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On Tuesday, the oldest Slovak football club can advance to the semi-finals of the Slovnaft Cup for the first time in more than a quarter of a century. The coach of Prešov would not care if it happened at the expense of Trenčín only in the penalty shootout.
The final of the 1996/97 Slovak Cup was held in Trenčín on a neutral ground, in which Tatran lost to Slovan Bratislava 0:1 after extra time. It was watched by 11,276 fans in Sihoti, which is still a valid record for final meetings of this competition. By the way, the main referee was Ľuboš Micheľ, today the chairman of the board of directors of Prešov…
Marek Petruš, currently the “green and white” coach, played the entire final in their famous concrete defense: “I remember it quite often, because it was this match that ensured my subsequent engagement in Israel. We resisted the favored Slovan for a long time, we were a balanced opponent.” Miloš Soboňa decided in the 107th minute.
THEY CELEBRATE 125 YEARS IN MAY
Since the 1996/97 season, the “Konars” have not even once been among the top four in the cup. To illustrate: in the year 2021/22, even as third division players, they were not enough in the second round for the first division Michalovce, although only in the 11-man lottery.
Prešov, as the holder of the trophy from the 1991/92 season, i.e. from the end of the federal era, is in the quarter-finals for the first time since 2013/14, when it was not enough for 1. FC Košice in the prestigious Eastern derby. He lost 1:2 at home and 0:2 away. He currently leads the second league table by a promising five points just ahead of Košičani.
On May 25, the people of Prešov will celebrate 125 years since the club was founded. On the occasion of a football match at the Kamenec military training ground, it was founded under the contemporary name ETVE (Eperjesi Torna es Vivo Egyesület). The word Tatran entered the name in 1953 – also a jubilee.
Photo gallery
Prešov leads the second league with a 5-point lead
Source: Facebook FC Tatran Prešov/Viktor Zamborský
CHALLENGE NO PRESSURE
“We don’t see it as counterproductively sitting on two chairs and it can backfire on us. On the contrary: we value this constellation because it confirms that we are on the right path. Feelings from the successes in the league and the cup are only positive, not at all mixed. We are returning the club to the positions it belongs to. Ľuboš Micheľ recently described our performance in the cup as another adventure and a challenge that we undertake without pressure,” reminds the 47-year-old coach who came from another Tatran before this season: until then he was leading Liptovský Mikuláš.
In the autumn, Prešov impressed with a series of ten second league triumphs. In the spring, he continued what he had started: first he defeated Humenné 2:0 and on Saturday he dealt with Šamorín 2:1, when the visitors still had in their legs and probably also in their heads the narrow cup quarter-final failure against Slovan.
The winner of the cup in 2014/15 and 2015/16, Trenčín is proud of the score of 27:0 from four matches in this edition of the Slovnaft Cup, mainly due to the record triumph of 14:0 in the 2nd round in Hlohovec, but they have been waiting for a victory in the league since 15 .October…
THE PREMIER LEAGUE WALKER
Prešov won all four of their cup matches this season by a goal. They successively knocked out Medzev 2:1, Kechnec 3:2 and Podbrezová and Humenné 1:0.
In August in Medzev there was still a goalless situation in the 86th minute. In September, ten minutes before the end, on the ground of Kechnec of the fourth division, Prešov had a deficit, but Martin Baran and Kamil Karaš scored a turn.
In October at home against Podbrezová, who finally finished fourth in the regular season of the Fortuna league, six places above Trenčín, the decision was made by Martin Pribula’s lucky lob in the 22nd minute in front of almost a thousand onlookers. On the edge of the penalty area, he put his foot into the kick-off of the visiting captain René Paraj and the ball ended up behind Ivan Rehák’s back.
In November in Humenny, after the opening quarter of an hour, his huge prop Jozef Dolný tipped the scales in favor of Tatran.
“Cup matches all over the world tend to show that the role of the favorite is questionable. We are already looking forward to the November draw, that a quality opponent will come to us. After a four-month hiatus, this competition seems to be starting anew. There is a nice crowd and I believe that the boys will perform well. We want to take care of the surprise,” Marek Petruš, a native of Prešov, makes no secret.
Photo gallery
“Koňare” beat Podbrezová in the 1/16-final 4th round
Source: Viktor Zamborský
ENGLISH CYCLE
The coach is pleased to report that the squad is free of health complications. However, the demanding program makes him a little wrinkled: “Since the final is in May, it doesn’t make sense to me that the first semi-final matches are already scheduled for mid-March. For us, in the case of progress through Trenčín, it would mean a continuing English cycle with five meetings in two weeks. On Sunday, we will play in the league in Petržalka, then on Wednesday we should host Trnava in the cup, and already on Saturday we will welcome the reserve team Žilina again in the league.”
Tatran lost the other three home matches against Trenčani in the highest league competition: the last time on September 24, 2017, they suffered a 0:7 debacle in Poprad. When Prešov hosted Trenčín – at that time briefly under the name Laugaricio – in the 2nd round of the 2002/03 cup, they won 2:1 in front of their fans.
THEY PLAY TO WIN
Prešov has not drawn in a competitive duel since last May 14 and the result was 2:2 in Spišská Nová Ves. Marek Petruš offers an explanation for this anomaly: “When I coached Liptovský Mikuláš, we mostly played against stronger teams and every point counted. In Prešov, however, we have the ambition to move on the highest rungs. It follows from the fact that it is necessary to go for victories, not to chase after one point. There is less difference between him and zero than between a point and three.”
Tatran also intends to play for the triumph on Tuesday from 2:30 p.m. in Ličartovci in front of the JOJ Šport cameras: “Only the course of the match with Trenčín will show what we are capable of.” If we have already mentioned the draws, perhaps the most attractive resolution for the spectators would be in the form of penalties. Even I am not opposed to the thought of such a scenario. Of course, a good team performance crowned by the success of our goalkeeper should be part of it.”
