The Entertainers: MSK Zilina 2-2 ZP Sport Podbrezova

WELCOME TO MATCH!

As soon as I stepped off the train at Zilina station well over two years ago now, I knew I'd end up with a special connection with the county. Though my plans to move to neighbouring Czech Republic were still a month or two off, I could make a strong case for it being the city in which it all began.

While sat in Zilina's aptly named Hotel Slovakia (it's a hotel in Slovakia - why not?), a good friend of mine mentioned a teaching job in Brno. If I'm being brutally honest, this was a point in my life in which it felt as if everything had slipped away - I'd lost my girlfriend some months before the trip, and I'd felt chained to a country that was somehow becoming more and more miserable and impossible for us Milennials as the days and years flew by with such reckless abandon. Something had to change.

I applied for a job at a language school, thinking nothing of it, especially following the countless rejections I'd received on the basis of lacking experience. A month or so had passed before I heard back and was called for an interview, and to my delight, I'd got the job. There was some concern over the visa situation after Brexit which inevitably threw things in the air for a few weeks, but two years on, I'm still here peddling football-related nonsense, and sometimes teaching I suppose.

While the first job certainly wasn't perfect, it was the perfect start to a teaching career that has now, I would say, moved up a gear. I'm grateful to those that took that initial chance on me. Moving from teaching solely languages to teaching High Schoolers on a full-time basis has been a huge challenge, but a phenomenally enjoyable one.

This weekend, it felt right for me to make a return to this fantastic city to take stock in many ways. There were plans to take a trip to Romania during a week off from teaching, but that feels best saved for when I can afford to enjoy it a little more than I would at this stage money-wise. Given that I still lack a lot of basic furniture for my unfurnished flat, that felt a better thing to prioritise. As a good friend told me, Romania will always be there.

Zilina it was, even down to the last detail of staying at the same hotel, which oozed Soviet Union throughout. It always feels odd to return to the same hotel again, but then it's hard to argue with the prices at times, even if it was fairly basic. 

All of this to say it would feel wrong of me to choose any other Slovak club than Zilina in terms of who to follow, given my attempts to follow a team in every country have been fairly inconclusive as far as Slovakia is concerned. This is a city in which my life began its upward trajectory. It's still in progress, sure, but it's happening - that's the key point. 

The beautiful scenery from the Puchov to Zilina train.

Sure, Slovan Bratislava have the same initials at Stevenage Borough and play in white, but watching the same side win a title every season didn't appeal to me. I've enjoyed trips to Trencin and Trnava (the latter especially in Europe), and even Petrzalka, but just on the basis of their significance to my own experience, it has to be MSK Zilina. 

Picking up a shirt will have to wait til next time, or maybe even next month, but I'm fairly sure I'll be returning before too long. The fact I lack a bright luminous yellow shirt also plays some part in my decision to a certain extent.  Add to that, Zilina also managed a surprise 2-1 win at Villa Park back in 2008, which very much reminded me of someone else...

The ground(s), the game(s), and any other business

I have written a blog on my prior Zilina experience, but this was different in the sense I would actually be watching MSK Zilina, as opposed to a national Under 21 side. I have also seen Zilina before away to Slovan Bratislava - a game they'd surprisingly won 1-0. Incidentally, I also watched Podbrezova away at Spartak Trnava that weekend in a game they'd had their trousers pulled down somewhat in a 6-1 loss.

The strange thing about both of those games was that Podbrezova weren't horrendous, just as Zilina weren't massively convincing. Two years on, Zilina have started the season brilliantly, sitting top of the table above perennial winners Slovan - a 5-0 win in Bratislava will have certainly helped. Podbrezova were solidly mid-table, but they've been a thorn in the side of many over the years.

The weekend began with the usual forgettable Zbrojovka experience, as they laboured to a 1-1 at home to Slavia Prague's B-Team. I'd always found Slovak football a lot more exciting, and a hell of a lot more open than Czech football, and so it proved in both games I attended over the weekend.

