Erik Jirka (born 19 September 1997) is a Slovak professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a winger for Czech club

Viktoria Plzeň Viktoria usually refers to Viktoria, a name which is the same as Victoria (name), but may also refer to: Places * FK Viktoria Stadion, stadium of Viktoria Žižkov * Viktoria-Luise-Platz, building in Berlin * Viktoriastadt, now known as Victoria ...

and the Slovakia national team.

Club career

Jirka was a

FC Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava () is a Slovak professional Association football, football club based in Trnava. Historically, it is one of the most successful clubs in the country, having won the Czechoslovak First League five times and the Czechoslovak Cup ...

youth graduate. He made his league debut for Trnava on 8 November 2014 against

Ružomberok Ružomberok (; german: Rosenberg; hu, Rózsahegy; pl, Rużomberk) is a town in northern Slovakia, in the historical Liptov region. It has a population of around 27,000 inhabitants (45,000 with nearby villages). Etymology The name of the initia ...

. In September 2018, Jirka signed a four–year contract with

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

, effective from January 2019. However, in summer 2019, in order to get more playing time, he headed to vice-champions from Radnički Niš for a half-season loan. In January 2020 he was sent on another half-season loan, this time to Polish team

Górnik Zabrze Górnik Zabrze Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Górnik Zabrze S.A. or simply Górnik Zabrze (), is a Polish football club from Zabrze. Górnik is one of the most successful Polish football clubs in history, winning the second-most Poli ...

. In August 2020, Jirka was sent on a loan for a third time since arriving at Red Star, this time to the Spanish side

CD Mirandés Club Deportivo Mirandés is a Spanish football team based in Miranda de Ebro, Province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 3 May 1927, the club competes in the Segunda División, holding home matches at ''Esta ...

for the entire 2020–21 season with an option to buy at the end of a season. On 17 July 2021, Jirka signed with

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo is a Spanish football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926 as a result of the merger of two clubs who had maintained a large sporting rivalry for years in the city: ''Real Stadium Club Ovetense'' and ''Real Club De ...

a two-year contract with a further year dependent on the completion of objectives .

International career

Jirka was a regular in the Slovakia U19 and Slovakia U21 national teams.Erik Jirka profile
at Soccerway He received his first call-up to the main senior national team for a friendly game on 18 November 2020, against Czechia, however, he failed to debut on that occasion. He made his debut on 1 June 2021 in a friendly against Bulgaria. In March 2022, Jirka was additionally called up as an alternate to

Ivan Schranz Ivan Schranz (born 13 September 1993) is a Slovak footballer who plays for Slavia Prague and Slovakia as a forward or winger. Club career Early career Born in Bratislava, Schranz began his career in Inter Bratislava, later he played for Joz ...

for two friendly fixtures against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. In the first match against Norway, on 25 March, Jirka came in as a late second-half replacement for

Lukáš Haraslín Lukáš Haraslín (born 26 May 1996) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a right-winger for Sparta Prague and the Slovak national team. Club career Parma For two seasons Haraslín was a player of Parma's Primavera team. Over the ...

in the 2-0 defeat. However, on 29 March 2022, in a match against

played on a neutral pitch at

Estadio Nueva Condomina Estadio Nueva Condomina, currently known as Estadio Enrique Roca de Murcia for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-use stadium in Murcia, Spain. Completed in 2006, it is used mostly for football (soccer), football matches and hosts the homes matche ...

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

, Jirka scored his first international goal. In the first half, Slovaks took the lead through

Ondrej Duda Ondrej Duda (; born 5 December 1994) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Bundesliga club 1. FC Köln and the Slovakia national team. Club career Duda began his football career at his hometown club ...

. In the second half, in the 72nd minute, Jirka scored with a left-footed shot from outside the

penalty box The penalty box or sin bin (sometimes called the bad box, or simply bin or box) is the area in ice hockey, rugby union, rugby league, roller derby and some other sports where a player sits to serve the time of a given penalty, for an offence not ...

past

Lukáš Hrádecký Lukáš Hrádecký (; born 24 November 1989) is a Finnish association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Bundesliga club Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Bayer Leverkusen and the Finland national football te ...

following a pass by

Róbert Boženík Róbert Boženík (born 18 November 1999) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a forward for Primeira Liga club Boavista, on loan from Eredivisie club Feyenoord, and the Slovakia national team. Club career MŠK Žilina 2018–19 ...

and sealing the 2-0 victory. He remained on the pitch for the entirety of the match.

International goals

Honours

Spartak Trnava *

Fortuna Liga The Slovak Super Liga is the top level football league in Slovakia, currently known as the Fortuna Liga due to a sponsorship arrangement. It was formed in 1993 following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The record for most titles is eleven, ...

: 2017–18 Red Star Belgrade *

Serbian SuperLiga The Serbian Super League ( sr, Супер лига Србије / Super liga Srbije), referred to as the Mozzart Bet Super League ( sr, Моцарт Бет Супер лига / Mozzart Bet Super liga) for sponsorship reasons, is a Serbian profes ...

: 2018–19

References

External links

*
Futbalnet profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jirka, Erik 1997 births Living people Footballers from Trnava Men's association football wingers Slovak men's footballers Slovakia men's youth international footballers Slovakia men's under-21 international footballers Slovakia men's international footballers Slovak expatriate men's footballers FC Spartak Trnava players Red Star Belgrade footballers FK Radnički Niš players Górnik Zabrze players CD Mirandés footballers Real Oviedo players FC Viktoria Plzeň players Slovak First Football League players Serbian SuperLiga players Ekstraklasa players Segunda División players Czech First League players Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Poland Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Spain Slovak expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in the Czech Republic