Betting odds Slovakia

 World Cup Appearances: 0
Best World Cup: N/A
FIFA World Ranking: 33
Manager: Vladimir Weiss
Captain: Marek Hamsik

Slovakia Team Profile

The World Cup always welcomes new faces and Slovakia will be one of the ‘New boys on the block’ in South Africa as players & fans alike get all excited at the prospect of their first ever appearance in a World Cup finals. However, one of the reasons as to why Slovakia will be appearing in their début finals is because of the split between Czechoslovakia, and this then led to the founding of Slovakia in 1993. They have, though, had three failed attempts in 1998, 2002 & 2006 but finally managed to end their drought with success in 2010 after bypassing a competitive Group 3 in European qualifying.

The Slovaks, as we like to call them, play in their white strip for home games and blue for away. They aren’t the biggest of footballing nations by any stretch of the imagination and this is evident when you breeze through their squad names in that very few will stand out. This is certainly the case if you concentrate solely on English football as just a handful of Slovakian internationals ply their trade in The Premiership or The Championship, with Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel one of the more well know players for Slovakia. West Brom’s Marek Cech might also jog a few memory’s.

Slovakia Key Players

Marek Hamsik

Quite why he is the captain of Slovakia I’m not sure as he just doesn’t seem the leading type, but the Napoli playmaker is a very gifted individual and will be the main inspiration behind Slovakia’s forward play. Hamsik, from what I’ve seen of him at Napoli, tends to play just off the striker and drifts into gaps that are handmade by the strikers. He is a good reader of the play in that he will get into good positions to score, he has a decent hit on him as well, but he’s basically going to be Slovakia’s playmaker in South Africa, threading through balls to their striking duo of Robert Vittek & Sestak. Hamsik is a tricky customer as he can leave a defender for dead with his quick turns and skills, but whether he is a natural born leader is open to debate.

Strengths

Slovakia were a stubborn, robust side during qualification and were only once beaten by more than one goal in the qualifiers. However, one quality which did surprise me was in front of goal in that Slovakia scored in all but one of their ten qualifiers, scoring 22 goals overall. They were also very tidy at the back conceding just 10 in return, which does highlight their solidity. Hamsik will be the man to watch for them as he is a tricky player when in possession.

Weaknesses

With the exception of captain Marek Hamsik, who even he isn’t exactly proven at this level what with South Africa being his very first World Cup appearance, Slovakia are short of a world-class player or two and have relied heavily on some solid team efforts through qualifying, while we mustn’t forget that the group they qualified from was arguably the weakest of the lot on paper. They’ll need to excel if they’re to have a successful stay in South Africa, although I’m sure picking up a couple of points here and there would please the fans back home.

Slovakia Qualification for the World Cup

Sector: European
Group: 3
Position: 1st
Win-Draw-Lose: 7-1-2
Goals Scored: 22
Goals Conceded: 10

Slovakia finished top of what was a competitive group, but only because their wasn’t a world class nation in sight. The best team in Group 3 were the Czech’s and they massively underperformed during qualifying which paved the wave for a surprise entrant – Slovakia. Moreover, Slovakia didn’t qualify until the very last qualifier when they won 1-0 in Poland.

World Cup Potential: 2/5

Slovakia coach Vladimir Weiss will have been delighted with the group he was drawn as Italy, Paraguay and New Zealand popped out of the hat to form a lightweight Group F. The Italians are the favourites to progress but they are far from unbeatable, while the results they attain from their games with Paraguay and New Zealand are ultimately what will decide the difference from making it through the group and faltering at the first hurdle. They’ll be an unknown quantity for some, even for us in many respects, and while we don’t rate their chances in the slightest of winning the tournament altogether, progressing from the group remains a real possibility.

