Former Bundesliga top scorer Marek Mintal is leading the Slovak national team in the upcoming Nations League matches. This was announced by the Slovakian Football Association on Tuesday.
The 44-year-old will prepare the team together with Samuel Slovak for the away games in Azerbaijan (June 10) and Kazakhstan (June 13). Both have previously worked as assistant coaches.
This was preceded by the dismissal of national coach Stefan Tarkovic due to “repeatedly insufficient results and unsatisfactory performance”. Slovakia, currently 45th in the world rankings, has only won three of their last eight games. In the Nations League on Monday there was a 0-1 home defeat against the world number 125. Kazakhstan. The Slovakian national team also failed to qualify for this year’s World Cup in Qatar.
During his career, Mintal won 45 caps for his home country, in which he scored 14 goals. He won the DFB Cup with 1. FC Nürnberg in 2007 and was crowned top scorer with 24 goals in the 2004/05 Bundesliga season.