As arrivals go it was hardly one that sent a grand statement. The plane that carried Jan Kozak and his Slovakia squad from Bratislava to Dublin on Monday morning entered Irish air space to no little bemusement on the ground. In short, they had not been expected. And so air traffic control had to ask them to circle and circle until a landing slot could be allocated.
The farcical nature of the situation was reinforced when the plane was able to touch down and, once again, it was held – this time on the outskirts of the airport while a parking spot was found. Kozak and the players finally strolled through arrivals at lunchtime, looking supremely unflustered, it should be said.
Slovakia are in town to fine tune their Euro 2016 preparations in a friendly against the Republic of Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday night and they will, of course, provide group stage opposition at the finals for England and Wales, together with Russia.
It has been easy to feel that they have flown under the radar but Kozak, the manager, made it plain that to underestimate his team would be a mistake. “Underdogs? No, I don’t think so,” Kozak said. “Because we will fight. We will be very hard to beat.”
The 61-year-old, who was once a battle-hardened midfielder for Slovakia, offered a nice line in gritty realism and in seeking to remove the wind from various sails – particularly those of England. Roy Hodgson’s team has the only 100% record in qualification and the nation is currently revelling in the afterglow of Saturday’s come-from-behind victory over Germany in Berlin.
But, to paraphrase Kozak, it is one thing to do the business in qualification and quite another to follow suit at a championship. “With regard to the English, there is a difference between preparation for a championship and the championship itself,” Kozak said. “We can also see that in the last match between Germany and England. I like England’s young players but we will see how they do at the Euros.
“Everybody knows what English football means. I like the fact that it is a religion in England and I watch the Premier League every weekend, where it is great to see the full stadia. I expect a very good game from England because they didn’t lose a point during qualification but I still have to say that there is a difference between the championship and qualifying.”
This will be Slovakia’s first appearance at a European Championship and they got there in some style, beating Spain 2-1 at home en route to their finish as runners-up in qualifying Group C.
Martin Skrtel and Marek Hamsik – the Liverpool centre-half and Napoli playmaker respectively – are their most recognisable names but much is expected of the Milan defensive midfielder Juraj Kucka and the POAK winger Robert Mak. Manchester City fans will also remember the winger on the other flank, Vladimir Weiss, who now plays for Al-Gharafa in Qatar.
Kozak has told the press which players he will start against Ireland, which is always a ballsy, confident move and it will feature only four of the lineup that will likely begin the Euros for him against Wales – the goalkeeper Matus Kozacik, the right-back Peter Pekarik, Skrtel and Hamsik.
Slovakia do not have the depth of the nations that are more established at this level and Kozak wants to road-test some of his squad members against Ireland, although it is clear that he cannot countenance injuries to key men between now and June.
One of his principal worries is up front, where his main man is Michal Duris, who has scored plenty of goals for Viktoria Plzen in the Czech league this season but it is easy to add the caveat that it is only the Czech league. Kozak also has Adam Nemec, who has failed to score all season for Willem II in Holland and then, there is the legendary Robert Vittek. At 33, though, Vittek has slowed down. Duris will miss out against Ireland because of injury – Vittek will start – while the left-back, Tomas Hubocan, is also out.
Kozak said that the Republic of Ireland had been chosen as warm-up opposition due to their similarity in style with England and Wales, and there is the fervent hope in Slovakia that they can play in France as they did at their only previous appearance at a major finals – the 2010 World Cup, when they reached the last 16.
“One thing with England,” Kozak added, “is that it’s hard for them to play at big tournaments because everyone in England wants them to win so badly, especially after this unbeaten qualification. The expectation is so big.”
Kozak intends to explode from the shadows.
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