Euro 2024 preview: Slovakia to test misfiring England

Slovakia are relishing the prospect of taking on misfiring England in their European Championship last-16 fixture in Gelsenkirchen, and have plenty of experience in their side to deal with the pressure of knockout football.

Revelling in the underdog tag, and while there is no doubt England will be heavy favourites to advance to the quarter-finals, they face a compact, hard-working team who have the impressive Stanislav Lobotka as the conductor of the orchestra in midfield.

Slovakia advanced to the knockout rounds following a 1-1 draw with Romania in their final Group E game and finished third in a pool where all four teams ended on four points.

“The English have quality, but every opponent they have played were able to torment them,” said Slovakia midfielder Ondrej Duda speaking on TV Markíza.

Lobotka was named player of the match in two of the three pool games and was crucial in providing balance between defence and attack against Romania, especially when his side were under pressure.

“It (qualification for the last 16) is something indescribable,” Lobotka said. “We did it and I’m most pleased that we did it by playing our own game.

“From the beginning we wanted to play our game and we fought for each other. We will try to get as far as possible (in the tournament).”

Lobotka forms a midfield three with Duda and veteran Juraj Kucka, 37, one of a trio of vastly experienced players in the squad along with right back Peter Pekerik (also 37) and goalkeeper Martin Dubravka (35).

When Slovakia named the trio in their opening game against Ukraine, they were only the second team in Euros history to select three players aged 35 or older in the starting line-up after France in 2008, who had Gregory Coupet (then 35), Claude Makelele (35) and Lilian Thuram (36).

Slovakia’s Italian coach Francesco Calzona, 55, had been an assistant all his career until he landed the head tactician role with the national team in 2022 and has transformed them into a group of hard workers who fight for every ball.

“I’m very happy that we have progressed, I think we’ve achieved something important,” Calzona said. “We were able to play three games at a high level against teams that are higher in the (FIFA) rankings (at the time).

“We now have another goal ahead of us, we want to last as long as possible in the tournament. I believe that we will be well prepared for the last 16.”

Gareth Southgate’s gamble of naming long-injured Luke Shaw to his squad for Euro 2024 could soon pay off with the left back expected to make an imminent return in what would be his first game in more than four months.

While the 29-year-old is not expected to start, he could provide a boost off the bench to a squad that has been without a left-footer in his position.

“It’s a calculated risk,” Southgate told reporters when his squad was announced earlier this month. “I think you can take one gamble and that’s a gamble, we’ve got enough evidence to believe it can pay off.”

Defence has been the most positive part of England’s performance in Germany, with them conceding one goal in the group stage.

While boasting some of the world’s best attackers, England mustered only two goals in three games and were 20th in goal attempts.

Newcastle’s Kieran Trippier is right-footed and so tends to turn inside, while Shaw is an attacking defender who loves to make overlapping runs down the left flank much like the team’s right back Kyle Walker.

England’s two goals by Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane were assisted by Bukayo Saka and Walker on the right.

Shaw was solid in England’s 2020 European Championship run, scoring an early goal in the team’s loss to Italy in a penalty shootout in the final. At the 2022 World Cup, he was one of six England players to spend the majority of games in the opposition’s end.

There is also speculation around Trippier’s fitness after he sat out a training session earlier this week. A calf injury saw the Newcastle defender miss eight Premier League games near the end of the season. Southgate is expected to start Ezri Konza in his place.

United manager Erik ten Hag called Shaw “the best left back in the world” last month, while acknowledging injuries had been the common theme of the player’s career since he suffered a gruesome double leg break in 2015, a career-threatening injury that kept him out of training for a year.

He was also sidelined for several weeks in 2022 when he underwent surgery to remove bolts from the leg.

Hampered by a hamstring injury this past Premier League season, he played 15 games for United, the second lowest in his 10-year career.

“This guy is so good. But he has suffered a horrible injury at the start of his career and because of this he will never be able to play 60 games per season,” Ten Hag told Dutch media.

Shaw’s last game was on 18 February against Luton Town, which he said he never should have played. It set him up in a race against time to feature for England.

“If the manager asks me to play, I’m never going to say no. But I shouldn’t have played (at Luton),” Shaw said recently. “It’s kind of everyone’s fault. Partly my fault, partly the (United) medical staff.

“I came back too quickly and I actually ended up getting another injury in my hamstring.”

Saka, who plays on the right wing for England, scoffed at pundits’ suggestions that he should slot in at left back where he played earlier in his career.

“I don’t think putting me out of position is the solution,” Saka said.

Midfielder Jude Bellingham (pictured above) has urged caution, warning that smaller nations are no pushovers and the performances of other perceived minnows in Germany is a great example.

England finished top of Group C but stumbled through three tepid first-round games and now face third-placed side Slovakia on Sunday in Gelsenkirchen after a wild race to the finish in Group E where all four teams finished on four points.

“I think people look at the draw and see Slovakia and think it will be an easy game,” Bellingham told England’s in-house “Lions Den” broadcast on Thursday.

“It definitely is not the case because they will be a different type of threat and will be difficult to break down,” he said. “I think when you play nations who come at you a bit more, it’s a lot more open.

“I think that you’re always going to have tough games at this point in the tournament,” Bellingham added.

Slovakia shocked Belgium 1-0 in their opening match.

“The lesser teams, if you will…the smaller nations, have made progress,” said Slovakia manager Francesco Calzona. “We can cause problems for the more prestigious nations.

“We are the Cinderella story of the group stage,” he added.

While England only had 10 attempts on target in the group stage, their defence – considered a weak spot pre-tournament – has become a source of optimism heading into the knockout round. They conceded the fewest expected goals (xG) in the group stage.

England last played Slovakia in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers when they claimed 2-1 and 1-0 wins.

Southgate’s side’s reliance on individual talent and the pressure they will be under to win will provide Slovakia with an opportunity for a major upset said Slovak captain Milan Skriniar.

Centre-back Skriniar believes while England may have better individuals, Slovakia can counter them with their work as a collective.

“In my opinion, they rely on individual quality and they know that they have players who can decide matches for them,” said Skriniar. “That’s why I think we can handle them through teamwork.”

Skriniar added the pressure will be squarely on the English, and that has already affected how they have played at the tournament in Germany.

“Even in the first match (a 1-0 win for England over Serbia), they went in with the fact that they are England, and they have to manage things in terms of results.

“The media and fans (have been critical) after their matches, so they will be under much more pressure than us. It can work in our favour.”

England have an array of talented attacking players and Skriniar admits all 11 on the pitch for Slovakia will have to perform their defensive duties, starting from the forwards.

Having said that, they will not just sit back and will aim to take the game to England.

“The defensive phase will definitely be important, we have to start defending from the attackers. But the key is to play football,” Skriniar said.

“We have to show them that we can play. Let them know that they are up against a team that knows what it wants.”

The winners of England and Slovakia will play either Italy or Switzerland in the quarter-finals.