Slovakian Satka's Warning For England

By Dan King - Newcastle United Digital Editor

Magpies defender Lubo Satka has warned England not to take Slovakia lightly in Monday's Euro 2016 Group B clash in Saint-Étienne.

Roy Hodgson's Three Lions go into the game on the back of Thursday's last-gasp win over Wales, and three points would be enough to see them top the group and qualify for the knockout stages.

But victory for Slovakia would see them progress to the last 16 - potentially at England's expense - and Satka believes that they are capable of breaking English hearts at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.

Born in Ilava, a town in the TrenÄín region of Slovakia, 20-year-old Satka arrived on Tyneside from MFK Dubnica four years ago and has so far represented his country at under-17, under-18, under-19 and under-21 level. He's been eagerly awaiting Monday night's match ever since the draw was made in December.

"All the lads were talking about it and, at the time, they thought we (Slovakia) were going to get battered," Satka told nufc.co.uk. "There were a few jokes going on about it.

"Just before the tournament started, I spoke to Freddie (Woodman) and he said if Slovakia beat England he'll wear a Slovakia shirt to training for two weeks in a row! So I'm hoping we can win so I can take the Mick out of them - but obviously if we lose, I'll probably get the Mick taken out of me.

"I always thought it was going to be a tough group for all four teams, and one which any two teams could qualify from, but if Slovakia could get through to the knockout stages that would be a big achievement.

"Obviously England are favourites but I think our players will go into it with a big determination to show that we can do well against teams like England."

Slovakia only began playing international football in 1994, following the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia, but are 24th in the latest FIFA World Ranking and famously beat Spain in October 2014, en route to finishing second in their qualifying group for Euro 2016.

More recently, they defeated reigning world champions Germany 3-1 in a friendly last month, and their 2-1 victory over Russia last Wednesday - inspired by an outstanding performance from playmaker Marek Hamšík - has further added to their growing reputation.

"It all started when we qualified for the 2010 World Cup. That was the biggest achievement in the history of Slovakian football," explained Satka.

"After that, we changed the coach and we didn't qualify for Euro 2012 or the 2014 World Cup; it was like a development stage for young players. But now we've got a new coach (Ján Kozák) and it's all fallen into place. We've started getting good results and it's a good team with a good togetherness.

"Hamšík is definitely our biggest attacking star - he's really creative - and at the back we've got (Martin) Škrtel who everybody knows is a phenomenon. In the air, defensively, he's very good.

"I think they are the two main players. We've got some tricky wingers, too, but we just play as a team. There are loads of hard workers in the team."

In 2013, the Štadión Antona Malatinského in Trnava underwent a €28m redevelopment and is now the national team's main stadium.

And there's also been investment at grassroots level as Slovakia have increasingly become a force to be reckoned with on the youth stage too.

"I think you can see it in the results," said Satka. "When we travel, everything is ready for us, everything is good - the hotels and everything like that. It wasn't always like that; it used to be alright, but not as good as it is now.

"And now, all the younger groups are getting good results. We as under-21s are getting good results (they are currently top of their qualifying group for next year's UEFA European Under-21 Championships).

"In 2013, the under-17s got to the semi-finals of the European Championships then the same group made the quarter-finals of the World Cup later that year.

"Some of them play for the under-21s now, and the under-18s and under-19s have had some good wins recently, too."

Since moving to Newcastle four years ago, Satka has established himself as the Magpies' regular captain at under-21 level and made his first team debut in an FA Cup defeat at Leicester in January 2015. He also spent part of last season on loan with York City and he is not the only young Slovak to ply his trade in England.

He said: "In the national side's first team, most of the people are playing outside of Slovakia - there's only a handful that play in Slovakia and three or four playing in the Czech Republic. All of the others are playing elsewhere in Europe.

"With the under-21s, there are three of us from England (Satka, Fulham goalkeeper Marek Rodák and Filip Lesniak of Tottenham Hotspur), people playing in Italy - some of them for first-teams - and Denmark, all over the place really.

"But there are still a few who play in the Slovakian league and I think the Slovakian league is decent for the younger players because they can play games there."

Satka is currently back in his homeland and working hard to be in peak condition for when Rafa Benitez's players return to their Benton base for pre-season training at the beginning of next month.

"I went home for a couple of weeks straight after the season finished and I did a bit of running and training, but I tried to rest my legs a bit," he said.

"But now is the time to start working again to get ready for the pre-season.

"I've been able to use the facilities at my old club, Dubnica, to train. Their season has just finished and I've been doing some individual stuff in the gym, and some running.

"It's the last year of my contract so I'm basically fighting for a new deal and to try to impress the manager.

"Pre-season is tough so you want to come back ready. I think it's the same for everyone - all the other boys will be doing some work while they're off.

"But if you want to impress, you've got to do more than everyone else and see what happens.

"I'm looking forward to getting back. I haven't been playing for Newcastle for a while - I was out on loan which was good but also frustrating as well, because of York's results - and I haven't seen the lads for a while.

"I've been in touch with most of them because we have a group message but it'll be good to see them all again. And I'll look forward to it even more if Slovakia can beat England on Monday!"