Slovakia World Cup Betting Odds

Slovakia to win the World Cup: 750/1 bWin

Before the World Cup the odds on Slovakia were 300/1 

Official Slovakia World Cup Squad

Goalkeepers

Jan Mucha (Legia Warsaw)

Dusan Kuciak (Vaslui)

Dusan Pernis (Dundee United)

Defenders

Marek Cech (West Bromwich Albion)

Jan Durica (Hannover 96)

Peter Pekarik (Wolfsburg)

Martin Petras (Cesena)

Kornel Salata (Slovan Bratislava)

Martin Skrtel (Liverpool)

Radoslav Zabavnik (Mainz)

Midfielders

Marek Hamsik (Napoli)

Jan Kozak (Plitechnica)

Juraj Kucka (Sparta Prag)

Marek Sapara (Ankaragücü)

Zdeno Strba (Skoda Xanthi)

Kamil Kopunek (Spartak Trnava)

Miroslav Stoch (Twente Enschede)

Vladimir Weiss junior (Manchester City)

Strikers

Filip Holosko (Besiktas Istanbul)

Stanislav Sestak (Bochum)

Martin Jakubko (Moskau)

Erik Jendrisek (Schalke)

Robert Vittek (OSC Lille)

last update: 18 June 2010

World Cup 2010 Slovakia Fixtures – Group F

28/06 – 15.00 – Round of the last 16: Slovakia – Holland: 1-2

World Cup 2010 Group F - Table

World Cup Fixtures and Results

Group F World Cup Betting Preview: The defending Champions have a tricky, but not unassailable group to contend with, but one of South America’s dark horses could cause an upset in Group F.

World Cup Teams: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia

Almost four years ago, Italy’s economical, conservative and efficient style of play, led to them to World Cup glory against France. It all came down to a penalty shoot out after the two goalscorers in the match, Italy’s Materazzi and France’s Zinidane Zidane had come together with in the infamous head-butting incident by the French master. Italy won 5-3 on penalties after beating Australia, the Ukraine and then Germany in the semi finals to reach the World Cup Final. That victory gave Italy their fourth World Cup, and betting on Italy at the World Cup for 2010, should still be strong as they look to retain their title. The personnel, on the large part, may have changed from the 2006 final, but there are still some stalwarts in the mix, which gives Italy a good blend of experience and youth. Some of the mentionable youngsters are Giuseppe Rossi, Alberto Aquilani and Giampaolo Pazzini. They have one of the most experience and accomplished goalkeepers in the World, in Gianluigi Buffon, and with Fabio Cannavaro still a major influence at the back, you know what you are going to get from Italy, and that is control, if not the most attacking dynamism or flair. Their midfield still boasts Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso, but it was largely Alberto Gilardino’s goals which helped Italy comfortably win their group ahead of the Republic of Ireland. The Italians are probably right in the position where they want to be on the World Stage, as they are not drawing so much attention in terms of betting on the World Cup, but they will be confidently strong going in to the tournament, after not losing a match during qualification. Only conceding seven goals through their European qualification, Italy, despite concerns from pundits over the aging legs in their team, have great pedigree in the tournament, and will always be a threat. In fact, only six players in the recent squad against Cameroon were 30 years or older. Coach Marcelo Lippi is not afraid of making tactical and personnel changes to the Azzurri, and has racked up 31 consecutive matches without defeat. After qualifying for the World Cup, Italy have drawn friendly matches against Holland and Cameroon, while edging out Sweden 1-0 in another friendly. This shows everything about Italy, they are unlikely to go out and look to be the World Cup’s top scorers, and they will be incredibly hard to break down. This is the kind of mettle, determination and tactical know-how which can make them World Cup Champions again. If they do, it will be the second time they have won the World’s Premier football tournament twice in a row. Italy’s World Cup fixtures start them off against Paraguay and is one of the most interesting group openers. Paraguay could be one of the dark horses of the World Cup, after looking mightily impressive during qualification. They finished third, just one point behind winners Brazil, and level on points with Chile. They won’t be any slouches at the World Cup, and could turn in some exciting, attacking football. This is their fourth consecutive appearance the World Cup, and in their last effort, they finished behind England and Sweden in the group stage. Their game will be about offence, with Nelson Valdez a strong forward, along with Roque Santa Cruz and Salvador Cabanas. They have some talent up front, but there will be questions over their defence, but they could provide, as they showed in qualifying, an exciting spark in Group F, and should push hard for a place in the last sixteen. Their enthusiasm and speed could cause Italy problems in their opening Group G fixture, which would blow the group wide open. The second European side in Group G, Slovakia will be no pushovers either, after looking extremely good through qualification, edging out Slovenia for top spot, and eliminating the Czech Republic. This is the first time they will play at the World Cup as an independent nation, but have experience as the former Czechoslovakia. A lot of their stars play in the German Bundesliga, which puts them in good standing, and makes them a real threat, and they could take an early advantage starting against the group minnows New Zealand. New Zealand have drawn a tough group, and they will struggle to pick up any rewards from 2010. With Australia moving to the Asian qualification zone, that left the Kiwis pretty much an open passage through to the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa from the Oceania zone, with competition only coming from New Caledonia, Fiji and Vanautu. Their toughest match came in the playoff qualification match against third placed Asian team Bahrain. The All Whites won that 1-0 on aggregate, to reach their second World Cup finals. They have a tough task on their hands though, and their best chance may come in a spirited first effort against Slovakia, but even that seems like an uphill struggle.

