Slovakia will be targeting victory when they take on Malta tonight as they aim to qualify for Russia 2018, which would be their second appearance in the World Cup finals after their participation in 2010.
The Slovak contingent landed at the Malta International Airport yesterday with a 22-man squad that initially also included FC Nordsjaelland’s Stanislav Lobotka and Jan Durica, who plays for Turkish side Trabzonspor. Both retired after sustaining injury during training.
Napoli midfielder Marek Hamsik, named Slovakia’s Player of the Year for a record fourth time in a row on Tuesday, Juraj Kucka, of Milan, Manchester City product Vladimir Weiss and former Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel are among the players called up by Jan Kozak for today’s match.
Despite Malta being anchored to the bottom of Group F, having lost all their four matches so far, 25th-ranked Slovakia are not taking the home team lightly.
“It looks easy on paper but in Europe you do not face weak sides anymore,” Terek Grozny defender Norbert Gyomber, formerly of Roma, said.
“We played against Malta a few years back and it was tough at that time, so we are well prepared for this task ahead, and we hope to win.”
A possible threat for the home side today will be young winger Albert Rusnak, who recently opted for the MLS when signing for Real Salt Lake following a year’s stint in the Dutch league with Groningen.
“Of course, it will be difficult match. We know Malta will threaten with counter-attacks and with ten man behind the ball. We hope to settle down quickly and score an early goal,” Rusnak said.
Adam Nemec and Robert Mak, who scored two goals each in this qualifying campaign, are also in the squad.
Nemec, who pursued his club career with Dinamo Bucharest, scored against both Scotland and Lithuania while Zenit St Petersburg’s Mak grabbed a brace in the 3-0 rout of Scotland.
Slovakia are third in Group F with six points, two behind Slovenia and a distant four from leaders England against whom the Slovaks lost their opener in Trnava, 0-1.
In other matches, Kozak’s team conceded a 1-0 defeat to Slovenia before chalking up two wins at the expense of Scotland (3-0) and Lithuania (4-0).
Their latest international outing was in November when they shared spoils with Austria in a friendly in Vienna.
This will be the seventh time that Malta and Slovakia are locking horns with the eastern Europeans emerging winners five times including the last encounter (Sept. 4, 2014) when Adam Nemec’s goal separated both teams in Zilina.