The Slovak national football team successfully entered the new edition of the League of Nations. In Thursday’s match, they beat Estonia 1:0 on its ground.
Photo: TASR, Veronika Mihaliková
Tomáš Suslov celebrates a goal into the Estonia net.
Tomáš Suslov decided the win in the 70th minute. Francesco Calzona’s men will next play against Azerbaijan on Sunday at 18:00 in Košice.
“Falcons” were on top of most of the game, but they fought for three points until the last moment. The home team’s hero was goalkeeper Karl Hein, who almost secured their first ever point win against the Slovaks. They won over the Baltic opponent for the third time in history by one goal.
League of Nations – Round 1:
C-division – 1st group:
Estonia – SLOVAKIA 0:1 (0:0)
Goal: 70. Suslov. Referees: Jug – Žunič, Vidali (all Slovak), ŽK: Tamm, Shein – Obert, Boženík, Vavro, Dúbravka, 6128 spectators.
Estonia: Hein – Lilander, Tamm (70. Vetkal), Mets, Schjönning-Larsen – Miller (78. Jakovlev), Ainsalu (70. Palumets), Shein, Siňavskij (84. Sarma) – Sappinen, Tamm
Slovakia: Dúbravka – Pekarík (90.+2 Gyömbér), Škriniar, Obert (65. Vavro), Hancko – Duda (83. Rigo), Lobotka, Bénes (83. Bero) – Suslov, Boženík (65. Strelec), Haraslín
At the beginning of the match, the Slovaks got several shots from the edge of the penalty area. In the 3rd minute, Suslov missed the goal with a ground shot, five minutes later Duda sent the ball over and Boženík’s shot from the turn was caught by goalkeeper Hein.
Closer to the goal was Suslov in the 10th minute, who took the ball from the home team’s player in the 16-yard box and although he aimed the cross shot accurately, Hein promptly hit the ball.
In front of Dúbravka, it was “on fire” for the first time in the 14th minute, when Sappinen crossed the ball from the left side, but Schjönning-Larsen missed the ball in a dangerous position. The Slovaks had the initiative, in the 21st minute, Duda pushed Suslov into the box, whose promising chance was thwarted by Hein.
The game continued mainly in the half of the home team, the Slovaks got into promising positions several times, but the Estonians managed to block them. In the 44th, Bénes could have sent the visitors into the lead, but the shot was again thwarted by the quick Hein. The Slovaks had 14 shots in the first half (4 on goal), but without the desired effect.
Hancko was close to a goal in the 49th minute, who got to the rebound, but only hit the crossbar. The goal of the home team also shook in the 56th minute, when Duda’s shot was stopped by the right post. In the 60th minute, the Estonians got a header from Tamma, which was saved by Dúbravka.
In the 65th minute, Vavro and Strelec came to the pitch, who immediately got a chance, but he quickly sent the ball over the goal with his left foot, and soon Vavro also tested Hein’s attention.
The interesting event was underlined by a mistake in the Slovak defense, after which Sappinen beat Dúbravka, but the goal was disallowed for offside. The Slovaks then developed an offensive action in which Strelec returned the ball behind him to Suslov and he promptly shot past Hein – 0:1.
In the 88th minute, the Slovakian representatives breathed a sigh of relief when the quick Dúbravka blocked Jakovlev’s ground shot. The home team still had a chance in the end from a standard situation after the controversial verdict of the Jug referee.
votes after the match /source: Sport 1/:
Francesco Calzona, SR coach: “Deserved three points, we played very good football, especially in the first half. In the second act, the opponent just kicked it after the goal and it was difficult to defend. We were also losing strength, but we managed it.”
Tomáš Suslov, scorer of the SR goal: “We wanted to win this match. We knew they would play in a block and it would be difficult to overcome. We knew that such a scenario could happen and we would win by one goal. We were unlucky, it could have been 0:3 after halftime. But it doesn’t matter, we have three points and that’s the most important thing. It’s always a big thing to score a goal for the national team, no matter who we’re playing against.”
Lukáš Haraslín, striker of SR: “We saw that the match was not easy. However, we made it a little complicated for ourselves, we didn’t take advantage of the chances. In the end, the Estonians almost took the lead. It’s a shame that it was nerves until the end, but three points count.”
Dávid Hancko, defender of SR: “It was fast-paced, we played fast. We did everything the coach wanted us to do. Many times we won the ball in the opponent’s half, we created chances, but we did not succeed for a long time. The coach stressed to us all week that what happened at the EC is already behind us. I’m glad we finally made it. I am very happy and appreciate this victory.”
Source: sportweb.pravda.sk
