League of Nations – Calzona before Belarus,i: Selection of players will be difficult – ŠPORT.SK

today 18:45 | In the match against Belarus, the Slovak national football team will only fight for honor in the League of Nations. He can no longer drop out of the C-division and even advance to “B”. However, coach Francesco Calzona wants to claim his first success in his second appearance on the bench. Read also We have fallen to the bottom and Calzona is having fun, interfering with Šesták. He sends a challenge to the players. Slovaks can still move ahead of Azerbaijan to 2nd place in the 3rd group table. The duel is scheduled for Sunday, September 24 at 18:00 CET in the Serbian town of Bačka Topola. In his debut, Calzona recorded a 1:2 loss against Azerbaijan. “After a loss, disappointment naturally comes. However, we analyzed the match and I saw enthusiasm and optimism. I am also in a positive mood. The guys are aware of the right path. Azerbaijan has less quality players, but they have been together as a team for two years. We are unfortunately they were only together for four days,” coach Calzona described the reasons for the loss to the Caucasian team at Saturday’s press conference in Novi Sad. photo gallery Francesco Calzona Source: reuters The lesser importance of the duel opens up more options for the Italian coach when creating the lineup. “Selecting the players for the match will be difficult. After the fifth and sixth training sessions, I saw a transformation and a great will to work in everyone. Everyone is healthy and in shape. We’ll see how it goes in the morning,” he informed. Slovakia’s final opponent closes the table with two points, but the coach points out that this fact is confusing. “Belarus is a team that is growing. In our group, they had the most chances to score. They can be very dangerous if they start to set the tone of the duel. We want to win because a good result will mean confidence and we will also get two months of peace. But the main goal is play well,” Calzona said. photo gallery Peter Pekarík Source: TASR Pekarík believes in the vision of Francesco Calzona The long-time pillar of the back rows Peter Pekarík did not play against Azerbaijan. But he will be ready on Sunday. “The national team jersey is the maximum for me. I understand that I did not intervene in the game in the first meeting, the coach explained it to me. I am convinced that our team will move forward. From this point of view, the upcoming match will be important, we can move forward in it. In the national team, something is always at stake,” the Hertha Berlin player recalled. Read also The players praise the work with Francesco Calzona and want time, Matúš Bero: People… Even after the initial failure, Pekarík has maximum confidence in the new coach. “I believe in the coach’s vision that he has with our team. However, I realize that if we want to win back the fans’ trust, we need victories. The team is shaped by them. However, anyone who understands football knows that the idea cannot be instilled in the team in two days. If they want someone needs to take the first big step to climb a big mountain. I believe that it will be possible in the next match,” added Pekarík.