Slovakia coach Vladimir Weiss insisted on Thursday that even masterminding the stunning 3-2 World Cup victory over defending champions Italy can’t beat the day he became a father.
“After the birth of my son [also called Vladimir], this is the second-best day of my life,” said Weiss, whose team finished second in Group F to reach the round-of-16 on their debut appearance at a World Cup. “I’m sorry for Italy, but it was a fantastic day for us because before the match we were under a bit of pressure. I’m very proud of my team, everyone played to a high level.”
“We were expecting the quality of the last World Cup winners, we were under a lot of pressure in the last 15 minutes, but today we played a fantastic game and the better team won,” he said.
Two-goal star Robert Vittek praised Slovakia’s heart and courage.
Vittek gave Slovakia a two-goal lead, before his teammates survived a chaotic last 10 minutes to squeeze through.
“Of course, we didn’t expect to dominate, although I wouldn’t say we dominated as such, but we did have the match under control,” Vittek said. “We were better, we really played with heart and that’s what decided the match today.”
“In our first match [a 1-1 draw with New Zealand] we were unlucky, in the second [a 2-0 defeat to Paraguay] our opponents were better than us, but today we were better and that’s why we’re moving on,” he said. “This is a huge success, we really pushed the limits of Slovak football. Beforehand, we couldn’t have dreamed about this, I’m so happy, we showed everything that we’re capable of in achieving this.”
Now Vittek is hoping that the debutants can keep the surprises coming, including in the round-of-16 where they will face one of the favorites, the Netherlands.
“We expect it to be the Netherlands, that’s 99 percent sure. We’ve got nothing to lose, we came here as outsiders and newcomers, and we wanted to surprise people,” Vittek said. “We’ve done it once and we hope to do it again. We hope to play against the Dutch in the way we played today, but they are one of the favorites.”
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
‘SETTING THE TONE’: Donovan Mitchell said that their determination to dominate had nothing to do with past results, but was about a potential post-season clash The Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday boosted their NBA-best record with a 142-105 romp past the New York Knicks, tightening their grip on the Eastern Conference lead with an all-around dominant display. Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to lead six Cavs players to score in double figures, connecting on five of seven three-pointers as Cleveland drilled 19 from beyond the arc. “I think the biggest thing was just try to set the tone early,” Mitchell said, adding that the determination to dominate had nothing to do with the Knicks’ first-round playoff win over the Cavs two seasons ago and everything to do with
BELGIANS ADVANCE: Club Brugge gave Atalanta a lesson in efficiency, as Gian Piero Gasperini’s team had 29 efforts at goal, compared with seven from the visitors Seldom has a player’s sending off had such an influence on a game. AC Milan was to left rue Theo Hernandez’s second yellow card — for diving — as Feyenoord advanced to the UEFA Champions League last 16 at the former European champion’s expense with a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday, giving the Dutch team a 2-1 win on aggregate. Bayern Munich, Club Brugge and Benfica also won their playoffs, eliminating Celtic, UEFA Europa League winner Atalanta BC and French team AS Monaco respectively. “In soccer everything changes in a second,” said Milan forward
RSS