Martin Dúbravka
Martin Dúbravka (; born 15 January 1989) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Newcastle United and the Slovakia national team. Early life. As a child, Dúbravka enjoyed playing ice hockey as well as football, and could have moved into the former sport were it not for a leg injury he sustained when he was five years old. Club career. Early career. Dúbravka made his first-team debut in a 5–2 home win against Dubnica on 26 May 2009. In the next season he played 26 Slovak Superliga games, finishing as a league champion . He became a first choice after the transfer of Dušan Perniš in January 2010. He qualified with Žilina to the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League and played all 6 group games. He kept a clean sheet in the play-off round against Sparta Prague. On 30 January 2014, he signed a 3½-year deal with the Danish Superliga club Esbjerg fB. Dúbravka joined Slovan Liberec of the Czech First League in July 2016 on a one-year contract. He joined Sparta Prague in June 2017, signing a three-year contract. Newcastle United. In January 2018, Newcastle United showed interest in Dúbravka, initially  offering Sparta Prague a loan for €500,000, with an option to sign in the summer for €4.5 million. He finally joined the Premier League side on 31 January 2018, the final day of the winter transfer window on a half-year loan deal, due to expire at the end of 2017–18 season. According to isport.cz, he joined the club for €2 million, with an option to sign in the summer for €4 million. He made his debut on 11 February, playing a pivotal role and keeping a clean sheet in a 1–0 win against Manchester United . After a very successful loan spell, he signed permanently for Newcastle on 30 May 2018 for an undisclosed fee of around €5 million. On 17 February 2019 in Durham, Dúbravka was recognised as the 2018 Player of the Year by the North East Football Writers' Association, joining the likes of Alan Shearer, Kevin Keegan and Shay Given. He became the seventh goalkeeper to win the award, over its thirty-nine seasons. Dúbravka stated that he was happy to win the award because "amazing players have won this trophy before". "FourFourTwo" ranked Dúbravka as the twentieth best player of the  Premier League, in the 2018–19 season. He was the highest ranked goalkeeper, ahead of highly valued goalkeepers such as Alisson (Liverpool) and David de Gea (Manchester United). While Dúbravka was ever present for Newcastle for the next two seasons, he was mostly replaced in the FA Cup and EFL Cup, by either Karl Darlow or Freddie Woodman. His performances during the 2019–20 season, saw him win the club's Player of the Year award. In August 2020, Dúbravka injured his ankle in a training session prior to the start of the 2020–21 season. Darlow played in his absence and he  returned to the bench for the club's last match of the year, a 0–0 draw with Liverpool. On 9 January 2021, Dúbravka started his first match of the season, in a FA Cup extra-time loss to Arsenal. On 27 February, Dúbravka started his first league match of the season in a 1–1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers. Afterwards, he went on to make twelve more appearances in goal as Newcastle, despite having been in a relegation battle for much of the season, finished in twelfth place. International career. On 23 May 2014, Dúbravka made his debut for the Slovakia  national football team in a 2–0 win over Montenegro. In January 2017, he played his first full game for the national team, having played 45 minutes in both of his previous matches. While he was benched against Uganda (3–1 loss), on 12 January he was fielded in an unofficial friendly match against Sweden in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Slovakia lost the game 6–0, despite only trailing 1–0 at half time. This match also marked the first time Dúbravka conceded in the national team and he was also Slovak captain for the game, being the most experienced with international football . He made his competitive debut in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier, against Lithuania (2–1 win), on 10 June 2017, when the preferred goalkeeper in the qualification, Matúš Kozáčik, was unavailable due to injury. He however achieved his first competitive clean sheet on 1 September in a home qualifier against Slovenia. Slovakia won thanks to an 81st-minute goal by Adam Nemec. Just as in the previous cap, Dúbravka was chosen due to a prolonged injury of Kozáčik. After Kozáčik's return to the squad, Dúbravka remained the preferred choice for the remaining matches against England, Scotland and Malta. In  the match against Scotland, Dúbravka made a series of saves before he was finally beaten by an own goal from Martin Škrtel. Dúbravka missed all the national team fixtures of 2020 due to injuries ruling him out of play during the autumn of the year, he returned to the national team in March 2021, in a 0–0 draw with Cyprus. He made notable saves in the second half preventing and upset loss and received some praise for them, while the team received overall criticisms for the upset result and the performance labelled as "boring". He was named in Slovakia's  final squad for UEFA Euro 2020, where he played in all three group matches. Going into the match against Spain on 23 June, Slovakia had a slim chance to advance to the knockout stage as a third-placed team. Dúbravka started well, saving a penalty from Álvaro Morata in the twelfth minute. After a shot from Pablo Sarabia hit the crossbar, he tried to tip the ball away and instead punched the ball into his own net. In doing so, he became the first goalkeeper in European Championship history, to save a penalty and score an own goal in the  same match. Dúbravka would go on to concede four goals, as Spain won the match 5–0. Ján Kozák's resignation incident. Dúbravka was called up for a double fixture against Czech Republic and Sweden on 13 October and 16 October 2018, respectively. He played the entirety of both games, but was also involved in an incident, that had led to resignation of Ján Kozák, then Slovakia's longest-serving and most successful coach, who introduced him to the national team. Dúbravka violated the code of conduct of national team players, along with Michal Šulla, Norbert Gyömbér, Ľubomír Šatka, Milan Škriniar , Vladimír Weiss and Stanislav Lobotka. On the night of 13 October, after a 2–1 loss in Slovakia's second UEFA Nations League fixture and a derby match against the Czech Republic, they left the hotel and went out, missed the bedtime and violated the wellness policy, regarding regeneration and rehabilitation. They were allegedly discovered by Kozák at about midnight, admitting to the incident and apologising during the next day. Kozák resigned from the national team during 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 such squad under these conditions as the primary reason, as almost a third of the team was concerned, including players, those Kozák described as crucial, with Dúbravka being a part of this group. President of SFZ, Ján Kováčik, said that the players will be punished by not receiving any financial rewards for future nominations and performances in the national team during the upcoming qualification cycle. During the press conference, Kozák also revealed that Dúbravka had  claimed "difficult times at Newcastle" as one of the reasons for his conduct. On 19 October, SFZ published Dúbravka's official statement. He acknowledged that missing the bedtime was a violation, but maintained that the rest was within norms. He accepted any sanctions and stressed that the conduct was not aimed against Kozák, commenting that he regrets that Kozák did not accept an apology from the trespassers. He also stated that Kozák's resignation surprised him, because of the good relations within the team. Style of play. Dúbravka is a third-generation goalkeeper: his father and grandfather also played in  the position. Dúbravka has been dubbed the "quintessential sweeper-keeper" due to his "outstanding footwork" and he believes "in modern football the keeper's almost like a libero. You need to play with the ball, not just kick it long". Louise Taylor of "The Guardian" christened Dúbravka the "reluctant keeper" after he admitted his favourite position to play is right wing; he sometimes plays as an outfielder in training and coaching staff have suggested that he switch to a midfield role. Personal life. Dubravka lives with his girlfriend Lucia, and his dog. The couple had their first child in March  2021. Honours. Žilina Slovakia Individual