EURO U21 Championship: Football Agent Insights from Slovakia

BRATISLAVA – The largest continental youth football holiday is returned to Slovakia after a quarter of a century – with the ambition to show Europe that even a small country can host a big event.

This starts on Wednesday, June 11 and will culminate seventeen days later in the Bratislava Brick Field. In the Sport show here and now, the event and its meaning has been brought closer to the former player and present football agent Martin Petráš.

The euro of the twenty -one -year -old is the biggest football event that Slovakia can organize. In the format of 16 teams, the tournament will host one country for the first time in eight cities. 25 years ago he was also in Slovakia, on behalf of eight teams he was hosted by Bratislava, Trnava and Trenčín at the skill of four stadiums. It was at this event that the former real defender Petráš introduced himself and contributed to the best fourth place.

“I believe it will be something special for our country. I always say that our best name is our athletes – and I’m firmly behind it. I hope it will be confirmed this time. As for players, I know from my own experience that almost all major European clubs will come here. Petráš said.

We feel that there is a certain incorporation towards us

Slovakia currently has three players in five large European leagues, others, such as Leo Sauer or Nino Marcelli, are considered the potential stars of Slovak football. The “Sokolík” in the highest Slovak competition can also be helped by a presentation of Slovak football at the new stadiums in Bratislava, Trnava, Dunajská Streda or Prešov.

“We still feel – and I personally perceive it – that there is a certain grip towards us. Our league is often underestimated according to various criteria. Some of those reservations are justified, but the truth is that our league is difficult to sell. That is why I consider the organization of the European championship as a great positive.

In recent years, the stadiums and overall infrastructure have improved significantly in Slovakia. We have beautiful football stalls and I am glad that people will be able to see it – not only in our country, but throughout Europe. I remember that 8-10 years ago, when clubs from abroad came here, they were surprised at what stadiums were played here.

We have made tremendous progress in this. Today we may have smaller but very nice and pure football stadiums – and I am glad that football Europe will finally see them, ” said Petráš.

He played at the time of ME21 in 2000 in the highest Slovak competition for Baník Prievidza. Shortly after the tournament he moved to Jablonec, who worked in the highest Czech competition.

“In our era, there was a completely different time – the transfers abroad just started and the nearest market was the Czechs, where many players left. For us it was a good step at that time.

Much will also depend on the performance of the whole team, because at the moment we do not have individuals that would purely succeed. Sometimes I smile when someone says about the 2005 player that he still has time – while players of the same age are already playing the Premier League, La Liga or even for Real Madrid or Barcelona.

I always say that either the player has it or does not – it does not matter age, but on readiness. For example, Nino, in my opinion, has big football, just needs to play regularly. Whether he or the club can not be even more successful, I don’t want to evaluate – the chances have already been given enough, ” said Petráš.

Can be played with each

Slovaks are waiting in the basic group of Spain (11.6.) In a similar situation, the team was in the basic group with England, Italy and Turkey a quarter of a century ago. After three matches, he finally said goodbye to the Albion competition, who conquered the home 2: 0.

“Romanians don’t have any superhars, but a few young people play in Italy, which is no surprise, as the countries are close to each other. However, most of the team is players from the home league – which has its quality.

Also at the European Championship was the match against them at a very high level. The Italians and Spaniards are, of course, favorites of the group and the whole tournament, especially the Spaniards. But you can play with everyone. We have already climbed the Spaniards, we also have balanced balances against the Italians. It will depend especially on team comfort – in the past we managed big matches thanks to coherence and team.

At home we will play in front of the full stadium, which may be an advantage. We will probably not lose the individual rivals, but we have a chance to succeed if we play compactly, tactically reasonably and have a little luck. But we must remain realists. If we want to think of advancement from the group, we need to win good results against the top teams.

It does not mean that we have to claim that we are going to win the whole tournament just because we play at home. We need to approach this with humility – even in the past we were outsiders and we were able to advance to the Olympic Games. However, there is no need to create unnecessary pressure on the boys, “ evaluated by Petráš.

It is not a rule that Slovak athletes achieve the greatest success in front of the domestic audience. It seems as if their expectations and attention sometimes tied their hands.

The fourth place of SR21 from 2000 is the exception and in this respect Petráš also appealed to fans: “We once simply enjoyed the matches, we didn’t feel any pressure and brought the fans joy and euphoria. I remember the pastures were a great atmosphere, people cheered spontaneously.

I regret that we often cheer only when we are doing well – we are a little fans of success, not only in football, but also in other sports. We have quality world -class players, but only a half -cap stadium comes to home games, as if people were waiting only for big names like Ronaldo – and that’s a shame. “

The atmosphere will be excellent

Former Sparta player Prague or Italian Lecce pointed out during the show that there is a surprise in every tournament. Given the UEFA ranking, Slovakia is the fourth weakest team from participating in Georgia, Finland and Slovenia.

“We need to watch it positively – our Czech matches are sold out, so the atmosphere will be great. It is played at beautiful stadiums in Bratislava, Trnava, Dunajska Streda, Prešov or Kosice – we have really excellent football stalls for such a small country.

It is difficult to highlight individuals, because in such tournaments can also shine a player from whom no one expects it. Important teamality, tactics and some extra creativity will be – if a few extra things and we will be a little luck, we can surprise, ” Closed by Petráš.

• Author: © List/
• Source: TASR