Slovakia’s captain is relishing the chance to ‘torment’ England and has declared that his side are the superior team.
In a fierce Friday press conference, Milan Skriniar laid bare England’s vulnerabilities and emphasised Slovakia’s self-belief ahead of their last 16 showdown on Sunday.
England will face a Slovakia side who scraped through the Euro 2024 group stages as one of the better third-placed teams.
An opening-game victory over Belgium proved their ability to claim a marquee scalp but they subsequently lost to Ukraine and drew with Romania.
‘I believe we will torment them. We have to try to play our game. The whole team believes that we can surprise them,’ said Skriniar.
Slovakia captain Milan Skriniar is looking forward to ‘tormenting’ England and believes his side are better as a collective
England’s last-16 opponents advanced from Group E in third with four points, beating Belgium
‘We have the weapons to defeat them. Of course, they are definitely better than us, but with teamwork we can beat them.
‘They have a squad full of stars, but as a team we are better.’
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‘We’ve been together for a month, but it feels like we just met yesterday. We are happy to be together, we spend time together outside the field.
‘They will be under much more pressure and that can play in our favour.
‘I felt from their previous performances that they rely a lot on individual quality and know that they have players who can decide matches. However, we can manage it as a team.’
Skriniar will have scores to settle with several England stars after being part of the Inter Milan squad that lost the 2023 Champions League final to Manchester City.
Though he did not play that night, the PSG defender is widely respected on the continent after winning titles as a key player in Italy, France, and his homeland.
England have played Slovakia six times and won five of them apart from a 0-0 draw at Euro 2016.
Winger Ivan Schranz is a player to watch after his two goals helped Slovakia in their group
Skriniar claimed England ‘rely a lot on individual quality’ and will have ‘much more pressure’
Slovakian pundit Ladislav Borbely believes England lack a coherent identity and are beatable
Francesco Calzona’s team do not park the bus and are expected to fly out of the traps as they bid for a quarter-final place for the first time as an independent nation.
Slavia Prague winger Ivan Schranz is a surprise Golden Boot contender after his two goals in the group stages and will look to make life as hard as possible for Kieran Trippier.
Skriniar’s bullish comments echo those of Slovakian pundit Ladislav Borbely, who said he wanted to play England before the last-16 draw was made.
‘I saw the English matches and so far I haven’t been able to identify what they want to play from those three matches,’ Borbely continued.
‘England is an ultra-strong opponent, but they are not in good shape.
‘England have a squad full of stars, but as a whole they cannot fulfil the team’s potential.
‘The opponent has great individual qualities, but they do not create the team synergy that they would imagine. I dare to say that in the current form this opponent would be playable.’
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