Slovaks are not doing well in Slovenia: Will we be able to change that? Hamšík believes in victory – Sports

BRATISLAVA – The captain of the Slovak football players Marek Hamšík expects a challenging match in the qualifying match for the World Cup in Ljubljana on Wednesday, but he and his teammates want to get some points. Coach Tarkovič believes that in addition to them, his charges will show a good performance, which will be better than they showed at the recent European Championships.

The mood in the team was disturbed by the coronavirus

The atmosphere in the Slovak team before the match at the Stožice stadium was disrupted by a positive coronavirus test by goalkeeper Dušan Kuciak. “Kuciak is in isolation, but then he had two negative tests. I don’t know what to think, it’s hard for me to comment on that. We’re in communication with UEFA. We’ll go to the match with two goalkeepers. I accept it, but it disrupted my plans and it waved to the team as well, “ said coach Tarkovič at a press conference on Tuesday in the Slovenian capital.

We are well prepared

The coach of the Slovaks stated that his charges were well prepared for the opponent from Slovenia and he believes that they will also perform better than at the European Championships. The qualifying match will be the first for the national team since the last duel at EURO. “We have spent a lot of time analyzing the opponent, we have a well-mapped one. We have our game and tactics ready and we will want to push through. I believe that changes in the game will be seen. We talked to the players about what we want to change. about another, I believe that tomorrow it will look different from our side. “

During the first week of September, the Slovak national team will have three qualifying matches, after Slovenia (20.45) they will welcome Croatia (Saturday, September 4) and Cyprus (Tuesday, September 7) at home at the National Football Stadium. However, Captain Hamšík is only thinking about Wednesday’s duel so far: “These are always even matches with Slovenia, we haven’t beaten them yet, so it’s time to change that. We’ve seen that our group is balanced and challenging. Everyone can lose and vice versa. It’s an important match, every team wants to advance, I’m expecting a very even match. But we can’t afford to lose points. There aren’t many goals in our matches with Slovenia, so it’s also about discipline and patience. “

Slovenia is an unpleasant opponent

The Slovaks last met Slovenia with the 2016/2017 season. In the qualification for the World Cup 2018, the home team won in Ljubljana after the goal of Kronaveter 1: 0, the revenge in Trnava ended with the same result. Slovak footballers triumphed thanks to Mevlja’s own goal. In the fight for participation in the World Cup, the two countries also met in the 2008/2009 season. In Maribor, the Slovenians succeeded after two goals for Novakovič 2: 1, Jakubko prevailed for the Slovaks. In retaliation on Bratislava’s Tehelné pole, the Slovenians won 2-0 after the goals of Birs and Pečnik.

Matjaž Kek’s charges this year defeated the Croats 1: 0, but lost 1: 2 in Russia and 0: 1 in Cyprus. “They surprised the Croats, they also played a good match in Russia. We know that it is an unpleasant opponent who has quality. But we want to advance to the World Cup and we have to manage the match,” concluded Hamšík.

• The author: © List
• Source: TASR