We suffered a 2–1 defeat against 1. FC Slovacko. The Czech top-flight side arrived for Tuesday’s friendly with a strong squad. Their starting line-up included the Daníček–Reinberk pair, both regarded as club icons at Slovacko and both continuously representing the blue-and-whites since 2010. They were joined from the bench by Petržela, who played in the Champions League with Plzeň, 31-cap Czech international Michael Krmenčík, and multiple Slovakia youth international Martin Šviderský, who also spent time in Manchester United’s academy. Meanwhile, Tamás Feczkó thoroughly reshuffled our team: only Ádám Somogyi remained from Sunday’s starting eleven, while our academy player Teó Balázs not only started the match but played the full ninety minutes.
Kevin Varga gave us the lead late in the first half after an excellent through ball from Hetyei, but the Czech side, who changed their entire line-up, turned the game around in the second half.
“We lined up with a team of a very young average age, supplemented by a few experienced players who have received less playing time recently. At the same time I am very pleased that our young players showed we can rely on them. I particularly liked the first half: we were very stable, the opponent had one counterattack, while in addition to the goal we had another huge one-on-one chance. In the second half it played a role that we wanted to continue with our own plan, because our players were doing full ninety-minute shifts while the opponent changed the whole line-up, and it was clear in the second half that they were dominating us. It was a very good test to see, in a high-pressure situation, which players we can rely on and in what way. Everyone who got the opportunity, I think, took it. We had never played in this composition before, but the main thing is for everyone to receive the appropriate workload and be ready for the restart in February” – said our head coach.
