Juraj Kucka

Juraj Kucka
Personal information
Date of birth 26 February 1987 (1987-02-26) (age 25)
Place of birth Bojnice, Czechoslovakia
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position Centre midfielder / Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current club Genoa
Number 33
Youth career
2001–2002 Prievidza
2002–2004 Radvaň
2004–2006 Podbrezová
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2005–2007 Podbrezová 42 (3)
2007–2009 Ružomberok 48 (9)
2009–2011 Sparta Praha 45 (11)
2011– Genoa 27 (2)
National team‡
2007–2008 Slovakia U-21 11 (0)
2008– Slovakia 20 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 December 2011.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 October 2011

Juraj Kucka (pronounced [ˈjuraj ˈkutska]) (born 26 February 1987) is a Slovak football midfielder who currently plays for the Italian Serie A club Genoa and the Slovakia national football team.[1]

Contents

Club career

Kucka made his Corgoň Liga debut for MFK Ružomberok on 11 March 2007. He played six games in his first season. Overall, Kucka played 49 games and scored eight goals for Ružomberok. Czech manager Michal Bílek, coaching Ružomberok in 2008, recommended Kucka for Sparta Praha. In January 2009, he has signed a three-year contract for Sparta. In the Czech 2009–10 season he won the Gambrinus liga. During his first year he was dubbed as Sparta's 'Roy Keane' for his style of play.

Genoa

On 6 January 2011, he signed a four-and-a-half-year contract for €3,6 million with Genoa C.F.C..[2] He made his debut in the Coppa Italia match against Inter on 12 January 2011. He was voted man of the match by Genoa fans after 1–1 draw against Milan on 6 February 2011. Kucka proved immediately to fit fine in the squad, showing a remarkable physical strength and good technical skills, resulting the second best player of Genoa.[3] He scored his first goal for Genoa in a 2–1 away win against Lazio on 18 September 2011.

Internazionale F.C.

On the transfer deadline August 31, 2011, Inter and Genoa came to an agreement to swap co-ownerships of Juraj Kucka and Emiliano Viviano.

International career

Kucka, former Slovakia under-21 player, made his senior international debut in friendly match against Liechtenstein on 19 November 2008. Slovakia manager Vladimír Weiss called up him at the 2010 FIFA World Cup even though that he did not play any qualification match. He played in three games at the World Cup against New Zealand, Italy and the Netherlands.

International goals

Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 10 August 2011 Hypo-Arena, Klagenfurt, Austria  Austria 1 – 0 2–1 International Friendly
Correct as of 10 August 2011

Honours

Sparta Praha

References

  1. ^ "Slovakia - Record International Players". RSSSF. http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/slow-recintlp.html. Retrieved 20 December 2010. 
  2. ^ "Kucka definitívne hráčom Janova, podpísal 4,5-ročnú zmluvu" (in Slovak). profutbal. 2011-01-06. http://www.profutbal.sk/spravy/clanok110791-Kucka_definitivne_hracom_Janova_podpisal_45rocnu_zmluvu.htm?utm_source=rss. Retrieved 2011-02-08. 
  3. ^ Only Kaladze did better than him according to the italian sports newspaper la Gazzetta dello Sport, see Filippo Grimaldi, Marcello Pirovano, Carrarmato Kucka: che affare

External links

Genoa C.F.C. – current squad
Slovakia squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup