Stanislav Lobotka

**Stanislav Lobotka** (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈstaɲislaʊ̯ ˈlɔbɔtka]; born 25 November 1994) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Spanish club Real San Sebastian and the Slovak national team.[1]

## Club career

### AS Trenčín

He made his Corgoň Liga debut for AS Trenčín[2] against FK Dukla Banská Bystrica on 4 March 2012.

#### AFC Ajax (loan)

Lobotka has joined Ajax for the 2013 season on 30 June 2013 on a one-year loan with option to buy.[3][4] He played his first match for Ajax on 13 July 2013 in a pre-season friendly encounter against RKC Waalwijk. Coming on as a 60' minute substitute for Christian Eriksen in the 1–5 win in Waalwijk at the Mandemakers Stadion.[5]

### FC Nordsjælland

Stanislav
 Lobotka came to FC Nordsjælland 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.[6]
In 2017, he was again voted club's player of the year after another great season.[7]

### Celta Vigo

On 15 July 2017, Lobotka joined Celta on a five-year deal.[8]

## 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.[9] He made his debut in the latter friendly match, on 15 November 2016, along with other debuting players, Matúš 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.
 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, as well as his move to Celta Vigo. 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, in a qualifier against England. He scored after he tackled and took the ball from Marcus Rashford and exchanged a pass with Adam Nemec, before beating Joe Hart in the 3rd minute of the match. Slovakia however went on to lose the game 1-2, after goals by Eric Dier
 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 in the 93rd minute, providing Slovakia a 1-0 victory in a final international game of Ján Ďurica.

### Ján Kozák's resignation incident

By
 October 2018, Lobotka became a key player of Slovakia, commonly earning
 caps in start starting line-up. Lobotka was nominated for a double
fixture against Czech Republic and Sweden on 13 October and 16 October 2018, respectively.[10] Lobotka played tin both games, but was also involved in the controversy, that had led to resignation of Ján Kozák, then Slovakia's longest-serving and most successful coach, who introduced him to the national team.

Lobotka violated the code of conduct of national team player, along with Martin Dúbravka, Michal Šulla, Milan Škriniar, Norbert Gyömbér, Ľubomír Šatka, Vladimír Weiss. On the night of 13 October 2018, after a loss in Slovakia's second UEFA Nations League
 fixture and a derby match against Czech Republic (1–2), they left the
hotel and went out, missed the bedtime and violated the wellness policy,
 regarding regeneration and rehabilitation. They were allegedly noticed
by Ján Kozák at about midnight, admitting to the incident and
apologising the next day. Ján Kozák resigned from the national team in
the afternoon of 14 October, revealing the details of his decision in a
press conference on 18 October, to avoid distractions during the
preparation for the fixture against Sweden, that was managed by his
former assistant Štefan Tarkovič
 on a caretaker basis. Kozák cited his inability to work with the squad
under such conditions as the primary reason, as about a third of the
squad was involved, including players Kozák described as crucial for the
 future of Slovak football, with Lobotka among them. The President of SFZ,
 Ján Kováčik, said that the players will be punished by not receiving
any financial rewards for any future nominations and performances in the
 national team during the upcoming qualification cycle. During the press
 conference, Kozák expressed disappointment about Lobotka's statements,
when Lobotka allegedly told the press that "coaches come and go, we are
professionals". Kozák felt that this is in a direct contrast with their
conduct of the previous days, however he added, that he likes Lobotka
and will continue to cheer for him. Kozák however also revealed, that
upon inquiry why Lobotka engaged in such conduct, he allegedly told him
that he has a busy timetable at Vigo
 and has no time to relax, to which Kozák sarcastically remarked, that
Lobotka finds time to relax with Saturday - Tuesday fixture with
national team, but not Saturday - Saturday match plan at Vigo.[11]

Only hours before the incident, Škriniar and Lobotka in
particular faced criticism from Kozák during a post-match press
conference, who described their performance as poor and commented on the
 need for these highly valued players, worth millions, to take
responsibility, instead of relying on other more experienced players,
like Martin Škrtel and Marek Hamšík.[12]

On 19 October, SFZ published a common statement of Škriniar and
Lobotka, accepting Kozák's criticism as normal and justified, although
disagreeing with the comments about their value and transfer rumours.
They apologised to the fans, the FA and their team-mates, although
claiming that they understand that no apology is sufficient enough. They
 also accepted the sanctions and expressed hope for continued support of
 the national team.[13]