Group F Betting Stats (World Cup History form in brackets)
(Final outcomes of Golden Goal, Extra Time and Penalty Shoot Out results count as wins or losses)

Italy: The World Cup Champions don’t have the easiest of groups, but will say a lot about them if they win it. They have met Paraguay once before in the World Cup, winning 1-0 in 1950. They have never played New Zealand before in the World Cup, and as for Slovakia, Italian have won twice against them in their former guise as Czechoslovakia, once in the 1934 final after extra time. (P77, W45, D15, L17)

Paraguay: Have their one defeat against Italy as their World Cup history against their 2010 opponents. No experience against the other two sides on the top of the World Stage, but will pose a threat to all of their group rivals. (P22, W6, D7, L9)

Slovakia: This is their debut as an independent nation, and will look to try and press home the form they showed in qualification. Just the matches against Italy behind them as the former Czechoslovakia, otherwise untested against the others. (P0, W0, D0, L0)

New Zealand: Rank outsiders in the group, with no World Cup history against any of their opponents. Struggled terribly in only previous World Cup. (P3, W0, D0, L3)

World Cup Group F - Table

Group Stage Fixture List

World Cup Betting at Boylesports for Outright Winner of Group F, has Paraguay at 10/3, Slovakia at 6/1, New Zealand at 50/1 and Italy are favourites at 4/11 (and 12/1 to Win the World Cup Outright).

 World Cup Appearances: 0
Best World Cup: N/A
FIFA World Ranking: 33
Manager: Vladimir Weiss
Captain: Marek Hamsik

Slovakia Team Profile

The World Cup always welcomes new faces and Slovakia will be one of the ‘New boys on the block’ in South Africa as players & fans alike get all excited at the prospect of their first ever appearance in a World Cup finals. However, one of the reasons as to why Slovakia will be appearing in their début finals is because of the split between Czechoslovakia, and this then led to the founding of Slovakia in 1993. They have, though, had three failed attempts in 1998, 2002 & 2006 but finally managed to end their drought with success in 2010 after bypassing a competitive Group 3 in European qualifying.

The Slovaks, as we like to call them, play in their white strip for home games and blue for away. They aren’t the biggest of footballing nations by any stretch of the imagination and this is evident when you breeze through their squad names in that very few will stand out. This is certainly the case if you concentrate solely on English football as just a handful of Slovakian internationals ply their trade in The Premiership or The Championship, with Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel one of the more well know players for Slovakia. West Brom’s Marek Cech might also jog a few memory’s.

