Superb start the key for Slovakia

Slovakia may have stumbled over the line after winning their first six UEFA EURO 2016 Group C qualifiers but few can doubt they deserve their first continental finals place as an independent nation.

Having reached the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Slovakia had still to make a UEFA EURO tournament in their own right, though they did supply the bulk of the 1976 Czechoslovakia team that won the title. An opening 1-0 victory in Ukraine was promising, the 2-1 defeat of Spain that ended the European champions' eight-year, 36-match unbeaten qualifying run superb.

Belarus, FYR Macedonia (away and home) and Luxembourg were all then beaten in the group, including friendlies part of a nine-game winning sequence. If last month saw a bit of a stumble with a 2-0 loss in Spain and 0-0 home draw with Ukraine, qualification was further delayed when the Slovaks crashed 1-0 at home to Belarus on Friday.

Fortunately Monday's 4-2 triumph in Luxembourg made certain of second spot behind Spain, though even then a three-goal lead was reduced to one before Marek Hamšík's late clincher. Still, the hard work had been done earlier in qualifying.

Reaction:
Ján Kozák, coach
We have many talented players – not just Marek Hamšík and Martin Škrtel but also Vladimír Weiss for example. I would like it if all my players could play at top clubs to show their qualities. I have worked with them on improving their confidence.

I was not happy when for our first game in this campaign, against Malta [a September 2014 friendly four days before the trip to Ukraine], there were hardly any fans at the ground. But after winning against Ukraine I was delighted to see a packed stadium for the Spain match – and the atmosphere was great.

Now I will go home to play golf and relax a bit. After that we will work again to prepare for the EURO.

Key stats
Best result: had never qualified
Coach: Ján Kozák
Leading scorers: all-time – Róbert Vittek (23); current – Róbert Vittek (23)
Most appearances: all-time – Miroslav Karhan (107); current – Róbert Vittek (81)

Record EURO appearances
Overall: Miroslav Karhan (26)
Final tournament: Koloman Gögh, Marián Masný, Zdeněk Nehoda, Anton Ondruš, Antonín Panenka, Ladislav Jurkemik (6, all for Czechoslovakia)

Record EURO goals
Overall: Zdeněk Nehoda (9, for Czechoslovakia)
Final tournament: Zdeněk Nehoda (3, for Czechoslovakia)