One of the stadiums in Germany that will host the upcoming European Championship. (source: TASR)
The 2024 European Football Championship is upon us, and with it comes a range of predictions and assessments. What are Slovakia's chances at this year's tournament, according to foreign media? The experts can't quite seem to agree, reports Sportnet.
Le Parisien's Andreas Guerin believes that the Slovak team, led by captain Milan Škriniar, will hold its own in the group stage and could come second to Belgium.
Francie Christou and Connor James Ibbetson, writing for Britain's Telegraph news wesbsite, predict that Slovakia will progress via the best-third-placed-teams route and end in the round of 16.
The UK Daily Mail's Daniel Davis opines that Slovakia is a huge outsider to win, but has the ability to spring a few surprises.
Led by a former coffee-seller
"A familiar blend of experience led by a former coffee-seller," reads the title of an article by Nick Miller for US sports website The Athletic.
Slovakia's head coach is Francesco Calzona, a former amateur footballer who once earned a living by selling coffee. Eventually, he became involved in professional teams, including Napoli, where he forged a close relationship with former midfielder and Slovak national team captain Marek Hamšík.
"Calzona’s appointment was initially viewed with significant scepticism, but that disappeared pretty quickly," writes Miller, adding that after an unpromising start the team went on to win a lot of games.
Francesco Calzona (source: TASR)
According to Miller, Slovakia had an impressive qualification campaign but the team lacks a talismanic striker. Of the current strikers, Róbert Mak has scored 16 goals, but was not nominated. Still, Miller says forward Róbert Boženík is one man to keep an eye on in situations where Slovakia needs a reliable source of goals. The team has so far shared goal-scoring duties; 11 different players scored in the qualifiers, which may mean it doesn't have to rely on a single star player.
Andreas Guerin shares this opinion. The team has few big names, he notes, but its bedrock is talented and includes Newcastle United goalkeeper Martin Dúbravka, Paris Saint-Germain's Milan Škriniar, and Napoli midfielder Stanislav Lobotka.
The journalist points out that even though Škriniar has had an average season, he remains a pillar of the team and this will be the first time he leads the squad as captain.
Frankie Christou and Connor James Ibbetson call Škriniar the best player in the Slovak team since Hamšík's retirement, and say that he does a great job at controlling and organising defence, although his skills in attack fall short.
They go on to say that "their defensive capabilities should see them make a run for second place in the group, however, their lack of firepower going forward could see them come up short".
Milan Škriniar (source: TASR)
Unnoticed master passer
On the other hand, Nick Said of Reuters believes that Stanislav Lobotka is central to Slovakia's fortunes, calling him a "master passer" whose "best work on the pitch goes largely unnoticed".
Earlier in his career Lobotka was compared to Croatia's Luka Modric and former Spain and Barcelona midfielder Xavi. In 2023, when Napoli won the title, no Italian player in the league was able to beat his 94.2% success rate in passing statistics.
"If he plays well, generally so do they. The reverse is also true though," Said claims.
The UEFA European Football Championship will take place in Germany between June 14 and July 14. Slovakia will play its first game on June 17, against Belgium.
Stanislav Lobotka (r) (source: TASR)
