Calzona warned the players against Estonia. He also revealed good news about the injuries to the props – National team – Football

Tuesday’s match of the C-division of the League of Nations will not change the position of the Slovak footballers in the 1st group table, but coach Francesco Calzona expects maximum performance from the team.

Francesco Calzona believes that despite a certain second place in the group, his team will not be satisfied and will lead the duel to a victorious end.

“Falcons” will compete against Estonia in the final duel of the year, kick-off at the Anton Malatinský Stadium in Trnava is scheduled for 8:45 p.m.

After Saturday’s loss in Sweden (1:2), the Slovaks are assured of second place, which means participation in the March play-off for advancement. However, Calzona vehemently rejected any relaxation of efforts. “I certainly won’t accept it. Of course, we know that we won’t move from second place, but I hate it when a team goes into a match and doesn’t give 100 percent. Under my leadership, the players practically always gave their best. Maybe the performances here were not as expected, but I am convinced that they always gave their best. The only thing that would make me angry would be if there was some complacency,” the Italian coach said at Monday’s press conference.

Tomáš Suslov, who decided on a 1:0 triumph in Tallinn in September, had the same attitude: “The motivation is very high, as it is a national team match and in every national team match something is at stake. We go there with a clear goal. We want to win the match, we take it seriously and we definitely want to win.”

The twenty-two-year-old midfielder of Italian Verona does not underestimate the Baltic opponent. “It will definitely be a difficult match, as we won there only 1-0. So I think if we convert the chances we had in Estonia tomorrow, it might be easier. But on the other hand, we know that we have to be careful at the back, because if we underestimate something, it can pay off for us.”

Calzona has to deal with several absences when building the squad. Both Peter Pekarík and Ondrej Duda will be absent due to injuries, and Martin Dúbravka and Milan Škriniar will be serving card penalties. However, the good news is that Denis Vavro and Dávid Hancko will finally be available to the team. The first-named had to substitute at the end of the first half in Stockholm, and the scorer of the only Slovakian goal finished with obvious problems.

“Denis will be fine and Dávid will also be available. He had problems with his ankle, but he’ll be fine,” confirmed Calzona and explained the condition of Pekarík and Duda: “Peky needs about a month. The initial information was milder, but then they did further examinations and he also has a torn muscle like Ondro.”

Due to the absence of a goalkeeping unit, Dominik Takáč from Bratislava Slovan was additionally called between the three posts. Alongside the pair of substitutes Marek Rodák and Dominik Greif, Calzona was not worried about the post in the goal. However, there will definitely be changes in the field. “Players who played less will get a chance. However, we have eight players at risk heading into the playoffs, so we have to look at that as well, knowing how important the games are ahead of us. Of course, one of those at risk has to play, because we have up to eight of them,” admitted the Italian. He has not yet decided who will receive the captain’s armband in Škriniar’s absence.

The situation surrounding the injuries worried Suslov, but he also saw positives in it. “It’s certainly not pleasant when you’re missing so many players, but I personally think it’s better that it came now than it should have been in the play-offs. On the other hand, I think that even those players who have not played from the beginning recently have the quality to be able to handle the duel tomorrow,” said the Slovakian representative, who earned words of praise from the coach for his performance in Sweden.

“It means a lot to me. He basically communicated with me even when I was in Groningen and tried to give me some advice, which I took with me. I said that I would give him everything on the field, so I’m glad that the situation has changed and I’m currently playing regularly,” added Suslov.

Calzona himself will also be absent from the bench, which he was not too worried about. The team will be headed by his compatriot Simone Bonomi, but the Italian skipper has confidence in the entire coaching team. “I don’t think it will be a problem that I’m not on the bench. I have ideal co-workers and I have complete trust in them. As long as we can communicate and I see some things from the stands, I will try to advise them, but they are fully responsible for that. We make these decisions together, even when I am present,” stated Calzona.