Slovakia will look to build on its winning momentum as it faces Ukraine in their second Group E match of the 2024 European Championship at Düsseldorf Arena on Friday.
The Slovakians know not to get too excited by an opening win. At the 2021 European Championship they beat Poland but then lost to Sweden and Spain and didn’t qualify for the knockout stages.
That meant there was only “a bit of euphoria for a few short hours” when Slovakia beat Belgium this time, coach Francesco Calzona said.
Ukraine, on the other hand, had a shock 0-3 loss to Romania which included costly errors from Real Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin. Another loss could mean elimination for Ukraine, which was a quarterfinalist in 2021.
One option for Ukraine coach Serhiy Rebrov could be to replace 34-year-old captain Taras Stepanenko with the 22-year-old Volodymyr Brazhko in defensive midfield. Brazhko debuted for the team only in March as Ukraine qualified for Euro 2024 through the playoffs.
The average age of Slovakia’s starting lineup in the win over Belgium was over 30 as the team relied on the experience of two 37-year-olds, defender Peter Pekarik and Juraj Kucka, and the 35-year-old goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.
Ukraine’s players against Romania were on average four and a half years younger. The teams have a fairly even record, with three wins for Slovakia, two for Ukraine and three draws. Slovakia won their last game 4-1 in 2018.
Total matches: 8
Slovakia: 2
Ukraine: 3
Draws: 3
Slovakia goals: 10
Ukraine goals: 9
A second win would make history for Slovakia, which has never won more than one game in any tournament it’s played as an independent nation. As part of Czechoslovakia, it did win the 1976 European Championship, though.
