THE REPUBLIC OF Ireland’s opponents in the upcoming Euro 2020 play-off suffered a significant setback this morning.
Newcastle United have confirmed that Martin Dubravka, their Slovakian goalkeeper, sustained a knee injury during last weekend’s win at Southampton which will rule him out “for at least the rest of this month”, the Premier League club said in a statement.
Ireland will bid to move a step closer to qualification for this summer’s European Championships by getting the better of Slovakia in Bratislava on 26 March.
The loss of Dubravka is a major blow to the Slovaks, whose home advantage has also been diluted by the confirmation that the game – should it go ahead – will be played behind closed doors due to the escalating threat of the spread of coronavirus.
There’s also uncertainty over the availability of the Slovakian players based in Italy, which is in a state of lockdown with over 10,000 cases of covid-19 confirmed.
Seven members of Slovakia’s 24-man squad for last November’s Euro 2020 qualifiers against Croatia and Azerbaijan play their club football with Italian clubs: Milan Škriniar (Inter), Norbert Gyömbér (Perugia), Denis Vavro (Lazio), Juraj Kucka (Parma), Stanislav Lobotka (Napoli), Lukáš Haraslín (Sassuolo) and Nikolas Špalek (Brescia).
Dubravka, who has won 24 senior caps for Slovakia, hasn’t missed a competitive game for his country since establishing himself as first-choice goalkeeper in 2017.
The 31-year-old has also been ever-present for his club, having not been absent for a Premier League fixture in over two years.
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