After returning from ME, he spewed fire and brimstone. In an emotional reaction, he mentioned all those who, according to him, are among his haters and who do not want good for Slovak football.
Photo: Profimedia
Slovak football coach Francesco Calzona at EURO 2024 in Germany.
Francesco Calzona spared no one in the press after returning from the EC in Germany. He came down hard on people who were supposed to criticize him after his arrival in Slovakia in the summer of 2022, when he started as coach of the Slovak national football team.
In addition to coach and currently TV expert Ladislav Borbély, he also mentioned former striker Róbert Vittek, his former colleague from the national team Ján Mucha and “the most famous football family in Slovakia”.
“There are about a dozen people in this country who do not want good for the Slovak national team. I can imagine that they are happy even now, because we are already at home. The worst thing was that these people started criticizing me from the first day I came to Slovakia.
They didn’t evaluate my work, they were personal attacks. They didn’t even wait a day to see the quality of the system. These people didn’t show me any respect,” he said at the July press conference.
After a few weeks, he was calmer. Yesterday, he announced the nomination for the opening two matches of the new edition of the League of Nations, in which the Slovaks will play against Estonia on Thursday, September 5 at 20:45 CET in Tallinn, and against Azerbaijan on Sunday, September 8 at 18:00 in Košice.
Calzona also responded to the question of how he evaluates Slovan Bratislava’s progress to the main stage of the Champions League. Apparently, no one was surprised that Weiss’ name was not mentioned during the congratulations.
“What Slovan showed in the preliminary rounds could be a great inspiration for other teams from the Slovak league to play bravely and with self-confidence. I always liked something like that and it was nice to see how Slovan played and how he did in the preliminary rounds.
Slovan’s progress to the main stage of the Champions League is certainly a very good thing for the Slovak national team. That is why I would like to congratulate everyone at the club on this success,” said Calzona.
He called the rematch against Midtjylland, in which Slovan turned from 1:2 to 3:2 in the last ten minutes, a beautiful meeting.
“I saw that match and I really enjoyed it. It was a beautiful meeting and I think both teams could have won. Slovan deserved the promotion.
What I liked the most was that Slovan appeared very determined and active during the preliminary rounds. I really like these types of teams that are not afraid to play,” he added.
Slovan got to know the opponents in the main phase of the LM yesterday.
He will play four times at home – against Manchester City, AC Milan, Dynamo Zagreb and Stuttgart. And also four times away – with Bayern Munich, Atlético Madrid, Celtic Glasgow and Girona.
The Whites will play the first duel on September 17, 18 or 19, the exact schedule of matches will be known in the next few days.
Source: sportweb.pravda.sk
