In the photo, the new coach of the Slovak national football team, Francesco Calzona, during the press conference of the Slovak Football Association (SFZ) to introduce the new coach of the national team Source: TASR/Jaroslav Novák BRATISLAVA – The new coach of the Slovak national football team, Francesco Calzona, will demand discipline from the players. He wants them to realize that they are representing their country. Calzona stated this at the Friday press conference of the Slovak Football Association in Bratislava. “It is a big decision for me. I think that this country has experience and history at the world level and it will be a pleasure for me to work for the national team,” said Calzona at a Friday press conference in Bratislava. He will take over the helm of the national team in a difficult period after lackluster results in June’s League of Nations matches. “We’re not in the best place, that’s why I’m here. My goal is for the players to realize that they’re representing their country. I’ll be very strict about discipline and I’ll ask them to forget their clubs during matches,” he said of his approach. new helmsman. “The best solution is always cooperation, and that also means responsibility towards one’s tasks,” added Calzona. The team must function as a whole. He has no experience with the position of head coach yet, and in Naples, where he worked last, he focused more on defense. He himself says that he is not limited to working with the defense: “It is not entirely true that I am an expert in defense. I got this label in Italy, but I really like working with the offensive. The team has to work as a whole.” This is the second change in the position of head coach of the Slovak national team in the past three months. Štefan Tarkovič ended up on the bench in the middle of June, and was temporarily replaced by Samuel Slovák. The engagement of a foreign coach was talked about right from this association deadline, and former representative Marek Hamšík was also supposed to have a significant part in Calzon’s arrival. Photo gallery (13) Source: SITA/Andrea Mezeiová “After the match with Azerbaijan, Marek Hamšík suggested the path of a foreign coach. He was a long-time international player, he worked abroad and especially in Italy. At the end of June, we met with Calzono and already then we decided that we will cooperate, we only had to complete the technical details that were related to his Italian citizenship,” the president of the Slovak Football Association, Ján Kováčik, described the process of engaging the new coach. The new shipowner signed a contract until the end of 2023, and in the case of promotion to the European Championship 2024, the contract will be automatically extended. His implementation team will also consist of many Italians, while he himself only speaks his mother tongue. However, he does not see a problem in the language barrier. “I’m glad that there are players here who speak Italian. The members of the implementation team know English, as do most of the players. However, an interpreter will still be available,” added Calzona. Photo gallery for the article Number of photos: 13 Author: © Video list: Facebook/Slovak Football Association Source: TASR