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Slovakia
FINA code	SVK
Nickname(s)	Repre ; (The National team)
Association	Slovak Swimming Federation
Confederation	LEN (Europe)
Head coach	Milan Oršula
Asst coach	Tomáš Bruder
Captain	Lukáš Seman
Top scorer(s)	Karol Bačo
Home venue	NVPC Nováky
FINA ranking (since 2008)
Current	19 (as of 9 August 2021)
Highest	19 (2021)
Lowest	27 (2019)
Olympic Games
Appearances	1 (first in 2000)
Best result	12th place (2000)
World Championship
Appearances	3 (first in 1998)
Best result	8th place (2003)
World Cup
Appearances	0
World League
Appearances	4 (first in 2014)
European Championship
Appearances	11 (first in 1993)
Best result	7th place (2003)

The Slovakia men's national water polo team is the representative for Slovakia in international men's water polo. The governing body is from 2017 Slovak Swimming Federation (Slovak: Slovenská plavecká federácia). It was established in 1993 as the successor state of the Czechoslovakia, so all its results fully belong to it.

History

History before 1993

During Second World War in the years 1939 to 1945, when there was First Slovak Republic, the then national team played several friendly international matches. They completed their first match in 1942 in Zagreb, where they lost 2 : 3 to the Croatian men's national water polo team.^[1]

After Independence in 1993

Olympic Games

At the Olympic Games, the Slovak team qualified only once, in Sydney for the Summer Olympics 2000. They completed 4 qualifications, but only that qualification from Hannover in 2000 was able to fight her way to the Olympics. In the games themselves, they lost all matches and finished in last place.

World Championship

The team qualified 3 times for the World Championships. They first qualified for the 1998 World Championships in Perth, Australia, where they advanced from the preliminary to the second round and later to the 9th to 12th place fights. After 4 victories in the tournament, they took 10th place overall.^[2]

Three years later, in Fukuoka, Japan, it finished worse when it was able to score in only two matches: in the basic group with Brazil and in the match for 11th place with Kazakhstan.

At the World Championships 2003, organized by the Spanish Barcelona and where the competition system changed, the team advanced to the round of 16. Surprisingly, they went through Germany and made it his biggest success. In subsequent placement matches, it was no longer enough for USA and then for Australia to finish 8th overall.

In 2005, a European qualification took place in Italy for the World Championships 2005, where the team advanced to the semifinals. The first 3 teams advanced to the World Cup, but after losing to Croatia and then also in the battle for 3rd place with Romania they took 4th place, first non-promotive.

European Championship

At the European Championships, the team advanced from qualification right after its establishment in 1993 to its first European Water Polo Championship, where it was won by coach Karol Schmuck 10th place. From the B tournament of the European Championships in 1994, the team did not make it to the 1995 Men's European Water Polo Championship.

2 years later, yes, and at the 1997 European Championships, after 3 wins in the basic group, they took the overall 8th place in the tournament. From 1996 to 2001, Ladislav Bottlik led the men's national team. In 1999, in Florence, Italy, under his leadership, the team did not advance from the basic group to the quarterfinals and lost to Romania by 9th place in overtime. At the 2001 European Championships in Budapest, they made it to the quarterfinals, in which she narrowly lost to Yugoslavia - the later winner of the 7: 8 championship, and finally took 8th place. In 2001, coach Ondrej Gajdáč joined the team.^[3]

In 2003, Slovakia organized one of the qualification groups on its territory, from which the team qualified for the 2003 European Championships in Kranj, Slovenia. After advancing from the basic group, after defeat in the quarterfinals with Croatia and in the match for the 5th Spain. In the match for the final 7th place, however, they defeated Greece and won its best position at the European Championships.^[4]

In 2005, Ladislav Vidumanský took over the national team, and in 2006 he managed to advance to the European Championship again. At the 2006 European Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, after a draw in the basic group with the Netherlands and the victory for the final position over Slovenia, the Slovak team took the penultimate 11th place.^[5] For the first time since 2007, the head coach was a foreign coach - 65-year-old Croatian Ante Nakič, nicknamed Mile. The Slovak team fought its way to the 2008 European Championships, which took place in Malaga, Spain, but after seven losses it took the last place.

In 2009, Roman Poláčik took over the coaching bench,^[6] who also led the national team in qualifying for the 2010 European Championships, which took place in the Turkish Istanbul, and the Slovak team failed to make it to the continental championship for the first time. After a surprising loss in the first match with the home Turkey came a close second loss to Spain and even a high victory in the third match with Malta did not help to advance from the group.

Two years later in the European Championship 2012 qualification, the team advanced from 2nd place in the group to the draw, but after two clear losses with Greece did not advance to the European Championship again. The national team was already led by a former three-time assistant national team coach Pavol Sirotný.^[7] The team, which was then led by the Spanish coach Antonio Esteller Serrahima, did not make it to its eighth European Championship until 2016. In the tournament, they lost all 3 matches in the basic group, as well as the first 2 matches in the elimination round. After the subsequent victories over Malta and Georgia, they finished 13th, guaranteeing them the last possible promotion to the World Olympic Qualifying Tournament.^[8] They did not advance to the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics in this tournament and ended up in a non-promotion 11th place. In these tournaments, the team was led by Spanish coach Antonio Esteller Serrahima.

