game of the tournament. After the match, Slovakia players danced and sang a popular folk song Macejko, Macejko with a large group of traveling fans in Frankfurt, among whom were former international players Martin Skrtel and Jan Durica.
Goalkeeper Martin Dubravka He praised the fans, calling them “fantastic” and said he heard them in the second half even though he was in front of the Belgian stands. Slovakia have once again managed to attract fans to their side – and they will see that there is another struggling giant at their disposal.
Coach Francesco Calzona joked that “no one would bet a euro on us before the tournament”, but the team lived up to his expectations and is playing in an interesting way. After the 1-1 draw against Romania, Stanislav Lobotka was asked by the Slovak press what it meant to reach the knockout stage. “That we will be here for three more days, so we will have a three-day shorter vacation”, he replied jokingly.
However, Slovakia believes it can do more than that.
Similar to England, Slovakia fans are generally not easy to satisfy. Although the country qualified for a third consecutive Euro, there were still those who doubted Calzona’s methods.
He always had a difficult job on his hands. In the summer of 2022, Slovakia fired national team coach Stefan Tarkovic and began searching for his successor. The Slovak Football Federation did not have enough money to attract an established name and ended up choosing the Italian, who became the first foreign coach in the country’s history.
For Calzona, a lot of criticism came, mainly from former international players, due to the fact that he had never served as head coach.
However, he had a big name behind him. When Calzona was Maurizio Sarri’s assistant, he worked at Napoli with Marek Hamsik, Slovakia’s all-time games record holder (138) and top scorer (26). It was Hamsik who recommended Calzona to the football association before they offered him a contract. After Hamsik retired last year, he joined Calzona’s coaching staff and now works at Euro 2024 as your assistant.
Most importantly, however, Calzona brought a new style of play. He kept most of the squad, with Slovakia’s average starting line-up during qualifying being almost 30, the highest of all 55 UEFA members, and looked for a way to get the most out of these players.
Before Calzona’s arrival, Slovakia played with a compact defense and very limited attacking power, often rescued only by Hamsik’s sparks of creativity. Now, they rely on high pressing, an active approach, building from the rear and various set piece routines.
It’s a style that suits the main players.
Defensive midfielder Lobotka was one of the beneficiaries. When playing as a number 6, Lobotka is also great at breaking lines and passing, drawing comparisons to Xavi or Andrés Iniesta, having won the man of the match award against Belgium and Romania. Lobotka is joined in the middle by midfielder Juraj Kucka, well known for his spells at AC Milan or Watford, and Ondrej Duda, who is widely seen as Hamsik’s natural successor.
Captain Milan Skriniar is a reliable central defender who brings solidity and passing ability to the defense. David Hancko proved crucial. He plays as a defender at Feyenoord, but in the national team he plays the role of left-back and is important in supporting the attack, so much so that there has been interest from the Premier League with rumors of a reunion with Arne Slot, his former coach, at Liverpool.
Martin Dubravka is Slovakia’s long-time goalkeeper, while his backup Marek Rodak reaches a very similar level. At 37 years old, right-back Peter Pekarik has also had a great tournament, having already been the target of fans’ outrage.
Up front, Slovakia have struggled to find a suitable goalscorer since Robert Vittek’s four goals at the 2010 World Cup, but England must be wary of Lukas Haraslin’s pace on the left wing, while at the other end, Ivan Schranz has surprised with two goals. to his name. For Slovakia, goals can come from anywhere and it is still unclear who of Robert Bozenik or David Strelec will start as the main striker.
As Slovakia changed their style of play, they began to win. Before Calzona’s arrival, they were defeated twice by Kazakhstan in the Nations League. Now, they can face teams like Belgium – and England – without fear.
This change in mentality was interestingly expressed by Dubravka in an interview after the Belgium game. He said: “Now, we have to change our Slovak thinking. We can no longer think that we are just a small country. Let everyone think that about us. They can do it like that, but we have to believe in ourselves. Today we believe and we can win.”
Slovakia has obvious limits, but it was this change in approach that brought better results. Now the country dreams, especially given England’s poor performance in the tournament so far. Calzona and company believe they will have another surprise.
Whatever happens, Slovakia’s campaign has already been a success: and Calzona, who has extended his contract until the end of 2025, will have to continue the necessary generational change after the tournament.
When Lobotka was recently asked about Calzona’s influence, he jokingly responded, “Pretty good for an assistant, huh?”
