Samuel Slovák (born 17 October 1975) 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 lea ...

who played as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

and currently serves as an assistant coach of

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. Best known for his technical and passing abilities, his career was mostly associated with Slovan Bratislava, which he also captained for several years.

Club career

Slovák was born in

Nitra Nitra (; also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, situated at the foot of Zobor Mountain in the valley of the river Nitra (river), Nitra. It is located 95 km east of Bratislava. With a population of ...

. After a brief spell at local

FC Nitra FC Nitra is a Slovak association football club, playing in the town of Nitra. Established in 1909, FC Nitra is one of the oldest football clubs in Slovakia. History Czechoslovak era Nitra were promoted and relegated 4 times from the Czechoslov ...

, the 19-year-old signed with

ŠK Slovan Bratislava ŠK Slovan Bratislava (, "Bratislava Slavs") is a professional association football, football club based in Bratislava, Slovakia, that plays in the Slovak First Football League. Founded as I. ČSŠK Bratislava in 1919, the club changed its name ...

, where he appeared regularly from an early age. In the summer of 1997, Slovák moved abroad, joining Spain's

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1922, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez L� ...

. During his spell, he was sparingly used while the club was in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

(with a maximum input of 27 matches in 1999–2000's

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

, without promotion), also being loaned to former side Slovan for one year. Slovák moved in 2002 to neighbouring Czech Republic, signing for

Gambrinus liga The Czech First League () also known as the Chance Liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Czech Republic and the highest level of the Czech Republic football league system. Seasons typically run from ...

title holders

FC Slovan Liberec FC Slovan Liberec (), commonly referred to as Slovan Liberec or simply Slovan, is a Czech professional association football, football club based in the city of Liberec. The club is one of the most successful in the Czech Republic, having won thr ...

. After six games and three goals, his

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

was finished after he suffered a serious knee injury. In the January 2004 transfer window, when fully recovered, Slovák changed countries again, signing for 1. FC Nürnberg, where he teamed up with compatriots

Marek Mintál Marek Mintál (; born 2 September 1977) is a Slovak professional football coach and a former player who played as a attacking midfielder or forward. Playing career Mintál started to play football in Slovak club MŠK Žilina, with whom he won ...

and

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 fo ...

, being the least successful player of the trio. In mid-October of the following year, the 30-year-old left the Germans and returned to Slovan Bratislava. In the 2006–07 campaign, he helped the team to a third-place finish, scoring twice from 27 appearances. After appearing in less than half of the matches in 2009–10, with Slovan finishing in second position in the

Slovak Super Liga The Slovak First Football League (), officially known as Niké liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Slovakia and the highest level of the Football in Slovakia, Slovak football league system. It was formed ...

, Slovák retired from football due to recurring knee problems, aged nearly 35. He returned to his main club in 2011, being appointed manager of the reserves. In the 2012–13 season, Slovák led Slovan to the double. He left the ''

Štadión Pasienky Stadion Pasienky is a multi-purpose stadium in Bratislava, Slovakia. The stadium holds 11,591 people. It is used mostly for football matches and was the home ground of Slovan Bratislava from 2009 to 2018. At present, it is used by Slovan's reser ...

'', however, being appointed at Liberec.

International career

Slovák won his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for

at the age of 20, going on to appear in a further 19 games in the following decade, although he went through a large period of international inactivity, playing no matches from 2002 to 2004.

Honours

Player

Slovan Bratislava *

: 1994–95, 1995–96, 2008–09 *

Slovak Cup The Slovak Cup (), currently named Slovnaft Cup due to sponsorship agreement with Slovnaft, is the only nationwide Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in Football in Slovakia, Slovak football. The winner qualifies for the UEFA Euro ...

: 1996–97, 2009–10

Manager

Slovan Bratislava *

: 2012–13 *

: 2012–13

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Slovak, Samuel 1975 births Living people Footballers from Nitra Slovak men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Slovak First Football League players ŠK Slovan Bratislava players FC Slovan Liberec players La Liga players Segunda División players CD Tenerife players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players 1. FC Nürnberg players Slovakia men's international footballers Slovak expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in the Czech Republic Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Spain Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Germany Slovak football managers FC Slovan Liberec managers Expatriate football managers in the Czech Republic