Stadion pod Dubnem - home of MSK Zilina

Despite starting the brighter, Zilina went behind 15 minutes in, courtesy of Daniel Smekal. It only took another 15 for the hosts to respond via Mario Sauer, and there was burgeoning evidence as to why they'd topped the league at this early stage. Some of the football they'd played was extraordinary - possibly some of the slickest I've seen this season.

The game should have been out of sight in the second-half, and eventually Zilina's incessant pressure paid off via Daniel Ilko five minutes from time. Podbrezova weren't going to take it lying down, however, with adopted Slovak David Depetris - born in Argentina - able to level two minutes into stoppage time. Despite only have 29% of the ball, Podbrezova were certainly effective.

Despite the possession disparity, it was a fairly even game in which two excellent teams were going toe-to-toe. A draw seems harsh on Zilina, but perhaps defeat would have been harsh on Podbrezova, who were largely just as impressive as their hosts. 

The atmosphere was largely subdued due to the continued ultras boycott, as well as a surprising lack of away fans, but the atmosphere around the ground before the match was fantastic, as was the trophy and memorabilia room. Featured were programmes from European fixtures past, as well as trophies and the shirt of current Arsenal defender Jakob Kiwior, formerly of both sides in this fixture.

BONUS GAME

You might have noticed the bracketted pluralisation of goal and game in the heading. Well, stay in suspense no longer - I also attended the Zilina B team game the following morning. Despite my general objection to B-Teams in league systems, I'd seen two in the space of three days. I was slightly ashamed, but in the second instance at least, it was worth it.

They would host high flying Tatran Liptovsky Mikulas, who weren't too far away distance-wise. They'd bought a healthy number of fans, one of which was a young boy who insisted on shouting 'come on' in Slovak directly in my ear whenever Tatran had the ball. The game was on the edge of town, a short bus ride away from the centre. I did walk back after the game, which allowed for a fairly peaceful and scenic 50 minute walk, but also reminded me I need to exercise more...

As for the game, Tatran took a very early lead two minutes in. Zilina B were probing and eventually levelled, but with the last kick of the half, Tatran took a 2-1 lead into the break. The second-half was a little cagier, but Tatran managed to get the third. Zilina were awarded a penalty, of which the rebound was dispatched for a nervy finish, but 2-3 was the final score, and those Tatran fans would go home happy.

Though I was essentially watching a match at a training ground - amusingly dubbed the Marakana - it was great to see the DNA of a club like Zilina in action throughout their A and B teams. The club has put a huge emphasis on youth in the last decade, even selling out European Youth League games against the likes of Dortmund. With links to football on the African continent as well - particularly Ghana and Cameroon - it's only a matter of time before Zilina are playing European football once again and showing that there's more to Slovak football than Slovan.

Five things you didn't know about Zilina...

1.) The club has been the starting point of many a global superstar, from Milan Skriniar to Jakub Kuwior (who technically didn't start at Zilina, but certainly gained a lot of traction from his two seasons there). In fact, Slovak international Peter Pekarik began his career there, and now is back some 20 years on, with 12 of those years spent at Hertha Berlin.

2.) The club are nicknamed Šošoni after the Native American Shoshone tribe, which explains why their mascot is a Native American. That said, the origins of this nickname are fairly inconclusive. Answers on a postcard please...

3.) The club are actually affiliated with Tatran Liptovsky Mikulas, who were the B-Teams opponents on Sunday. As well as other Slovak affiliations, the club also has a 2nd tier side in Ghana named MSK Zilina Africa FC. 

4.) The club were founded in 1909, bearing a Hungarian name rather than a Slovak one - Zsolnai Testgyakorlók Köre. Ten years later, they changed their name SK Zilina, undergoing numerous changes until their current moniker, which came about in 1995. 

5.) The city itself is a candidate for the European Capital of Culture in 2026, and has a storied and unique history, as well as a renowned puppet theatre, a Jewish museum of culture, and a number of summer events.