Samuel Mráz (born 13 May 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Cypriot First Division club Anorthosis, on loan from club Spezia. He also represents the Slovakia national team.

Club career

Senica

Mráz started his football career at hometown club ŠK Malacky, before first moving to TJ Záhoran Kostolište and later to the youth academy of

Senica Senica (; german: Senitz; hu, Szenice) is a town in Trnava Region, western Slovakia. It is located in the north-eastern part of the Záhorie lowland, close to the Little Carpathians. Etymology The name is derived from the word ''seno'' ("hay") ...

. In July 2013, Scottish club

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

showed their interest in him, but in the end he chose to stay in Senica. In February 2014, he won a poll for Best Athlete in the City of Senica in 2013 in the collective category of under-17s. Mráz made his professional debut for Senica against

AS Trenčín AS Trenčín () is a Slovakia, Slovak sports club in the town of Trenčín, most known for its association football, football department. The first team currently plays in the Slovak Super Liga, Fortuna Liga after winning the 2010–11 Slovak Fi ...

on 12 April 2014 as a starter, before being substituted in the 62nd minute. That year, he was in the starting lineup eight times under head coach

Pavel Hapal Pavel Hapal (born 27 July 1969) is a Czech former football player and current manager of Baník Ostrava. Playing career Hapal's professional career began at SK Sigma Olomouc. After the club's successful season when they reached the quarter-fina ...

. On 30 June 2014, he signed a new contract with the team until the end of the 2016–17 season. He scored his first goal for Senica that season in a league match 28 November 2014; a regional derby against Spartak Trnava, which ended in a 1–1 draw. On 25 February 2015, was awarded Best Athlete in the City of 2014 in the under-19 collective category. He made 15 appearances that year.

Empoli

On 19 July 2018, Mráz joined newly promoted

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

team

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...

. Empoli's coach

Aurelio Andreazzoli Aurelio Andreazzoli (born 5 November 1953) is an Italian football coach. He is currently the head coach of club Ternana. Career In 2005, Andreazzoli joined Roma to become head coach Luciano Spalletti's assistant coach, becoming a valuable p ...

fielded Mráz for his first league fixture on 26 August 2018, against

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

in a 2-1 defeat. Mráz came on in 77th minute for Antonino La Gumina. He also became the first Slovak to score in his Serie A debut, when he scored against Federico Marchetti in the 94th minute, after a cross from

Giovanni Di Lorenzo Giovanni di Lorenzo (; born 9 March 1959) is an Italian-German journalist. Editor-in-chief (since 2004) of German nationwide weekly newspaper '' Die Zeit'' and former editor-in-chief of Berlin's liberal daily newspaper ''Der Tagesspiegel'' (19 ...

. On 30 September 2018, he was selected in the starting XI of a game in Italy for the first time. He played 60 minutes of the game against

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

, which Empoli lost 0-1.

Loan to Crotone

On 30 January 2019, Mráz joined

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

club

Crotone Crotone (, ; nap, label= Crotonese, Cutrone or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( grc, Κρότων or ; la, Crotona) in Magna Graecia, it was known as Cotrone from the Middle Ages until ...

on loan until 30 June 2019. On 10 February, he made his debut in a home match against

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

while scoring his first goal for ''I Rossoblu'' two weeks later in a 3–0 home win over

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

Loan to Brøndby

In August 2019, Mráz moved to

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each yea ...

club

Brøndby IF Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a professional association football club based in Brøndbyvester, Capital Region of Denmark. The club was founded in 1964 as a merger between two local clubs and was p ...

on a one-season loan while his new club secured an option to sign him on a permanent basis. On 1 September 2019, he made his Superliga debut for Brøndby as a substitute in a 0–1 loss against FC Midtjylland. Mostly a substitute through the fall of the 2019–20 season, Mráz made two subsequent starts during regular

Kamil Wilczek Kamil Antoni Wilczek (Polish pronunciation: ; born 14 January 1988) is a Polish professional footballer who plays for Piast Gliwice and the Poland national team. He is usually deployed as a striker for both club and country. Wilczek played for ...

's two-match suspension. In the second fixture, a league match against

Esbjerg fB Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber (; commonly known as Esbjerg fB or EfB in short) is a Danish professional football club based in Esbjerg, West Jutland, that plays in the 2nd division, the third-tier of the Danish football league system. Foun ...

, Mráz scored a brace to secure a 2–1 home win and thereby helped consolidate Brøndby's third position in the league table. After Wilczek left in January 2020, Mráz made more appearances and scored his first goal of the new decade on 23 January in a 2–3 loss to AaB. On 30 June 2020, Mráz and teammate

Simon Hedlund Simon Fredrik Hedlund (; born 11 March 1993) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Allsvenskan club Elfsborg. Hedlund joined IF Elfsborg at the age of 16 and debuted in the Allsvenskan in 2012. In 2016, he moved to Uni ...

tested positive for

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, ruling them out for at least a week. He left the club at the end of the season with 23 appearances and five goals to his name, as his loan deal expired.

