The coach of the Slovak football players, Francesco Calzona, was satisfied with the discipline of his team after the final match of the C-division of the League of Nations. “Falcons” won 1:0 in Trnava over Estónský thanks to David Strelec’s goal and received only one yellow card, which was given to Leo Sauer. Calzona will not be limited by any card penalty in the opening match of the March playoff for the B-division.
Photo: TASR, Lukáš Grinaj
The coach of the Slovak national football team, Francesco Calzona.
Sauer received a yellow card from referee Mikkel Redder in extra time, it was his first in the competition and in the national jersey.
Calzona highlighted this at the press conference, as captain Milan Škriniar and goalkeeper Martin Dúbravka were missing from Tuesday’s match in Trnava.
Not even Calzona himself could be on the bench, as he received the second yellow card in the competition in Saturday’s key meeting in Sweden (1:2).
“Before the game, we had eight players at risk in that direction and that number has not changed. At the tactical meeting, we required them to go to the minimum risk. Maybe that also influenced the weaker first half, but we need maximum strength in March,” said Calzona.
A player will be suspended for the next duel for a red card or two yellow cards. Among the Slovaks on the pitch, Matúš Bero, Tomáš Suslov, Norbert Gyömbér, Adam Obert, Róbert Boženík and Dávid Hancko were in danger.
Goalkeeper Marek Rodák also received a yellow card in Sweden, who was on the bench in the home match against Tre Kronor and Ondrej Duda. He did not play in Trnava due to injury.
As a result of card penalties and injuries, players from the bench were also in the base and regular substitutes got more minutes.
After more than four years, Dominik Greif, a former longtime supporter of Slovan, was in the goal, unusually in defense based on Gyömbér and Obert.
Due to the absence of Duda and Kucka, the coach put Ber and Lászl Bénes in the middle of the field in addition to Stanislav Lobotka.
Tomáš Suslov, Róbert Boženík and Ľubomír Tupta were in the attack – the offensive support of Lukáš Haraslín was troubled by injury and Ivan Schranz had little playing time in the past weeks for the same reason in Slavia Prague.
“It was a calm match for Dominik, as he didn’t have a single shot. He was part of the nomination for the first time and he still has to understand what we require from the players. I also have to highlight the work of the other goalkeepers, who convinced us that they belong here.
Whether it is Dúbravka, Rodák or even Henrich Ravas. Dominik Takáč also came at the last minute as a replacement for ‘Hec’ and had great enthusiasm. Today the choice fell on Greif, because we wanted to see him in the meeting.
However, the match was not about going to try someone who played less. We also had players on the field who played a lot, but were not in the best shape. Those who got space today suffered from the fact that those who played the whole match in Sweden were not in top condition today,” explained Calzona.
In the League of Nations, the home team could not change anything in Trnava, but in the December draw for the World Cup 2026 qualification, they secured a place in the second performance basket.
The Slovaks took second place in the LN table and in the March playoff they will fight one of the teams in the third place of the higher division, which are Georgia, Ireland, Slovenia and Iceland.
The draw is scheduled for Friday, the home match on March 20 and the meeting at the opponent’s ground three days later.
“It’s very difficult to say which of these opponents we want – it depends on their form at game time. I don’t even say who I want and who I don’t. We’ll leave it at that and see who the draw brings us. We believe that he will be positive,” assessed the coach.
Source: sportweb.pravda.sk
