Sitting bottom of Group B, Slovakia desperately need to pickup points in their second match. They face a Russian side who just managed to escape their Euro 2016 opener with a draw against England.
Last Matches
Slovakia’s 2-1 loss to Wales means that they face an extremely difficult battle to get into the knockout rounds, and this match has become an absolute must-win if they are to stand any chance of progressing from the group.
Jan Kozak will be hoping he can get the best out of his charges, who will be deeply disappointed with their opening loss. With the Welsh already on the path to progression, the rest of Group B will be looking to secure their first victory, and ensure that they give themselves a shot at finishing top come week three.
In Russia’s last match, coach Leonid Slutsky’s men were largely outplayed by the favourites to progress, but managed to snare an unlikely point right at the death. The captain lead by example, with Vasil Beretzuki tapping in a powerful Denis Glushakov header at the back post, and the wild celebrations that went with the 92nd minute goal were enough to spark something more sinister in the crowd. In that moment, Beretzuki managed to simultaneously salvage a point for Russia and set off a series of nasty events off the pitch that would be circulated for days to come.
Hooliganism vs Passion
In unfortunate scenes that have since dominated the media view, Russian and English thugs clashed after the match, with UEFA threatening both with expulsion from the tournament. Both sides have a long running history of fan violence and misbehaviour, and there is certainly plenty of bad blood between the two.
With reports of Moscow endorsing their ultras, and the English press condemning their sides, it has only whipped the media circus into a further frenzy.
Contrast this to the controlled passion of the Welsh and Slovakian fans – making their Euro debuts, proud to be back in a major tournament. A fantastic spectacle and amazing support, their singing, chanting and overall excellent demeanour was a delight to behold. Hopefully the rest of the tournament will see fans in these kinds of peaceful passionate spirits, rather than the violence-inciting kind.
Whether the Russian and Slovakian fans will clash remains to be seen, however, there is no doubt that the fans will be much better behaved this time round. Animosity of the level witnessed in their first match, should not come to bear when the team you face has only one other major tournament appearance to its name.
BREAKING: Russia have been handed a suspended disqualification from #EURO2016 and €150,000 fine by Uefa pic.twitter.com/EGTv4LwmbM
— Onefootball (@Onefootball) June 14, 2016
Key men missing and need to show up
Marek Hamsik has to show up. In the opening 10 mins of the first group game he threatened, with one mazy run and strike only being turned away by a fantastic piece of defending. However, throughout the rest of the game he could not live up to his hype, and subsequently could not contribute enough to his sides cause. Instead, it was Welsh star Gareth Bale who grabbed the headlines, becoming the first British player to score directly from a free-kick with a stunning long range effort, mere hours before Eric Dier became the second with his effort against the Russians.
Russia were ecstatic with their late late point, more so as they were largely unimpressive throughout the match against England and could only muster half of the shots of their opponents.
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