Bénes and Slovakia to face Sweden

László Bénes is set to take on Sweden with the Slovakia national team in St. Petersburg this afternoon (Friday, 15:00 CEST). Slovakia won their opening game 2-1 against Poland.

Thanks to a 2-1 win in their opening game against Poland, Slovakia lead Group E with three points. Sweden and Spain drew 0-0, leaving them lurking behind Slovakia with one point each. This Friday (15:00 CEST), Bénes‘ side take on Sweden in St. Petersburg. "We’re in a tough group. Spain are obviously the clear favourites, but Poland and Sweden are both good teams as well," said Borussia’s midfield man, who spent the last six months on loan at FC Augsburg. "In a tournament like this, however, anything can happen. We reached the Last 16 in 2016, so why shouldn’t we be able to do so again?" Bénes also rates his chances of featuring for Slovakia quite highly: "If your’re in the squad at a European championship you’ve got a good chance of playing. That would be a dream come true for me," said the 23-year-old.

Preparations for the game against the Swedes were however overshadowed by two positive coronavirus cases in the Slovakia squad. Head coach Stefan Tarkovic confirmed at Thursday’s press conference in St. Petersburg that Lazio defender Denis Vavro’s test came back positive. "I spoke to him, he’s symptomless," said Tarkovic. Vavro immediately went into isolation, as did the other person in question – a member of the backroom staff who remained unnamed. The Slovakia head coach assured listeners at the press conference that they had worked closely with the Russian health authorities and followed the European football union protocol straight away, ensuring that the virus did not spread to others in the team. Vavro, like Bénes, did not feature in the opening victory against Poland.