Vratislav Greško (born 24 July 1977) is a Slovak former

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 ...

. His preferred position was

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He was an attacking full-back widely known for his crossing ability.

Club career

Early career

Greško began his career at Dukla Banská Bystrica in 1995, before he was signed by

Inter Bratislava FK Inter Bratislava () is a football club based in Bratislava, Slovakia, temporarily playing its home matches in Stupava. History Inter Bratislava was founded in 1940 by the Apollo refinery (later renamed Slovnaft). Following the end of World Wa ...

in 1997 where he played until 1999.

Bayer Leverkusen

He moved to

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...

in 1999.

Move to Internazionale and Parma

In October 2000, he signed a four–year contract with

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is t ...

for a fee of €4.857 million (exactly 9.5 million

Deutsche Mark The Deutsche Mark (; English: ''German mark''), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was ...

), which media reported a difference figure from 9 billion lire (€4.65 million) to 14 billion lire (€7.23 million) Greško was the first Slovak who ever played for Inter. He made his league debut on 1 November 2000 in a 2–0 victory against

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

. On 5 May 2002, during the last week of the 2001–02 season, Greško headed the ball to

Karel Poborský Karel Poborský (; born 30 March 1972) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a right winger. He was most noted for his technical ability and pace. He began and finished his club career at Dynamo České Budějovice, where his k ...

, allowing him to score in a 2–4 defeat against

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. After the match, he was heavily criticised for the error, which led to Inter losing the scudetto. His performance at Inter Milan was "firm" and "erratic". He spent only eighteen months between November 2000 and June 2002, making a total of 41 league appearances. A swap deal was also made between Internazionale and Parma in June 2002, which saw Greško make a switch for

Matías Almeyda Matías Jesús Almeyda (; born 21 December 1973) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of Greek Super League club AEK Athens. Nicknamed ''El Pelado'' ("bald one") despite his traditionally l ...

, both players were tagged for €16 million The deal was criticized as a financial success than a good deal for the team performance. He was out of favour at his next club,

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

, he made just two full appearances during the 2002–03 season.

Blackburn Rovers

Meanwhile,

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

manager

Graeme Souness Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager, and current TV pundit. A midfielder, Souness was the captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s, player-manager of Ranger ...

was looking for left-sided defensive cover. Greško, who initially played on loan to Blackburn for four months (January–May 2003) was given a full contract in August. He scored twice in his first permanent season at Blackburn, with goals against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

and Bolton Wanderers. During the 2004–05 campaign, he suffered a

cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in a toy Jacob's la ...

damage in December which led to him not playing for the rest of the season. He then did not make a single appearance during the 2005–06 season, and was released when his contract expired in July. Not only this season was over for him, even during the following season, he struggled with form and persistent symptoms.

Move to Nürnberg and return to Bayer Leverkusen

In 2006, he moved to 1. FC Nürnberg, joining his Slovakian teammates

Róbert Vittek Róbert Vittek (; born 1 April 1982) is a Slovak former professional footballer who played as a forward. With 23 goals in 82 matches since 2001, Vittek is the second top scorer in the history of the Slovakia national football team. He played f ...

and

Marek Mintál Marek Mintál (; born 2 September 1977) is a Slovak former professional footballer who played as a attacking midfielder or forward. He is the current manager of 1. FC Nürnberg II and assistant coach of the Slovakia national team. Playing ca ...

. In September 2006, Greško signed there in the light of his injury a strong performance-based one-year contract. In October 2006, he made his Bundesliga debut as a substitute. Overall in the 2006–07 season, he started in 15 matches in the Bundesliga, scoring one goal. In July 2007, Greško returned to Bayer Leverkusen as a free agent on a two-year contract after nearly seven years. In June 2009, Bayer Leverkusen announced that Greško would leave the club.

ŽP ŠPORT Podbrezová

In March 2011, he joined Slovak club ŽP ŠPORT Podbrezová (promoted to the second league 2011–12 – the second highest team event in Slovakia), Where he received a one-year contract in July 2011. On 14 June 2015, he announced end of professional career.Greško zavesil kopačky na klinec: Je čas na niečo nové
14 June 2015

International career

Greško appeared 34 times for the Slovak national team, scoring two goals. He scored his first goal in the A-team on 14 May 2002 in the friendly against

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

International goals

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

Honours

1. FC Nürnberg *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...

2006–07

References

External links

Inter Archive

Leverkusen who's who
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gresko, Vratislav 1977 births Living people People from Banská Bystrica District Sportspeople from the Banská Bystrica Region Slovak footballers Slovak expatriate footballers Slovakia international footballers Slovakia under-21 international footballers FK Inter Bratislava players FK Dukla Banská Bystrica players FK Železiarne Podbrezová players Bayer 04 Leverkusen players Inter Milan players Parma Calcio 1913 players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Italy Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in England Slovak expatriate sportspeople in England Association football defenders Premier League players 1. FC Nürnberg players Slovak Super Liga players Bundesliga players Serie A players Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Slovakia