Calzona: “England costs 1.5 billion and we cost 150”

Francesco Calzonaselector Slovakiacompared to this Saturday the value of the players in England to himself and remembered the coach Gareth Southgate He leads a squad worth 1.5 billion euros for 150 of his own expenses, which will fight to reach the quarterfinals of the Euro Cup.

Calzona and his players will try to surprise England this Saturday after having a successful qualifying phase where they added four points and finished third in their group after beating strong teams like Belgium (0-1). Today, despite the big difference between the two teams, Slovakia’s coach revealed that he is sure his players will play a good game.

“If we talk about the quality of the team, they cost 1.5 billion and we cost 150 million, but I think the players make the difference. “The coach must deliver his idea and the players must do their best on the field,” he said in a press conference.

“I’m lucky,” he added, “because I have a very focused team. They want to play offensive football, be good in defense and prepare for a game like this. I trust my players, they gave me a lot of fun. In terms of performance and behavior. They’ve been great from this point of view.”

Calzona acknowledged that when England play well and complete good performances, they can become a team “that becomes unbeatable”, but he said that Slovakia will have to take advantage of all its doubts to try to surprise.

“You have to be very careful because they have a high-quality squad. I think they have the best squad in the Euro Cup because they have physicality, technique and creativity. They have a lot of quality to choose from. You have to take Advantage of their weaknesses and their concessions, but you have to be careful because they can punish you at any time,” he commented.

“We have our own style of play. I don’t want to change the mentality of my team. We will make some adjustments, but without changing what we have done so far, because that would mean changing the mentality of my players, who Think a certain way. We will continue to play our style without any problem,” he added.

Finally, he discussed one of the duels of the game, his player Stanislav Lobotka against Jude Bellingham.

“We know that Lobotka has an important quality. In three games, he was named the best twice. He’s a key player because he’s so smart. His defense is very good. “He has to face a top-level player like Bellingham, but Lobotka is also a top-level player,” he highlighted.

“He has been at the first level for two or three years, playing good games, so tomorrow he will play a good game. But we have to do a good collective job to help him,” he concluded.