EUROPEAN QUALIFIERS - 2016/18 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS Stadion Stožice - Ljubljana Saturday 8 October 2016 20.45CET (20.45 local time) Slovenia Group F - Matchday 2 Slovakia Last updated 10/11/2016 00:17CET EUROPEAN QUALIFIERS OFFICIAL SPONSORS Previous meetings 2 Squad list 3 Head coach 5 Match officials 6 Competition facts 7 Match-by-match lineups 8 Legend 10 1 Slovenia - Slovakia Saturday 8 October 2016 - 20.45CET (20.45 local time) Match press kit Stadion Stožice, Ljubljana Previous meetings Head to Head FIFA World Cup Stage Date Match Result Venue Goalscorers reached 10/10/2009 QR (GS) Slovakia - Slovenia 0-2 Bratislava Birsa 56, Pečnik 90+3 Novakovič 22, 81; 10/09/2008 QR (GS) Slovenia - Slovakia 2-1 Maribor Jakubko 83 Final Qualifying Total tournament Home Away Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L GF GA Total Slovenia 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 - - - - 4 2 2 0 5 2 Slovakia 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 - - - - 4 0 2 2 2 5 2 Slovenia - Slovakia Saturday 8 October 2016 - 20.45CET (20.45 local time) Match press kit Stadion Stožice, Ljubljana Squad list Slovenia Current season Qual. FT No. Player DoB Age Club D Pld Gls Pld Gls Goalkeepers - Jan Koprivec 15/07/1988 28 Anorthosis - 0 0 0 0 - Vid Belec 06/06/1990 26 Carpi - 0 0 0 0 - Jan Oblak 07/01/1993 23 Atlético - 1 0 0 0 Defenders - Boštjan Cesar 09/07/1982 34 Chievo - 1 1 0 0 - Bojan Jokić 17/05/1986 30 Villarreal - 1 0 0 0 Henan Jianye - Miral Samardžić 17/02/1987 29 * 1 0 0 0 FC - Boban Jovič 25/06/1991 25 Wisła - 0 0 0 0 - Nejc Skubic 13/06/1989 27 Konyaspor - 1 0 0 0 - Aljaž Struna 04/08/1990 26 Carpi - 0 0 0 0 - Miha Mevlja 12/06/1990 26 Rostov - 0 0 0 0 - Dejan Trajkovski 14/04/1992 24 Twente - 0 0 0 0 Midfielders - Valter Birsa 07/08/1986 30 Chievo - 1 0 0 0 Olimpija - Rok Kronaveter 07/12/1986 29 - 0 0 0 0 Ljubljana - René Krhin 21/05/1990 26 Granada - 1 1 0 0 - Nik Omladič 21/08/1989 27 Braunschweig - 0 0 0 0 - Josip Iličić 29/01/1988 28 Fiorentina - 1 0 0 0 - Matic Črnic 12/06/1992 24 Rijeka - 0 0 0 0 - Jasmin Kurtič 01/01/1989 27 Atalanta - 0 0 0 0 - Aleks Pihler 15/01/1994 22 Maribor - 0 0 0 0 Olimpija - Miha Zajc 01/07/1994 22 - 0 0 0 0 Ljubljana - Benjamin Verbič 27/11/1993 22 København - 1 0 0 0 Forwards - Milivoje Novakovič 18/05/1979 37 Maribor - 1 0 0 0 - Roman Bezjak 21/02/1989 27 Darmstadt - 1 0 0 0 Coach - Srečko Katanec 16/07/1963 53 - 1 0 0 0 3 Slovenia - Slovakia Saturday 8 October 2016 - 20.45CET (20.45 local time) Match press kit Stadion Stožice, Ljubljana Slovakia Current season Qual. FT No. Player DoB Age Club D Pld Gls Pld Gls Goalkeepers - Matúš Kozáčik 27/12/1983 32 Plzeň - 1 0 0 0 - Martin Dúbravka 15/01/1989 27 Liberec - 0 0 0 0 - Ján Novota 29/11/1983 32 Rapid Wien - 0 0 0 0 Defenders - Ján Ďurica 10/12/1981 34 Trabzonspor - 1 0 0 0 - Tomáš Hubočan 17/09/1985 31 Marseille * 1 0 0 0 Slovan - Kornel Saláta 24/01/1985 31 - 0 0 0 0 Bratislava - Lukáš Štetina 28/07/1991 25 Dukla - 0 0 0 0 Mladá - Lukáš Pauschek 09/12/1992 23 - 0 0 0 0 Boleslav Midfielders - Marek Hamšík 27/07/1987 29 Napoli - 1 0 0 0 Slavia - Dušan Švento 01/08/1985 31 - 1 0 0 0 Praha - Róbert Mak 08/03/1991 25 Zenit - 1 0 0 0 - Juraj Kucka 26/02/1987 29 Milan - 0 0 0 0 - Ján Greguš 29/01/1991 25 København - 1 0 0 0 - Filip Kiss 13/10/1990 25 Haugesund - 1 0 0 0 - Jakub Považanec 31/01/1991 25 Dukla - 0 0 0 0 Beitar - Erik Sabo 22/11/1991 24 - 0 0 0 0 Jerusalem - Jakub Holúbek 12/01/1991 25 Žilina - 0 0 0 0 - Patrik Hrošovský 22/04/1992 24 Plzeň - 0 0 0 0 Forwards - Marek Bakoš 15/04/1983 33 Plzeň - 0 0 0 0 Dinamo - Adam Nemec 02/09/1985 31 - 0 0 0 0 Bucureşti - Michal Ďuriš 01/06/1988 28 Plzeň - 1 0 0 0 Coach - Ján Kozák 17/04/1954 62 - 1 0 0 0 4 Slovenia - Slovakia Saturday 8 October 2016 - 20.45CET (20.45 local time) Match press kit Stadion Stožice, Ljubljana Head coach Srečko Katanec Date of birth: 16 July 1963 Nationality: Slovenian Playing career: NK Olimpija Ljubljana, GNK Dinamo Zagreb, FK Partizan, VfB Stuttgart, UC Sampdoria Coaching career: Slovenia Under-21s, ND Gorica, Slovenia (twice), Olympiacos FC, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, United Arab Emirates • A centre-back or defensive midfielder, Katanec began his playing days at home-town club Olimpija before spells with Dinamo and Partizan. He reached the 1989 UEFA Cup final with Stuttgart and won the same competition the following season with Sampdoria, whom he also helped to the 1992 