Slovakia has already reached its target of making the round of 16 at the World Cup, so a positive result against the Netherlands on Monday would be a bonus.

"For us it will be a completely new and fantastic experience," said forward Robert Vittek, who scored twice in Slovakia's stunning 3-2 win over defending champion Italy. "We're not thinking about the result now; we just want to focus on the match. We only have a chance if we play like we played against Italy."

Slovakia coach Vladimir Weiss already reached the quarterfinals as a player with the former Czechoslovakia in 1990, and Slovakia also surprised in qualifying for this World Cup, winning a group that included the Czech Republic and Poland.

"What we have learned so far is that in football everything is possible," Weiss said Sunday at the Moses Mabhida Stadium. "But that's an old cliche. We showed that we can play football and that we can play against very strong teams and tomorrow we're facing another strong team."

Slovakia is playing in a major international tournament for the first time since splitting with Czechoslovakia in 1993, but that doesn't mean the Slovaks lack international experience.

Slovakia was part of Czechoslovakia when the country reached the World Cup final in 1934 and '62, losing to Italy and Brazil, respectively. And Slovaks played a vital role on a Czechoslovak team that won the European Championship in 1976.

Besides Vittek, the joint tournament scoring leader with three goals, the Slovaks are led by attacking midfielder Marek Hamsik - the team captain who plays for Napoli in Italy's Serie A - and Liverpool center back Martin Skrtel.

Scoring goals in bunches is nothing new for Vittek, who once found the target 16 times in the final 16 games of the Bundesliga season with FC Nuremberg. Vittek finished last season with Turkish side Ankaragucu, but his performance in South Africa should open the way for a return to a big European league.

Weiss first showed his coaching skills by guiding Artmedia Bratislava into the Champions League group stage in 2005, routing favorite Celtic 5-0 during qualifying.

"Yes, miracles do happen," Weiss said. "We want to play a good game tomorrow and at least match our opponent."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP