“Slovakian Under-20 Soccer Team Aims for Historic Victory Against Colombia in World Championship Round of 16”

In 2003, the team around captain Marian Kurty also reached the round of 16 at the World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, but the team was not enough to beat Brazil (1:2 pp). Slovakia has been waiting for the same success for 20 years, and today from 7:30 p.m. the current set of “falcons” will have the opportunity to overcome this milestone. However, it will not be easy.

“We are facing a very unpleasant opponent who is playful like all South American teams. Colombia advanced from first place in the group, so they certainly have the quality. I think it will be the strongest opponent we have played against so far,” stated for the official website of the Slovak Football Association, the coach of our under-20 national team, Albert Rusnák.

While Colombia won their group with seven points, the team around captain Timotej Jambora entered the round of 16 with scratched ears. The victory over Fiji (4:0) was followed by losses against Ecuador (1:2) and the USA (0:2). The Slovaks did not occupy the first two promotion positions in “B” and had to wait two days to see if they would get into the selected sixteen as one of the four best third teams. They succeeded, the final came on Sunday evening after the victory of Uruguay over Tunisia (1:0). The players watched this match together in the hotel and were very happy to continue in the tournament.

“The whole team and the implementation team were looking forward to it. After great joy, we immediately concentrated on preparing for the next opponent. I believe that we will analyze Colombia well and that we will be prepared,” stated Albert Rusnák Sr., who also revealed to Futbalsfz.sk what words he addressed to the team after meeting the promotion goal: “We always tell the boys that football should be played with self-confidence. They must be looking forward to the ball. They can’t be happy to get rid of her and play her on. This seems to me the difference compared to the other selections. While others are looking forward to the ball, we seem to be afraid of it.”

The truth is that the performances of the Slovaks in Argentina have a decreasing tendency, but this is also related to the growth of the quality of the opponents. Coach Albert Rusnák st. he realizes that the team must perform significantly better today against Colombia than on Friday against the Americans.

“We played the first half of the match against the USA in great comfort defensively. We can’t play that deep and not perform when defending forward. We gave the opponent a lot of space, our central formation was outnumbered. You can’t play like that, and the first half looked like that.

I believe that we will continue with the second act. We didn’t play ideal that time either, but we already had more good game situations and passages when we were able to shut down the Americans in front of their penalty area. You can bounce back from that. However, now we have a different opponent and it will be important for each player to reach the bottom of their strength and give their best on the field.” added Albert Rusnák senior.