The old state of Czechoslovakia was prominent in world football and had contested two world cup finals, in 1934 and 1962. The Czech breakup spawned two new countries – Czech Republic and Slovakia. Czech Republic maintained a degree of success but South Africa 2010 will be Slovakia’s first major finals since joining the world stage in 1993. The irony is they are there at the expense of Czech Republic.
Slovakia qualified by winning Group 3, a group that contained their ‘other half’, Czech Republic, and the dogged Poland. Completing the six country group were Slovenia, Northern Ireland and whipping boys San Marino. Pre-qualifying predictions were simply about who would be runners up behind Czech Republic. Poland were generally thought to have the best chance, with Northern Ireland perhaps being the dark horse. The two Slovs were considered ballast but in fact set the pace throughout the campaign.
Slovakia will be tricky opponents next summer. A steely determination, coupled with battling qualities, was highlighted in the final week of qualifying. The penultimate round of games saw Slovenia beat Slovakia in Bratislava to deny the Slovaks qualification with a game to spare and blow the top of the table wide open. The other teams were out of the equation by now so it was between these two. The final match saw Slovakia go to Poland needing a win in the snow to guarantee top spot. With Slovenia in San Marino, the automatic place was still in the balance. As expected, Slovenia strolled to a 3-0 victory but Slovakia kept their nerve in a blizzard to secure the all important 1-0 win required.
In total Slovakia won 7 of their 10 matches, including historic wins in Czech Republic and Poland. Both of their two defeats were at the hands of second placed Slovenia who went into the play offs and would have claimed first position had Poland got something from the last game. Slovakia scored 22 goals in their 10 games; only 4 of the other 52 European countries scored more. However they conceded 10 goals, averaging a goal a game, which was the worst defensive record of all the qualifiers. They could be in for a bumpy ride in South Africa.
Top Slovak scorer was Stanislav Sestak who bagged 6 in 6. Sestak is an unspectacular striker who plies his trade in Germany for VFL Bochum; his 6 goals included game-changing strikes in Poland and Czech Republic that went a long way to propelling Slovakia to the finals.
Their most recognisable players are Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel and West Brom full back Marek Cech. They also boast a couple of highly promising youngsters in Napoli midfielder Marek Hamsik and 19 year old Manchester City starlet Vladimir Weiss. Weiss is the son of the national team manager and has already appeared in the first team for The Blues. Both could blossom at next year’s finals.
Experience comes in the form of Lille striker Robert Vittek, second in Slovakia’s all time scoring charts (behind another recognisable face, former Boro striker Szilard Nemeth) and Miroslav Karhan, a well travelled midfielder with 94 caps.
Inexperience will be a problem for Slovakia, this being their first major tournament. Coach Vladimir Weiss played at the 1990 World Cup with Czechoslovakia but is relatively inexperienced as an international coach. Having made history in qualifying, anything is now a bonus and progression beyond the group stage will be a major achievement but may not be a pipe dream.
