A Brief Guide to Slovakia

History: Slovakia, as we all know, was formerly a part of Czechoslovakia but became independent on Jan 1st 1993 when the Czechs and the Slovaks went their separate ways. Links between Ireland and Slovakia stretch somewhat tenuously back to 500 BC when it is thought to have been ruled by a Celtic king by the name of Biatec though, to be frank, he sounds more like an IT company than a royal.

Attila The hun also ruled in this neck of the woods for a while and such is the complex lineage of Central Europe that Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava, was once the capital of The Kingdom of Hungary.

Sports: Young Slovaks do not grow up dreaming of being football stars. Ice- Hockey is what it’s all about here and a host of Slovaks have become major stars in the NHL. In Slovakia you are more likely to encounter a pick-up ice-hockey game in a frozen over car park than a game of three and in with jumpers for goalposts.

Feeling peckish? One of Slovakia’s favourite dishes is a blood sausage made from pigs. It is called Jaternice, but before tucking in do bear in mind that Jaternice makers are not overly choosy when selecting which parts of the pig they include.

Tradition: If you are lucky enough to be going to the game and a Slovak rushes towards you wielding an axe do not be alarmed. Ninety nine times out of a hundred they are merely celebrating their cultural identity with a valaška, which is a traditional shepherd’s axe. The valaška has symbolic cultural connotations in Slovakia and non-lethal replicas can be bought in souvenir shops. On the rare occasion that you have encountered an actual axe-murderer extratime.ie suggests that you run away.

Music: Along with a rich tradition of folk and classical music, Slovakia can also claim to have played a central role in the development of modern music. For Slovakia is the birth place of John Dopyera, the inventor of the resonator guitar, without which Hawaiian music simply wouldn’t be what it is today. But I’m being facetious. Bluegrass and Jazz were genres that particularly benefitted from Dopyera’s inventions but all forms of music that feature electric guitars owe a huge debt to this bona fide Slovakian genius.

Famous Slovaks: If, like me, you once nearly crashed your car while looking at a Wonderbra billboard, you might want to thank Slovakia for providing the world with Adriana Sklenarikova. The Brezno born, former medical student, was one of a number of Wonderbra models who caused consternation in the nineties with a series of spicy roadside advertisements. She is also married to French football star Christian Karembeu.

Although he was born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, Paul Newman’s mother was born in Pti?ie, a small village in the Humenné District of Slovakia.

Doctor Jozef Vengloš, the former manager of Aston Villa was born in the Slovakian town, Ružomberok. In 1990 he became the first man born outside Britain or Ireland to manage a top flight side in the English league. He was also the first man ever to manage the Slovakian national team when they gained their independence in 1993. However, it should be pointed out that his doctorate is in Physical Education, which is a bit like winning the Nobel prize for counting.

Slovakian Football: The Slovakian national side, which only came into existence in the 1990’s, qualified for it’s first major finals tournament at this summer’s World Cup in South Africa. They topped their qualification group ahead of Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Northern Ireland and Poland and, at the finals themselves, were drawn against Italy, Paraguay and New Zealand in Group F.

Having drawn 1-1 with New Zealand in their opening game they then lost 2-0 to Paraguay and seemed to be on their way out. But a spectacular 3-2 win over Italy sent them into the knock-out phase as group runners- up. In the second round they played the Netherlands in Durban and despite a late goal from Róbert Vittek they lost 2-1 to go out of the competition.

On the domestic front Slovakian club sides should not be under estimated with MŠK Žilina currently competing in the Champions League. They beat Sparta Prague 3-0 on aggregate to qualify for the group stage where they are up against Chelsea, Spartak Moscow and Olympique Marseille.

Žilina are the current league champions in Slovakia while Slovan Bratislava are the Cup holders. With five league titles each (the league is only 17 years old) these are Slovakia’s two most successful clubs.