Slovak coach Francesco Calzona Source: TASR/Jakub Kotian
BRATISLAVA – Aleksandar Čavrič also appears in the nomination of coach Francesco Calzona for the preparatory matches of the Slovak football team against Austria and Norway.
The Serbian striker has been applying for Slovak citizenship since November 2022. In addition to him, there are two other newcomers Tomáš Rigo and Tomáš Nemčík in the squad.
They watched Riga longer
The Slovaks will play against Austria on Saturday, March 23 in Bratislava and against the home team on Tuesday, March 26 in Oslo.
“We’ve been watching Riga for a long time, he’s a young guy and he plays regularly. We need to focus on young people, because life doesn’t end for us with the European championship. We called up the German once, he didn’t start then, now he’s starting to play regularly and that’s why we nominated him.
We have been following Čavrič for a long time and have been waiting for him to receive the necessary documents. The union did a good job. Aleksandar wanted to represent Slovakia, he should move to Slovakia in the next few days and take over his papers. I think he could help us.” Calzona said at Wednesday’s press conference.
Photo gallery (6) SFZ President Ján Kováčik Source: TASR/Jakub Kotian
Čavrič is currently wearing the jersey of Kašima Antlers. However, the Japanese league is also played concurrently with the EC, and in this case an unclear situation could have arisen. “We didn’t talk to the club, it’s an official deadline. This is authoritative for us and the club must respect it. We did everything so that Aleksandar could represent Slovakia.” added Calzona.
The nomination includes players who play regularly
Calzona is pleased that the nomination includes players who regularly play in clubs. Including goalkeeper Martin Dúbravka, who sat only on the substitutes’ bench in Newcastle during the qualifying matches. “Martin comes to every game with great joy, he trains to the limit. He is one of the main pillars of the team. He has the qualities to be one of the outstanding personalities of the European Championship. His performances in the club are very good. He is a huge professional and is you can already see it in training. The more players play, the better. Also, the fact that we have a wide list of players who play regularly is a positive thing. We watch them every week.”
Long-term injured Milan Škriniar and Matúš Bero, who injured his knee two weeks ago, are missing from the nomination. “Skriniar is healing well, he has already trained and the process is going as it should. He was supposed to be out for 12 weeks, but at this moment he could return earlier. We need him at the Euros in the best condition. They are talking about 5 to 6 weeks for Bera, sorry it’s also because of him, because he wasn’t at the last meeting. It’s an unfortunate moment for him.”
At Wednesday’s press conference, the president of the union, Ján Kováčik, was also present and informed about the new partner of SFZ. “I am very happy to welcome the Lidl company to our league. I am satisfied that two leaders in their fields have come together and I believe that we can achieve our common goals.”
Photo gallery (6) From left, president of the Slovak Football Association Ján Kováčik, director of LIDL Slovak Republic Zita Szlavikovics and coach of the Slovak national football team Francesco Calzona Source: TASR/Jakub Kotian
The head of Slovak football is already thinking about the European championship, many Slovak fans are also going to Germany. “We are communicating with the German side so that our fans have space in their fan zones in Frankfurt and Düsseldorf. We will also prepare them in at least three cities in Slovakia – in the west, in the center and in the east.”
Slovakia’s nomination for the warm-up matches against Austria and Norway:
Goalkeepers: Martin Dúbravka (Newcastle United), Marek Rodák (Fulham FC), Henrich Ravas (New England Revolution)
Defenders: Norbert Gyömbér (US Salernitana), Dávid Hancko (Feynoord Rotterdam), Matúš Kmeť (AS Trenčín), Denis Vavro (FC Copenhagen), Peter Pekarík (Hertha Berlin), Michal Tomič (Slavia Prague), Vernon De Marco (Hatta Club), Ľubomír Šatka (Samsunspor), Tomáš Nemčík (Rosenborg BK), Adam Obert (Cagliari Calcio)
Midfielders: Dominik Hollý (FK Jablonec), Juraj Kucka (Slovan Bratislava), Stanislav Lobotka (SSC Napoli), Patrik Hrošovský (KRC Genk), Ondrej Duda (Hellas Verona), László Bénes (Hamburger SV), Tomáš Rigo (Baník Ostrava), Tomáš Suslov (Hellas Verona), Róbert Mak (Sydney FC)
Attackers: Leo Sauer (Feyenoord Rotterdam), Róbert Polievka (Dukla Banská Bystrica), Róbert Boženík (Boavista Porto), Aleksandar Čavrič (Kašima Antlers), Ivan Schranz (Slavia Prague), Lukáš Haraslín (Sparta Prague), Dávid Ďuriš (Calcio Ascoli), Ľubomír Tupta (Slovak Liberec)
Substitutes:
Ľubomír Belko (MŠK Žilina), Artur Gajdoš (AS Trenčín), Dominik Takáč (FC Spartak Trnava), Jakub Kadák (FC Luzern), Sebastián Kóša (FC Spartak Trnava), Christián Herc (FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda), Marek Kristián Bartoš (FK Železiarne Podbrezová), Martin Šviderský (Real Murcia), Peter Pokorný (Slask Wroclaw), Erik Prekop (Bohemians Praha 1905), Jakub Hromada (FC Rapid Bucharest), Tomáš Bobček (KS Lechia Gdansk)
Implementation team:
Coach: Francesco Calzona, Doctor: Zsolt Fegyveres, Assistant Coach: Simone Bonomi, Doctor: Jozef Almási, Assistant Coach: Gianluca Segarelli, Physiotherapist: Marián Drinka, Team Manager and Assistant Coach: Marek Hamšík, Physiotherapist: Peter Hečko, Goalkeeper Coach: Ján Novota, Physiotherapist: Martin Nozdrovicky, Fitness trainer: Alessandro Bulfoni, Masseur: Mário Prelovský, Fitness trainer: David Brünn, Masseur: Marko Kopas, Video analyst: Marco Brini, Custodian: Marek Košáň, Technical team manager: Giovanni Paolo De Matteis, Custodian Marek Speech, Technical leader: Jakub Kojnok Media manager: Monika Jurigová
Photo gallery for the article Number of photos: 6
- Author: © List/
- Source: TASR
2024-03-13 14:28:15
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