Stanislav Lobotka (; born 25 November 1994) is a Slovak professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

club

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

and the Slovakia national team.

Club career

AS Trenčín

Lobotka made his

Corgoň Liga The Slovak Super Liga is the top level football league in Slovakia, currently known as the Fortuna Liga due to a sponsorship arrangement. It was formed in 1993 following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The record for most titles is eleven, ...

debut for

AS Trenčín AS Trenčín () is a Slovak sports club in the town of Trenčín, most known for its football department. The first team currently plays in the Fortuna Liga after winning the 2010–11 Slovak First League. The club plays its home games at th ...

against

FK Dukla Banská Bystrica MFK Dukla Banská Bystrica () is a Slovak football club from the town of Banská Bystrica. The club plays at the SNP Stadium. After being relegated from the Slovak 2. liga in 2017, the team had financial problems. History * 1965 – Found ...

on 4 March 2012.

Ajax (loan)

Lobotka joined

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...

for the 2013–14 season on 30 June 2013 on a one-year loan with option to buy. He played his first match for Ajax on 13 July 2013 in a pre-season friendly encounter against

RKC Waalwijk RKC Waalwijk () is a Dutch professional football club based in Waalwijk, that is currently competing in the Eredivisie. Its name is derived from 'Rooms Katholieke Combinatie' ('Roman Catholic Combination' in Dutch) and was established as a merger ...

. He came on as a 60th minute substitute for

Christian Eriksen Christian Dannemann Eriksen (born 14 February 1992) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Manchester United and the Denmark national team. He is renowned for his vision, technique, passing, and fre ...

in the 5–1 win in Waalwijk at the

Mandemakers Stadion The Mandemakers Stadion is a multi-use stadium in Waalwijk, Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , es ...

Nordsjælland

Stanislav Lobotka came to

FC Nordsjælland Football Club Nordsjælland, commonly known as FC Nordsjælland, Nordsjælland () or FCN, is a professional Danish football team from the North Zealand town of Farum. Founded as ''Farum Boldklub'' from the merger of the town's two football club ...

in August shortly before the transfer window closed, and made his debut against Brøndby on 30 August 2015. Lobotka entered as a regular on the midfield, and in his first season has played all the matches except for one because of illness. The 21-year-old Slovak was voted player of the year in his first season at the FCN Awards. In 2017, he was again voted club's player of the year after another great season.

Celta Vigo

On 15 July 2017, Lobotka joined

Celta Celta is Galician, Portuguese and Spanish for the Celts. It may also refer to: * Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA), an English teaching certificate * Celta (train), an international train service connecting Vigo and Port ...

on a five-year deal. On 3 June 2019, Lobotka admitted that after Celta's unsuccessful season, he was open to a transfer, looking to find a club set to play in European competitions next season. According to

Pravda ''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the ...

he also claimed, that he was aware of an interest from other Spanish and German clubs.

Napoli

On 15 January 2020, Lobotka signed to Italian

club

S.S.C. Napoli Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli (), is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in the city of Naples ( it, Napoli, nap, Napule), Camp ...

, for a reported €24m deal until 2024. Lobotka was benched in his first possible fixture against

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

, on 18 January 2020, in a 0–2 defeat. Instead, Lobotka made a brief, 22 minute appearance in

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

against

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, being featured in the starting line-up. He had to be replaced early due to tactical changes, following a red card to

Elseid Hysaj Elseid Gëzim Hysaj (; born 2 February 1994) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Serie A club Lazio and the Albania national team, for which he is captain. Hysaj can operate on both sides of the pitch as a full- ...

. Still, Lobotka witnessed an early winning goal by

Lorenzo Insigne Lorenzo Insigne (; born 4 June 1991) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Major League Soccer club Toronto FC and the Italy national team. Insigne began his professional career with čelik Niksic in 2009, making his ...

in the 2nd minute. He made his

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

debut against table-leaders Juventus on 26 January 2020. Lobotka came on as a replacement for

Diego Demme Diego Demme (born 21 November 1991) is a German professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Napoli and the Germany national team. Club career Arminia Bielefeld Born in Herford, Germany, Demme began playing football a ...

, who was booked with a yellow card in the first half. Napoli managed to earn an upset victory over the favourites, by winning 2–1, with goals scored by Piotr Zieliński and

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...

's stoppage time goal did not change the result. He had his first league start in the next round, in a 4–2 away victory at Stadio Luigi Ferraris against

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

. Lobotka played for over an hour and was replaced by

, as Napoli led 2–1, after goals by

Arkadiusz Milik Arkadiusz Krystian Milik (; born 28 February 1994) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Juventus, on loan from Ligue 1 club Marseille, and the Poland national team. Milik began his career as a footballe ...

and

Elif Elmas Eljif Elmas ( mk, Елиф Елмас; born 24 September 1999) is a Macedonian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Napoli and the North Macedonia national team. Club career Early career Elmas started his career at FK Ra ...

