Jurkemik leaves captain on sidelines

Slovakia coach Ladislav Jurkemik has named a 20-man squad for the UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifiers against F.Y.R. Macedonia in Skopje on 29 March and Liechtenstein on 2 April behind closed doors in Trnava.

Dozen on stand-by
Jurkemik has also put a dozen players on stand-by to cover for withdrawals and injuries. These include the usual national team captain, Peter Dzúrik, of ŠK Slovan Bratislava who the coach says is not fit enough to be in the main party of 20. "He is not in adequate shape at the moment," Jurkemik said. "Maybe he needs a short rest."

Injured absentees
Slovakia are without three defenders due to long-term injuries - SBV Vitesse's Marián Zeman, Vladimír Labant of AC Sparta Praha and 1. FC Union Berlin's Ivan Kozák. Meanwhile, Club Brugge KV defender Marek Špilár had to undergo ankle surgery on Tuesday and FK Viktoria Zizkov forward Tomáš Oravec is still not fully fit.

Bottom of the pile
"If we do not get six points against Macedonia and Liechtenstein, we can forget about qualification," Jurkemik said. "We have to do everything to keep our chances alive." Slovakia are currently bottom of qualifying Group 7 with no points from their opening two games, a 3-0 defeat in Turkey and a 2-1 reverse at home against England.

Behind closed doors
The Liechtenstein fixture on 2 April is being played behind closed doors on the orders of UEFA's Appeals Body as punishment for the racist behaviour of some Slovakian supporters during the game against England.

Slovakia squad
Buček, König, Hanek, Dzúrik, Hlinka, Klimpl, Leitner, Petráš, B Labant, Karhan, Janočko, Kisel, Michalík, Mintál, Pinte, Demo, Kožlej, Németh, Reiter, Vittek.

Stand-by
Mucha, Rzeszoto, Varga, Kratochvíl, Benčík, Dzúrik, Debnár, Greško, Kurty, Czinege, Babnič, Oravec.