Skriniar joins Skrtel, Hamsik in Slovakia squad
The 21-year-old featured in back-to-back 3-1 successes as Jan Kozak's side beat Georgia and world champion Germany, and showed enough to earn a spot in the final group.
Published : May 31, 2016 00:10 IST
Sampdoria defender Milan Skriniar has been included in Slovakia's 23-man squad for Euro 2016, despite only making his international debut last week.
The 21-year-old featured in back-to-back 3-1 successes as Jan Kozak's side beat Georgia and world champion Germany, and showed enough to earn a spot in the final group.
Skriniar now joins household names Martin Skrtel, Marek Hamsik and Juraj Kucka in a selection that includes just two forwards.
Lukas Tesak, Erik Sabo, Adam Zrel'ak and Matus Bero were the four men cut from an original 27-man provisional squad, with Kozak revealing that returns for Norbert Gyomber and Tomas Hubocan helped his decision.
"My biggest problem was finding another right-back, a position where we haven't got an alternative," Kozak said.
"However, Gyomber is fit again and Hubocan's heel looks better, so I said no to Tesak."
Slovakia's final pre-tournament friendly with Northern Ireland takes place on Saturday, with Kozak's men then kicking off their Euro 2016 campaign against Wales on June 11 in Bordeaux.
Slovakia squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Matus Kozacik (Viktoria Plzen), Jan Mucha (Slovan Bratislava), Jan Novota (Rapid Wien)
Defenders: Peter Pekarik (Hertha Berlin), Milan Skriniar (Sampdoria), Martin Skrtel (Liverpool), Norbert Gyomber (Roma), Jan Durica (Lokomotiv Moscow), Kornel Salata (Slovan Bratislava), Tomas Hubocan (Dinamo Moskva), Dusan Svento (Cologne)
Midfielders: Marek Hamsik (Napoli), Juraj Kucka (AC Milan), Miroslav Stoch (Bursaspor), Vladimir Weiss (Al-Gharafa), Robert Mak (PAOK), Patrik Hrosovsky (Viktoria Plzen), Jan Gregus (Jablonec), Viktor Pecovsky (Zilina), Stanislav Sestak (Ferencvaros), Ondrej Duda (Legia Warszawa)
Forwards: Michal Duris (Viktoria Plzen), Adam Nemec (Willem II)