Slovakia’s coach, Francesco Calzona, has set out the contest between his side and England as one between “a squad worth €1.5bn and one worth 10 times less” but says he trusts his players to deliver in Gelsenkirchen.
The Italian insists he will not drop his attacking approach to the tournament but warned his players must be defensively sound against opponents he believes will be “unbeatable” if they click.
“If we talk about the quality of the squad we are inferior,” Calzona said. “They are worth €1.5bn, we are worth €150m, 10 times less, but I feel the difference is made by the players if they can do more than what the coach asks.
“I am lucky because I have a very focused team who want to play offensively. We must be defensively sound, we must care about the details, but I trust my players. Until now they have given us a lot of satisfaction in terms of performance and behaviour.”
Since being appointed by Slovakia in his first managerial role, Calzona has changed the team’s approach from defence first to a more progressive style. The 55-year-old says he could not reverse his team’s way of playing, despite England’s labours against deep-set opponents in the tournament.
“We have our own style of play – I don’t want to change the mentality of my team,” he said. “We might make some adjustments but without changing what we’ve done so far because that means I would have to change the head of my players who like this kind of football. There will be some adjustment but nothing dramatic.”
With regards to England, Calzona was complimentary. “I think that when England will play a great performance as a group they will be unbeatable,” he said. “I think they have the best squad of Euros, they have players with physicality, with technique and with creativity. They left important players at home because they have so much quality. We need to make the most of their concessions but also need to be cautious because they are a team that can punish you at any moment.”
Slovakian expectations are especially high for Stanislav Lobotka, who plays for Napoli, where Calzona made his name as an assistant to Maurizio Sarri. Lobotka, the winner of two man-of-the-match awards in three Group E games, is a key figure in the Slovakia system and Calzona says he is expecting big things from his No 22.
“We know that Lobotka has important qualities,” he said. “He is a fundamental player because he is very intelligent, he defends very well and in this match he’ll need to be matched against a world-class player like Jude Bellingham. But Lobotka has also been top class for two to three years. He has been playing great matches and I think tomorrow he is going to play a great match. We need collectively to have a great match though – we need to be a team. Alone he can’t do much.”
