Tomáš Rigo (born 3 July 2002) 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 lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for Czech club Baník Ostrava and the Slovakia national team.

Early and personal life

Rigo was born on 3 July 2002 in Poprad. He grew up playing football in Poprad, Prešov, and Ružomberok. At 16 years old, Rigo went to

SK Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional association football, football football team, club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are ...

for a trial from Liptov.

Club career

Rigo made his professional debut with

Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in t ...

in a

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

group stage match against

Bayer 04 Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. ...

in December 2020. He signed a professional four-year contract with Slavia Prague on 28 January 2021. At the start of the 2021–22 season, Rigo was one of nine Slavia Prague players to play on loan at

Vlašim Vlašim (; ) is a town in Benešov District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 11,000 inhabitants. Vlašim is known for the Vlašim Castle and its English landscape garden, English park. Administrative division Vla� ...

, making seven starts and scoring once by the middle of September. On 28 June 2023, Rigo signed a long-term contract with Baník Ostrava. The same year on 17 December, he made his league debut in a 2–3 loss against his former club, Slavia Prague. Rigo went on to play the full match in a 1–0 victory against FK Pardubice on 17 March 2024. Rigo extended his contract with Baník in February 2025, signing until December 2028.

International career

Having represented Slovakia at under-18 and under-21 level, Rigo received his first call-up to the Slovakia senior team for friendly matches against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

in March 2024. Rigo was named in Slovakia's provisional squad for

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

on 28 May 2024, debuting on 5 June in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

and scored the opening goal in a 4–0 victory. He was named in the final 26-man squad for the final Euro 2024 tournament in Germany but did not make an appearance.

Style of play

His playing style has been compared to that of

Bastian Schweinsteiger Bastian Schweinsteiger ( , ; born 1 August 1984) is a German former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Earlier in his career, he primarily played as a wide midfielder before later switching to a central mi ...

and

Cesc Fàbregas Francesc Fàbregas Soler (; ; born 4 May 1987) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who played as a central midfielder. He is currently the head coach of club Como. Fàbregas came through La Masia, Barcelona's you ...

References

External links

* * *
Slavia profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rigo, Tomas 2002 births Living people Footballers from Poprad Slovak men's footballers Slovakia men's youth international footballers Slovakia men's under-21 international footballers Slovakia men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders SK Slavia Prague players FC Sellier & Bellot Vlašim players FC Baník Ostrava players Czech First League players Czech National Football League players Slovak expatriate men's footballers Slovak expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Expatriate men's footballers in the Czech Republic UEFA Euro 2024 players 21st-century Slovak sportsmen