"This game cost me five years off my life. I could never be a coach. The last few minutes were really difficult to get through, and my heart is still beating like a hammer."
-substitute Michal Hanek
"I think we were the better team. We created more chances, and we deserve our spot in the playoffs. But it was nerve-wracking."
- striker Róbert Vittek
"We suffered through the game, it was very emotional. I'm only now beginning to realize we achieved a historic success for Slovak football, and that if we make it through the playoffs we will be in the World Cup final round."
- defender Ján Ďurica
"We're all happy, we expected it to be difficult, but the game with Russia was exceptionally tough. Everyone played for the team as a whole, no one played as an individual."
- defender Marián Had
"We did what we needed to, and there's nothing to add. We had more chances, and I was really afraid that our failure to capitalize on them would come back to haunt us."
- captain Miroslav Karhan
"I wasn't taken off my game, I was just really angry at Filip Hološko for missing that breakaway. You just have to convert those chances."
- defender Martin Škrtel
"This football country lives on."
- coach Dušan Galis
From Slovak press
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17. Oct 2005 at 0:00