. Demme went on to score the third goal and

Dries Mertens Dries Mertens (; born 6 May 1987), nicknamed "Ciro", is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker or winger for Süper Lig club Galatasaray and the Belgium national team.

sealed the win in stoppage time. Lobotka had also been added to Napoli's

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

squad, thus making him eligible to participate in the Round of 16 fixtures against

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. The first competitive set of fixtures between the clubs was also dubbed, by some, the '' Maradona derby''.

International career

Lobotka represented various youth Slovak teams, and in November 2016 he was called up to the senior Slovakia squad for matches against Lithuania and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. He made his debut in the latter friendly match, on 15 November 2016, along with other debuting players,

Matúš Bero Matúš Bero (born 6 September 1995) is a Slovak professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Eredivisie club SBV Vitesse, Vitesse and the Slovakia national football team, Slovakia national team. Club career Bero ...

and Albert Rusnák. He played in the second half of the goalless draw. He was then called up to multiple fixtures but had to wait for his competitive debut until 1 September 2017, for a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. He played the entire match being a valuable midfielder, fulfilling the expectations following the successful performances of Lobotka and Slovakia U21 at the

2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2017) was the 21st edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, a biennial international youth football championship organised by UEFA for the men's under-21 na ...

, as well as his move to

Celta Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), ...

. His performance contributed to Slovakia's 1-0 home win and he was dubbed the 'Man of The Match' by media and the fans. Only three days later, on 4 September 2017, Lobotka scored his first international goal for the senior team and became the first Slovak to score at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

, in a

qualifier In linguistics, a modifier is an optional element in phrase structure or clause structure which ''modifies'' the meaning of another element in the structure. For instance, the adjective "red" acts as a modifier in the noun phrase "red ball", provi ...

against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He scored after he tackled and took the ball from

Marcus Rashford Marcus Rashford (born 31 October 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Manchester United and the England national team. Considered one of the best players in the world, he is known for his explosive ath ...

and exchanged a pass with

Adam Nemec Adam Nemec (; born 2 September 1985) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga I side FC Voluntari. In his career, he has played in seven different countries but mostly for teams in Germany and Romania. During 13 years ...

, before beating

Joe Hart Charles Joseph John Hart (born 19 April 1987) known professionally simply as Joe Hart is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Scottish Premiership club Celtic. He began his career at his hometown club Shrewsbury T ...

in the 3rd minute of the match. Slovakia however went on to lose the game 1-2, after goals by

Eric Dier Eric Jeremy Edgar Dier (born 15 January 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays for club Tottenham Hotspur and the England national team. A versatile defensive player, Dier has been deployed as a defensive midfielder, a centre-b ...

and Rashford. The 8th game of the campaign was a direct battle for the 1st place in qualifying Group F. Similarly, like after the previous game, Lobotka received praise for his performance. By the end of the year, he scored again in a friendly match against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

in the 93rd minute, providing Slovakia a 1-0 victory in a final international game of

Ján Ďurica Ján Ďurica (born 10 December 1981) is a Slovak former professional footballer who played as a central defender. He worked as assistant manager of FC Petržalka. Club career Ďurica moved to FC Saturn Moscow Oblast after a highly successful U ...

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Slovakia's score listed first, score column indicates score after each Lobotka goal.''

Honours

AS Trenčín *

Fortuna Liga The Slovak Super Liga is the top level football league in Slovakia, currently known as the Fortuna Liga due to a sponsorship arrangement. It was formed in 1993 following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The record for most titles is eleven, ...

: 2014–15 * Slovnaft Cup: 2014–15 Napoli *

: 2022–23 *

: 2019–20 Slovakia * King's Cup:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

Individual * Slovak Footballer of the Year - Fan Award: 2022

References

External links

Stanislav Lobotka
on S.S.C. Napoli
Corgoň Liga profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lobotka, Stanislav 1994 births Living people Footballers from Trenčín Slovak men's footballers Slovak expatriate men's footballers Slovakia men's international footballers Slovakia men's youth international footballers Slovakia men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders AS Trenčín players AFC Ajax players Jong Ajax players FC Nordsjælland players RC Celta de Vigo players SSC Napoli players Slovak First Football League players Eerste Divisie players Danish Superliga players La Liga players Serie A players UEFA Euro 2020 players Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Slovak expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Italy