Recently, the team qualified for the 2018 Men's European Water Polo Championship and 2020 European Championships, finishing both in 14th place.^[9] The national team coach is a former slovak water polo player Peter Nižný.

Results

Olympic Games

2000 – 12th place^[2]

World Championship

1998 – 10th place^[2]
2001 – 11th place
2003 – 8th place

European Championship

1993 – 10th place
1997 – 8th place
1999 – 10th place
2001 – 8th place
2003 – 7th place
2006 – 11th place
2008 – 12th place
2016 – 13th place
2018 – 14th place
2020 – 14th place
2022 – 15th place
2024 – 13th place

European Games

2015: 12th

Team

Current squad

Roster for the 2020 Men's European Water Polo Championship.^[10]

Head coach: Peter Nižný

No	Name	Pos.	L/R	Date of birth	Height	Weight	Caps	Club
2	Matej Čaraj	CF	L	(2000-09-20) 20 September 2000 (age 24)	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	99 kg (218 lb)	10	Stade de Reims
3	Juraj Zaťovič (C)	AR	R	(1982-10-22) 22 October 1982 (age 42)	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)	98 kg (216 lb)	300	KVP Nováky
4	Adam Furman	W	R	(1999-05-16) 16 May 1999 (age 25)	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	93 kg (205 lb)	10	Sète
5	Adam Mitruk	AR	L	(1999-05-10) 10 May 1999 (age 25)	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	86 kg (190 lb)	40	ASV Vienna
6	Marek Molnár	FP	R	(1991-10-31) 31 October 1991 (age 33)	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	100 kg (220 lb)	15	SG Neukölln Berlin
7	Maroš Tkáč	W	R	(1996-07-13) 13 July 1996 (age 28)	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	93 kg (205 lb)	65	VK Primorje
8	Marek Tkáč	AR	R	(1995-03-09) 9 March 1995 (age 29)	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)	97 kg (214 lb)	8	Pays d'Aix
9	Tomáš Bielik	AR	R	(1993-11-19) 19 November 1993 (age 31)	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	98 kg (216 lb)	70	Stade de Reims
10	Andrej Kováčik	W	L	(1993-12-06) 6 December 1993 (age 31)	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)	72 kg (159 lb)	20	KVP Nováky
11	Martin Kolárik	AR	R	(1986-03-18) 18 March 1986 (age 38)	1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)	103 kg (227 lb)	108	CNN Noissy-le-Sec
12	Samuel Baláž	AR	R	(1994-01-05) 5 January 1994 (age 30)	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	95 kg (209 lb)	56	Stade de Reims
13	Lukáš Kozmér	GK	R	(1993-12-06) 6 December 1993 (age 31)	1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)	88 kg (194 lb)	75	Sète

Notable players

External links

Official website (in Slovak)

References

^ "Malá mokrá lopta získala veľké úspechy" [The small wet ball achieved great success] (in Slovak). bratislavskenoviny.sk. 26 June 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2021. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ ^a ^b ^c "HistoFINA – Water polo medalists and statistics" (PDF). fina.org. FINA. September 2019. pp. 4, 14, 25, 40, 48. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
^ "Tréner Bottlik skončil pri reprezentácii, jeho nástupcom Gajdáč" [Coach Bottlik finished in the national team, his successor Gajdáč] (in Slovak). sme.sk. 2 July 2001. Retrieved 4 September 2021. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ "Gajdáč sa lúčil víťazstvom" [Gajdáč said goodbye in victory] (in Slovak). sme.sk. 11 July 2005. Retrieved 4 September 2021. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ "Trénerom Slovenska chorvátsky veterán Nakič" [The coach of Slovakia is the Croatian veteran Nakič] (in Slovak). sme.sk. 4 June 2007. Retrieved 4 September 2021. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ "Roman Poláčik odchádza z postu trénera reprezentácie SR" [Roman Poláčik is leaving the post of coach of the Slovak national team] (in Slovak). mokralopta.sk. 14 February 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2021. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ "Pavol Sirotný novým trénerom mužskej reprezentácie" [Pavol Sirotný is the new coach of the men's national team] (in Slovak). mokralopta.sk. 14 February 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2021. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ "Vodné pólo: Slováci budú hrať na ME o olympiádu, kľúčový piaty zápas" [Water polo: Slovaks will play at the European Championships for the Olympics, a key fifth match]. Teraz.sk (in Slovak). 8 January 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
^ "Slováci prehrali aj s Francúzskom, na ME vo vodnom póle skončili na 14. mieste" [The Slovaks also lost to France, at the European Championships in water polo they finished in 14th place] (in Slovak). 22 January 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2021. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ "2020 European Championships roster" (PDF). wp2020budapest.microplustiming.com. p. 15. Retrieved 14 January 2020.