BRATISLAVA (Slovak football association) - There are exactly 100 days left until the start of the most important football event ever held in Slovakia. The best European players of the “Under 21” category will perform in eight Slovak cities from June 11 to 28.
The Slovak as well as foreign fans has already shown their keen interest in this championship. "We have currently surpassed the 100,000 ticket sales mark. Two-thirds of buyers are from Slovakia, but the tickets also entice the foreign fans. Most of them are from the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania and Germany. Surprisingly, fans from Finland, who will play the group stage matches in Košice, are very interested in the tickets," said the president of the Slovak Football Association, Ján Kováčik.
"We have received very good feedback on the price of tickets. "The matches are currently sold out, but the good news for all fans is that more tickets will be released for sale at some point in the future," added the first man of Slovak football.
The championship with 16 participants will be organized by one country only for the first time. The organizer has challenging months ahead, a fact well recognized also by the director of the organizing committee, Mária Berdisová: "We are entering the final phase of preparations. We now have to transfer our activities "from paper" to reality. All plans and concepts will be ready by the end of March, and from April on it will be mainly about field work with people and suppliers involved in the organization directly at the championship venues. In addition to the stadiums, we also have to prepare training areas, revitalize lawns and adjust advertising banners so that everything is prepared in accordance with UEFA requirements."
The Organizing Committee, which falls directly under the Slovak Football Association, has completed its final inspection before the championship. "During the last week of February, together with UEFA representatives, we again visited all the stadiums where the June European Championship will be held. The inspection staff as yet was the most numerous and comprised a total of 37 people, including members of the Organizing Committee. It was the last visit and the next goal is the championship itself. Our readiness was appreacited with great satisfaction on the part of UEFA," added Mária Berdisová.
The challenging issue was the completion of the stadium in Prešov. However, this football base in the third largest city of Slovakia is just about to get the final approval and the concerns are no longer justified. "If nothing unforeseen happens, the great efforts of all involved will bear fruit. This project was specific, there were many changes in it and even those were sometimes adjusted. I appreciate the work and support of everyone all the more: the city, through the investor and, last but not least, the supplier. Although the completion of the stadium will be a historical milestone, another, no less important part of the life of Tatran Arena, will be the operation of the stadium itself in the coming years. I firmly hope that our event will be a charmin beginning of this life of the new stadium, but at the same time by far from its end," said Mária Berdisová.
In addition to the organizers, our Under 21 national team are also responsibly preparing themselves for one of the biggest sports events in the history of Slovakia. In March, the team of coach Jaroslav Kentoš will head for the last two friendly matches to Anton Malatinský Stadium in Trnava. "We will play the March friendly matches against Germany and France, and our priority now is to focus on this double match. We are currently worried about injuries and the reduced availability of some players. Then, at the end of May, before the championship, we will travel to a training camp in Austria. I believe that the health of the players will not affect the final nomination of players for the European Championship," coach Kentoš said, outlining the team's immediate plans.
One of the injured players, whose absence would significantly weaken our team, is one of our best scorers, Adrián Kaprálik. However, he believes that his recovery will go according to plan and he will be able to support his teammates on the pitch during the June championship. "I am currently undergoing rehabilitation so that I can get back in shape as soon as possible and start playing and be ready for the championship. This week I will have a check-up X-ray to show whether the bone has healed and whether I can return to the field," revealed an optimistic Kaprálik.