Loan to Zagłębie Lubin

On 13 August 2020, Mráz joined Polish Ekstraklasa club

Zagłębie Lubin Zagłębie Lubin S.A. () is a Polish professional football club based in Lubin. Founded in 1945 as ''OMTUR Lubin'', the club competes in the Ekstraklasa. History The football team was founded in 1945 as OMTUR Lubin by local members of the ''Yo ...

on a season-long loan with an option to buy. He made his debut as a starter on 21 August in 2–1 home win over

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation' ...

, before being substituted in the 67th minute for Rok Sirk. On 7 December, he scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 home draw against

Piast Gliwice Gliwicki Klub Sportowy Piast Gliwice () is a Polish football club based in Gliwice. In the 2018–19 season, Piast won its first Polish championship. As of 2022–23, it competes in the Ekstraklasa, Poland's top division. History The club wa ...

Spezia

On 9 August 2021, after his loan with Zagłębie Lubin ended, Mráz moved to Serie A club Spezia on a permanent deal, signing a three-year contract. He made his debut on 13 August in a

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

match against

Pordenone Pordenone (; Venetian and fur, Pordenon) is the main ''comune'' of Pordenone province of northeast Italy in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region. The name comes from Latin ''Portus Naonis'', meaning 'port on the Noncello (Latin ''Naon'') River'. ...

. On 23 August, he made his first league appearance for the club as a substitute in the 69th minute for

Emmanuel Gyasi Emanuel Quartsin Gyasi (born 11 January 1994) is a professional footballer who serves as captain and plays as a forward for Serie A club Spezia. Born in Italy, he represents the Ghana national team. Career Gyasi made his Serie C debut for Pis ...

in a 2–2 draw against

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

Loan to Slovan Bratislava

On 2 September 2021, Slovan announced the signing of Mráz on a one-year loan with a subsequent option for a permanent transfer. The move occurred less than a month after his signing with Spezia. Slovan had signed him to increase the internal competition ahead of Europa Conference League group stage as well as domestic duties and to allow Mráz to regain the form, which earned his initial transfer to Serie A.

Loan to Mirandés

On 1 September 2022, Mráz moved on a season-long loan to Mirandés in Spain. He made his debut for the club two days later, replacing Roberto López in the 81st minute of a 3–0 league loss to Villarreal B. The loan was terminated early on 24 January 2023.

Loan to Anorthosis Famagusta

On 24 January 2023, Mráz moved onto another loan, this time to Cypriot First Division club Anorthosis Famagusta.

International career

Mráz has played for every national team youth team from the U15 team through the U21 team. Mráz was first called up to Slovakia's senior national team on 2 October 2018 by the coach Ján Kozák for matches against

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

(a part of

2018–19 UEFA Nations League The 2018–19 UEFA Nations League was the inaugural season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The league phase of the competition ...

) and a friendly against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

later in October. However, Mráz was also an alternate for friendly games against

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

and Slovakia's first

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

match against

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. Nonetheless Kozák faced questions from the press and criticism from the fans on social media for not calling Mráz up earlier in the year, especially for May/June fixture, as Mráz became the top scorer in the finishing Fortuna Liga season. Mráz, however, did not debut under Kozák. Slovakia's most successful coach resigned on 14 October 2018 after a 1-2 derby match loss to Czech Republic. Nonetheless, he debuted on 16 October 2018 in a 1–1 draw in Solna against Sweden, in a game managed by caretaker manager

Štefan Tarkovič Štefan Tarkovič (born 18 February 1973) is a Slovak football manager. He is currently the manager of Slovakia. He previously managed the teams Žilina Žilina (; hu, Zsolna, ; german: Sillein, or ; pl, Żylina , names in other langua ...

, coming on as a substitute for Adam Nemec in the 71st minute.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

:''Scores and results list Slovakia's goal tally first.''

Honours

Slovan Bratislava *

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, ...

: 2021–22 Individual *

Player of the Year: 2017–18 *

top scorer: 2017–18

References

External links

*
FK Senica profile

Eurofotbal profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mraz, Samuel 1997 births Sportspeople from Malacky Living people Slovak footballers Slovakia international footballers Slovakia under-21 international footballers Slovakia youth international footballers Slovak expatriate footballers Association football forwards FK Senica players MŠK Žilina players Empoli F.C. players F.C. Crotone players Brøndby IF players Zagłębie Lubin players Spezia Calcio players ŠK Slovan Bratislava players CD Mirandés footballers Anorthosis Famagusta F.C. players Slovak Super Liga players Serie A players Serie B players Danish Superliga players Ekstraklasa players Segunda División players Cypriot First Division players Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate footballers in Poland Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Italy Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Poland Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Spain Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus