Marek Hamsik put in a man of the match performance as he led Slovakia to their first ever win at the European Championships, fending off Russia 2-1.
A leader on and off the pitch for both Napoli and Slovakia, Hamsik was coming into Euro 2016 on the back of a great season with Napoli recording 11 assists and scoring six goals.
A successful qualifying campaign which saw Slovakia finish 2nd behind Spain, the pressure was on Hamsik to lead his country to glory in their debut campaign.
A lacklustre performance against Wales which ended in defeat, Slovakia needed a much improved performance against Russia and a result to go with it. Sure enough, manager Ján Kozák got exactly what he expected from the star 28-year old on Wednesday.
Marek Hamsik rose to the occassion for his country, with an incredible assist and then one of the goals of the tournament to silence the Russian fans in the stadium.
Let’s have a look at Marek Hamsik’s man of the match performance for Slovakia, the stats and numbers provided by the statisticians at Four Four Two and Opta:
1. His influence in midfield
Although Slovakia spent large parts of the game without the ball, Hamsik was the go to player every time they were in possession. Completing 79% of his passes, he was their most influential player throughout the game going forward and with that showed incredible vision to pick out Vladimir Weiss with a 50 yard pass inside his own half as the number 7 gave Slovakia the lead in the first half.
2. His work rate to win the ball back
In a crucial game for both sides, it was Hamsik in midfield who stepped up and proved he was the best player on the pitch throughout the match. He recovered the ball 12 times in midfield,the most of any player on the pitch.
After the game, Hamsik spoke to the press about Slovakia’s chances against Wales and Napoli:
“We can still qualify for the next stage. My future? I hope I am going to stay at Napoli, but now I am only focused on the national team.”
Marek Hamsik: MotM vs Russia @sfzofficial http://pic.twitter.com/2rTq8VX7AU
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) June 15, 2016
Marek Hamsik and his Slovakian compatriots will look to seal a spot in the round of 16 when they take on England, Monday June 20th at 3pm EST.
The post By The Numbers: Marek Hamsik vs Russia appeared first on IFD.
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