RÁS AL-KHAIMAH. The Slovak national team in indoor soccer has never hid its high ambitions.
She had medal goals at the last world championship in 2019, as well as at last year’s home EURO in Košice.
So the fans are used to high expectations. Even though a significantly changed squad flew to the United Arab Emirates.
“From what I heard, the goals should be as high as possible,” said Miroslav Stoch before the tournament, who is also a newcomer to the team and had played only one match for the national team until then.
The president of the Slovak Minor Football Association (SZMF) already tamed exaggerated statements before his departure.
“When coach Laco Borbély spoke before the EURO about semi-final ambitions, now I would be more reserved. We will try for the best possible place, but beating ourselves up that we are going for medals would not be right.
There are seven or eight strong opponents who can win the entire championship, and our spider is not the easiest,” said Peter Králik.
His fears were confirmed. After a winning start against Albania (2:0), the Slovaks exploded in the end against England (2:3) and had a knife on their neck against France.
The coach will spend the night
The Slovaks had three points before the match, the French and the English four each. The team around captain Juraj Kuhajdík had to win unconditionally to advance.
Nervousness tied the legs of both teams, as well as the referee. When one of them wanted to show the France coach a yellow card in the 33rd minute, he accidentally sent him off. He had to fix himself.
Thanks to the fighting performance, the Slovaks finally rejoiced. After an exciting course and a happy 2:1 triumph, they advanced to the round of 16, where they will meet Montenegro.
“I probably won’t sleep all night today to study Montenegro’s game as best as possible and we were well prepared,” coach Branislav Škorec smiled after the meeting.
He had reason to be happy. His charges did not give an ideal performance, they struggled in the end and failed several times in defense.
But it was his unexpected and risky moves that made the decision. On the roster, where he could include only 15 out of 17 players, he did not include the star Miroslav Stoch or Pavel Gere.
“There were some changes in every game. Everyone wants to show themselves and I wanted to give everyone an opportunity,” coach Branislav Škorec told Sportnet about the topic.
Stoch stood up and spoke
Putting the biggest name of the entire championship on the stand required courage. The coach also commented directly on Stoch’s absence and contribution to the team.
2023-10-31 19:35:25
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