England have not impressed at the Euros. They won their group and ended up on the “easier” side of the draw but in knockout football there are no guarantees and in Slovakia players, fans and experts are hopeful of causing an upset in the last 16 game in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday.
England could only draw against Denmark and Slovenia while Slovakia beat Belgium in their first game. “[England] are a great team with amazing individuals,” said Adrian Gula, a former Wisla Krakow and Slovakia Under-21 coach. “[But] I wanted to play them in the last 16 given their performances in the tournament. I believe we can cause a big upset and I hope the boys and the coaching staff can pull it off. We will be the underdogs and we prospered in that role against Belgium. Our playing style is quite unforgiving, very proactive.”
The former Slovakia international Adam Nemec, who plays for Voluntari in Romania, was even more forthright in his assessment. “If we’re honest, we can say that England are miserable at the moment,” he said. “They are not nice to watch, they are not putting in good performances and the coach and the players are under enormous pressure back home. We can exploit that. Anything can happen at this stage.”
The Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka said after Slovakia’s game against Belgium, when they knew they would face Spain or England: “I would like to face my teammates from Newcastle, Anthony Gordon and Kieran Trippier. It’s a country where I live and a league where I play and I would like to play them.“
He added: “Look at the team we have. There are plenty of young players who are already experienced and play in good leagues. It’s important to believe and have faith in yourselves. I have said it from the beginning: it’s important to have that kind of healthy confidence.
“Our first goal was achieved: it was important to get out from the group. The opponent now is tough, but you have to believe in your strength and to have the highest ambitions.”
Three Slovakia players were asked if they preferred to play Spain or England and all three opted for Harry Kane and co. Lukas Haraslin, the Sparta Prague winger, said: “I would like to play against England as we haven’t played them recently. We played Spain at the last Euros and we all know how that ended [a 5-0 defeat].
Stanislav Lobotka added a note of caution: “You can say that England are not at their best but at some time they will click and kick on, it is just a question of when.”
