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Northern Ireland and Slovakia had reached the final of Division B in the previous round of the Nations League, which also counted as a play-off match for the Eurocup play-offs.
Slovakia took the lead in the 17th minute thanks to Parma player Juraj Kucka, who exploited a misunderstanding in the Northern Ireland defense.
It seemed to be the only goal of the match, but Northern Ireland drew in the 87th minute after an own goal.
In extra time, Slovakia decided through Michal Duris in the 110th minute.
So what is it for the opposition who awaits Sweden at the European Championships next summer? Yes, Slovakia has not been very successful since the division of Czechoslovakia in 1993.
Slovakia has reached the World Cup once (2010) and the European Championship once before (2016).
Sweden and Slovakia have met five times. 0-0 and 2-0 to Sweden in the qualifying phase for the 2002 World Cup, in addition to two Swedish victories and a draw in international training.
The big star in Slovakia is Marek Hamsik, 33, who for twelve years was a fan favorite in Naples. Since last year he has played for Dalian Pro in China, where he is teammates with Swedish national team defender Marcus Danielson.
Another veteran is Hertha Berlin defender Peter Pekarik who made his 96th international appearance on Thursday. Other big names include Milan Skriniar, Inter, Stanislav Lobotka, Napoli and Ondrej Duda, Cologne.
Former Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel was expected to return to the squad, but an injury prevented him from playing on Thursday.
On the goalkeeper’s side, however, he has no experience. Fulham’s Marek Rodak, who defended the goal against Northern Ireland, made his only third international appearance.
Slovakia thus took the way back to the European Championship through the League of Nations from the previous round. This year’s National League game, however, has not been a success for Slovakia, who lost to the Czech Republic, Israel and Scotland. This led the Slovak league to fire the league’s captain, Pavel Hapal. Stefan Tarkovic has taken over for the time being and led the team against Northern Ireland.
It may seem like an odd decision in the middle of the playoff game, but it was a success.