UEFA Champions League showpiece. • Earned 31 caps for Yugoslavia (five goals) – including at the 1984 UEFA European Championship, the 1984 Olympic Games and the 1990 FIFA World Cup – and five for Slovenia (one goal). • Started his coaching career with Slovenia's U21s in 1996, two years after retiring as a player. After a brief stint in the Gorica dugout, took charge of the senior Slovenia side in 1998 and guided them to UEFA EURO 2000 – their first major tournament – and the 2002 World Cup. • Joined Olympiacos in 2002 but stayed for only three months and in February 2006 assumed the FYROM helm, where he remained for three years. Named United Arab Emirates coach in June 2009, a position he held for two years. • Katanec was reappointed by Slovenia in January 2013, signing a contract until the end of UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying, and stayed on despite the failure to reach France after a play-off defeat by Ukraine. Ján Kozák Date of birth: 17 April 1954 Nationality: Slovak Playing career: LB Spišská Nová Ves, Lokomotíva Košice (three times), RFC Seraing, FK Dukla Praha Coaching career: Lokomotíva Košice, MFK Zemplín Michalovce, FC Steel Trans Ličartovce, 1. FC Košice, Slovakia • A creative midfielder, Kozák spent much of his playing career with local team Lokomotíva Košice, where he had three spells. He returned for the first time in 1982 at the conclusion of his military service in Prague, where he turned out for Dukla. • A member of the Czechoslovakia squad that finished third at the 1980 UEFA European Championship, beating Italy 9-8 on penalties in the bronze-medal match, he scored nine goals in 55 international appearances. Kozák also travelled to the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain but did not feature due to injury. • Won the Czechoslovak Cup three times and the 1982 league championship with Dukla before retiring in 1990. Moved into coaching several years later and proved an instant success, steering 1. FC Košice to successive titles (1997, 1998) and into the 1997/98 UEFA Champions League where, as Slovakia's first ever group stage representative, they lost all six games in a section containing Feyenoord, Juventus and Manchester United FC. • Left Košice in 1998 but came back for further stints in 2005 and 2012. He stood down in summer 2013, succeeding Stanislav Griga and Michal Hipp as coach of Slovakia, and led the team to UEFA EURO 2016 as Group C runners-up behind holders Spain. Kozák's side went on to reach the last 16 at the finals in France. • His son Ján Kozák Jr played in the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League group stage for MFK Petržalka, equalising and then creating the winner in a famous 3-2 comeback victory over FC Porto; grandson Filip Lesniak has been at Tottenham Hotspur FC since 2012. 5 Slovenia - Slovakia Saturday 8 October 2016 - 20.45CET (20.45 local time) Match press kit Stadion Stožice, Ljubljana Match officials Referee Nicola Rizzoli (ITA) Assistant referees Elenito Di Liberatore (ITA) , Mauro Tonolini (ITA) Fourth official Antonio Damato (ITA) FIFA Match Commissioner Bernd Barutta (GER) UEFA Referee observer Horst Brummeier (AUT) Referee Name Date of birth UEFA matches Nicola Rizzoli 05/10/1971 6 83 FIFA Wold Cup matches involving teams from the two countries involved in this match Stage Date Competition Home Away Result Venue reached 06/09/2013 WC QR Bosnia and Herzegovina Slovakia 0-1 Zenica Other matches involving teams from either of the two countries involved in this match Stage Date Competition Home Away Result Venue reached 20/09/2004 RCUP PR Primorska (SLO) Mid Cheshire League (ENG) 1-4 Koper 10/10/2008 U19 QR Norway Slovenia 4-2 Ptuj 06/09/2013 WC QR Bosnia and Herzegovina Slovakia 0-1 Zenica 6 Slovenia - Slovakia Saturday 8 October 2016 - 20.45CET (20.45 local time) Match press kit Stadion Stožice, Ljubljana Competition facts The Week of Football concept enables fans around the world to enjoy the very best action from the European Qualifiers – which will determine UEFA's representatives at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup comprises nine groups of six teams, with matches played on a home-and- away basis. Qualifying takes place under the 'Week of Football' concept, introduced ahead of the UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying campaign, in which games are spread out from Thursday to Tuesday, shining the spotlight on more teams on the road to the finals in Russia.