Slovakia Key Players

Marek Hamsik

Quite why he is the captain of Slovakia I’m not sure as he just doesn’t seem the leading type, but the Napoli playmaker is a very gifted individual and will be the main inspiration behind Slovakia’s forward play. Hamsik, from what I’ve seen of him at Napoli, tends to play just off the striker and drifts into gaps that are handmade by the strikers. He is a good reader of the play in that he will get into good positions to score, he has a decent hit on him as well, but he’s basically going to be Slovakia’s playmaker in South Africa, threading through balls to their striking duo of Robert Vittek & Sestak. Hamsik is a tricky customer as he can leave a defender for dead with his quick turns and skills, but whether he is a natural born leader is open to debate.

Strengths

Slovakia were a stubborn, robust side during qualification and were only once beaten by more than one goal in the qualifiers. However, one quality which did surprise me was in front of goal in that Slovakia scored in all but one of their ten qualifiers, scoring 22 goals overall. They were also very tidy at the back conceding just 10 in return, which does highlight their solidity. Hamsik will be the man to watch for them as he is a tricky player when in possession.

Weaknesses

With the exception of captain Marek Hamsik, who even he isn’t exactly proven at this level what with South Africa being his very first World Cup appearance, Slovakia are short of a world-class player or two and have relied heavily on some solid team efforts through qualifying, while we mustn’t forget that the group they qualified from was arguably the weakest of the lot on paper. They’ll need to excel if they’re to have a successful stay in South Africa, although I’m sure picking up a couple of points here and there would please the fans back home.

Slovakia Qualification for the World Cup

Sector: European
Group: 3
Position: 1st
Win-Draw-Lose: 7-1-2
Goals Scored: 22
Goals Conceded: 10

Slovakia finished top of what was a competitive group, but only because their wasn’t a world class nation in sight. The best team in Group 3 were the Czech’s and they massively underperformed during qualifying which paved the wave for a surprise entrant – Slovakia. Moreover, Slovakia didn’t qualify until the very last qualifier when they won 1-0 in Poland.

World Cup Potential: 2/5

Slovakia coach Vladimir Weiss will have been delighted with the group he was drawn as Italy, Paraguay and New Zealand popped out of the hat to form a lightweight Group F. The Italians are the favourites to progress but they are far from unbeatable, while the results they attain from their games with Paraguay and New Zealand are ultimately what will decide the difference from making it through the group and faltering at the first hurdle. They’ll be an unknown quantity for some, even for us in many respects, and while we don’t rate their chances in the slightest of winning the tournament altogether, progressing from the group remains a real possibility.

Slovakia World Cup Betting Odds

Slovakia to win the World Cup: 750/1 bWin

Before the World Cup the odds on Slovakia were 300/1 

Official Slovakia World Cup Squad

Goalkeepers

Jan Mucha (Legia Warsaw)

Dusan Kuciak (Vaslui)

Dusan Pernis (Dundee United)

Defenders

Marek Cech (West Bromwich Albion)

Jan Durica (Hannover 96)

Peter Pekarik (Wolfsburg)

Martin Petras (Cesena)

Kornel Salata (Slovan Bratislava)

Martin Skrtel (Liverpool)

Radoslav Zabavnik (Mainz)

Midfielders

Marek Hamsik (Napoli)

Jan Kozak (Plitechnica)

Juraj Kucka (Sparta Prag)

Marek Sapara (Ankaragücü)

Zdeno Strba (Skoda Xanthi)

Kamil Kopunek (Spartak Trnava)

Miroslav Stoch (Twente Enschede)

Vladimir Weiss junior (Manchester City)

Strikers

Filip Holosko (Besiktas Istanbul)

Stanislav Sestak (Bochum)

Martin Jakubko (Moskau)

Erik Jendrisek (Schalke)

Robert Vittek (OSC Lille)

last update: 18 June 2010

World Cup 2010 Slovakia Fixtures – Group F

28/06 – 15.00 – Round of the last 16: Slovakia – Holland: 1-2

World Cup Group F - Table

World Cup Fixtures and Results

World Cup Group of Slovakia