One of the most important matches in its history is waiting for football Slovácko tonight. In the Europa League, they will play Fenerbahce Istanbul in the 3rd preliminary round. However, the club from the smallest city in the Czech league is dealing with more worries after the last successful season.
The team from Uherské Hradiště deservedly got into the European Cups. Fourth place in the last Fortuna:League season was secured by winning the MOL Cup. It was the triumph in the domestic cup and the elimination of Russian teams from UEFA competitions that catapulted Slovácko to the 3rd preliminary round of the European League. Competitions where far heavier weights are moved.
The Blue and Whites intend to take advantage of the unexpected opportunity and succeed among the big clubs. “We want to surpass last season. That means getting into one of the European Cup groups. That would be a huge success. We don’t really care which league it would be,” captain Michal Kadlec announced before the season that the team would not disdain even the Conference league.
It is the former national team player who previously worked for Fenerbahce for three years and knows the Sükrü Saracoglua Stadium well. “I would never have thought that I would ever come back here for a competitive match, and certainly not with Slovácko,” he declared with a smile.
However, coach Martin Svědík points out that the match against the Turkish opponent will not be easy at all. “The performance of our team is still far from the optimum we had at the end of spring. It is due to the changes in the team, it is directly proportional to it,” he realizes.
The mainstays Lukáš Sadílek, Václav Jurečka and Regino Cicilia left the squad after last season. “I’m disappointed that we didn’t manage to learn from last year. We will miss the players who left the most in the offensive. With Jurečka, Sadílka and Cicilia, we lost 28 goals, and that will be very difficult to replace. We have the biggest problem in the offensive , which was also shown in the preliminaries,” continues the 47-year-old coach.
The success of the last two years, the club did not manage to capitalize off the field as the management would have imagined. “Sporting success can often hide a lot of worries,” says director Petr Pojezný.
He did not strengthen the team
“I wanted us to be as strong as possible at the beginning of the season. We have a bit of a problem with that, but we have to take it as it is, and we must not, as I say, screw ourselves up,” adds Pojezný.
“Sports in the Czech Republic hide behind some occasional success, but no one helps them in the finals. When I come to the region, they give us the same money as Zlína. In a way, we are happy for it, but it will not take us anywhere. They cheer for us at the town hall, but that it won’t move us either. All we have to do is work hard and hope we can do it with what we have,” shrugs the club’s director.
This is also why the squad is far from the ideal that coach Svědík would have imagined. “We take players who are out of contract and have not played for their clubs many times. After that, there is a longer time for adaptation. But we don’t have time now, so I would welcome two ready-made players in the offensive,” he wished before introducing the club to the preliminary round of the Europa League.
Although the club will fight for the basic group of the European Cups, it is not very successful in acquiring players. “I’m happy for the players who want to play for Slovácko. It’s really not easy to come to our conditions and have the highest ambitions. Our competitiveness is weak,” admits Pojezný.
Although Libor Kozák, Patrik Brandner or Vlasij Sinjavskij came, coach Svědík is not satisfied. So far, he considers only Michal Trávník from Sparta and the Iraqi discovery of Merchas Doski to be full-fledged reinforcements.
“The market in the Czech Republic is terribly limited. It is almost impossible to find a player who would be better than ours and who would be available at the same time. Bringing players from abroad means that we are completely uncompetitive there. It is often embarrassing for me, what conditions I have to deal with to have fun with those players,” explains the club director.
The Witness also agrees. “It’s difficult to bring players here, whether it’s the economy or logistics, sometimes I’m also disappointed by the players’ ambitions. We’re playing fourth place in the league for the second year, European cups, but they’ll prefer clubs with less performance. There are other factors too, it’s also relationship matters. Not every club or not every agent sees us positively,” explains the coach.
There are no hotels either
While the team is excited about the duels in Europe, the management is more worried. These relate to the sports side and the background of the regional club. “If we progressed to the group stage, I can’t even imagine it. UEFA has requirements for facilities, places for partners, hotels. There are no such accommodation facilities in Hradiště, the teams would travel from Brno or I don’t know how,” said Pojezný.
In Uherské Hradiště seven years ago, the Under-21 Football Championship was held, and the club’s facilities were renovated at that time, including the playing area and facilities for the media. “The stadium, which was completely satisfactory in 2015, now has a lot of question marks that we would have to solve,” points out Pojezný.
In the summer, the new co-owner Vítězslav Skopal bought half of the share in the club, but this change has not yet manifested itself. Debates about the budget and investments in the club are still underway. Perhaps the adjustment of the new co-owner will be more important.
“I can feel the positive energy from Vítězslav Skopal, which we have been missing a little. Me and the current owner Zdeněk Zemek have been in football for a long time, and you could probably see it in us,” Pojezný admits.
However, there is optimism from the team ahead of the double match with the Turkish opponent. “We don’t have a budget like Fenerbahce, but it will be 50/50 on the field,” believes Kadlec.
“One is charged by the group that is here. Matadors like Kadlec, Petržela or maybe Hofmann are important. It is a pleasure to work with these players. The performance of the team depends a lot on these players,” adds Svědík.
The match in Istanbul starts at 19:00 and you can watch it on Aktuálně.cz watch in the online report.
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