Tehelne Pole welcomes Slovakia and Austria this Saturday in an international friendly. Both Slovakia and Austria have both qualified for the European Championships this summer and will be looking for a strong international break to set themselves up well.
Slovakia finished second in Group J where they took on Portugal, Luxembourg, Iceland, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Liechtenstein. In ten games, Slovakia picked up seven wins, one draw and two losses, leaving them on 22 points, five points within qualification.
In their last five games in all competitions, Slovakia have four wins and one loss.
The visit from Liechtenstein saw all three goals come in the first six minutes. David Hancko, Ondrej Duda and Robert Mak all scored for Slovakia to give them the 3 - 0 win, with Liechtenstein failing to register a single shot on target. A top-of-the-group clash saw Slovakia take on Portugal. A goal from Goncalo Ramos and a brace from Cristiano Ronaldo put Portugal in control. Hancko and Stanislav Lobotka did score late on Slovakia, but Portugal held on for a 3 - 2 win.
Slovakia bounced back the next time out against Luxembourg. David Duris scored the only goal of the game in the 77th minute to give Slovakia the 1 - 0 win. Orri Oskarsson gave Iceland the lead but a goal from Juraj Kucka and a penalty from Duda gave Slovakia the lead at halftime. A brace from Lukas Haraslin gave Slovakia enough of a lead that Andri Guojohnsen’s late goal only made it 4 - 2.
The last time out for Slovakia was against Bosnia and Herzegovina. An own goal from Patrik Hrosovsky gave Bosnia the lead but Robert Bozenik equalised for Slovakia just three minutes later. Following the red card to Bosnia’s Renato Gojkovic, Lubomir Satka scored the winner to give Slovakia the 2 - 1 win.
Austria also finished second in their group. In Group F, Austria faced Belgium, Sweden, Azerbaijan and Estonia and in eight games, Austria picked up six wins, one draw and one loss which left them on 19 points, one point from top of the table.
In their last five games in all competitions, Austria have four wins and one loss.
Michael Gregoritsch opened the scoring for Austria early in the second half and Marko Arnautovic added two more to give Austria the 3 - 1 win, Emil Holm on the scoresheet late for Sweden. The visit from Belgium saw The Red Devils storm to a 3 - 0 lead, a brace from Dodi Lukebakio and a goal from Romelu Lukaku. Konrad Laimer got Austria in the game with 15 minutes to go and with the red card to Amadou Onana, Marcel Sabitzer’s penalty made it close. However, Belgium held on for a 3 - 2 win.
Another penalty from Sabitzer early in the second half was the only goal of the game as Austria bagged a 1 - 0 win over Azerbaijan, despite the late red card to Guido Burgstaller. Goals from Laimer and Philipp Lienhart gave Austria the 2 - 0 win for Austria over Estonia.
The most recent outing for Austria was against Germany. Sabitzer and Christoph Baumgartner both scored to give Austria the 2 - 0 win over ten man Germany who had Leroy Sane sent off.
Slovakia and Austria have met just five times in their histories, all in international friendlies. The first meeting between the two came back in 2002 and a draw is the most common outcome, happening on three occasions. The other two games saw a win each for Slovakia and Austria.
