Will we again witness an important step, thanks to which Slovakia will be happy on the soil of Luxembourg? It has already happened once and it may happen again, although not with a definitive dot.
On Monday evening at 8:45 p.m., the eighth appearance in the qualifying J-group awaits the Slovak national football team, and it will perhaps be the most crucial duel in the fight for participation in EURO 2024. The wards of the Italian coach Francesca Calzono will present themselves on the soil of Luxembourg, which can be considered the “black horse” of our qualification group.
The helmsman’s crew Luca Holtza, who has been at the helm of Luxembourg for 13 long years, is writing the most brilliant history of this national selection so far, which is not far from the dreamed premier participation in the final European Championship tournament. Coach Holtz, paradoxically, has already experienced the promotion celebrations for the football championship of the “old continent”, but in the case of Slovakia.
It happened almost to the day exactly eight years ago, when Slovakia won 4:2 in Luxembourg, which was the final 10th round of the qualifying C-group, and winning all three points moved the “Sokols” to the European Championship for the first time in history. “I congratulate Slovakia on winning and advancing to the EURO in France. They deserved it,” stated coach Holtz after the match. The most outstanding player on the field at the time was 27-year-old Marek Hamšík, who scored two goals.
“We have achieved another historic success for Slovak football and we are happy that we can be a part of it. We are experiencing great joy. We only used the last step, but it’s all the more beautiful. There will be a short time to celebrate, but a long night awaits us.” said the delighted prankster at the time.
Someone cried, someone laughed. Ďurica recalls the euphoria from Luxembourg
For example, he is still in the cabin from the team at that time Juraj Kucka, Norbert Gyombér, Robert Mak a Patrik Hrošovský. Aj Marek Hamšík whether Ján Novotabut this pair already as part of the coach’s implementation team Francesca Calzono. Defender Ján Ďurica also enjoyed great moments at that time, despite the fact that he did not intervene in the match and watched the whole process at the Stade Jose Barthel only from the substitutes’ bench.
Luxembourg – Slovakia, 2016, source: TASR
“I remember it very well. It was a huge success and we advanced to the championship in France. I firmly believe that our boys will also win. Although they are favorites, Luxembourg is an unpleasant opponent. I like to remember that and I believe that Slovakia will manage to win in this new stadium as well and will get three very important points.” the 41-year-old native of Dunajská Streda wished good luck to his current followers.
“When the referee blew the whistle for the end, we all ‘exploded’ on the bench, and then the celebrations continued in the dressing room, where we jumped on each other, some cried, some laughed, it was a huge euphoria.” answered Ďurica when asked what he remembers the most.
Ivan Schranz, Slovakia, source: ŠPORT.sk
Ivan Schranz, the winger of the Czech Slavia Praha, answered for ŠPORT.sk whether the great success of Slovakia eight years ago, which was born precisely on the soil of Luxembourg, could also be a kind of inspiration for the successors of Marek Hamšík et al. “Of course. It would certainly be great if we could get a nice result like that, but for me the best result will be a win. Whether it will be 1:0 or a higher difference, it doesn’t matter at all, because those three points are important for us.”
In Monday’s meeting in Luxembourg, Slovakia’s footballers, the current ones, cannot yet win a definitive victory in the form of promotion to EURO 2024, which would repeat 2015, but in the case of an ideal result, they can get significantly closer to the set goal. Let’s believe that it will be successful. The match starts at 20:45 at the Stade de Luxembourg. You can find everything important about that meeting at ŠPORT.sk.
2023-10-16 04:35:00
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