Marek Hamšík
Marek Hamšík is a Slovak football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently the team manager and assistant coach for the Slovakia national team.
After beginning his club career with Slovan Bratislava in 2004, Hamšík moved to Italian club Brescia later that year. In 2007, he was purchased by newly promoted Serie A club Napoli, where he became a mainstay in the squad's starting line-up. His energy, leadership, creativity, skill and eye for goal from midfield saw him play a key role in helping the team to two Coppa Italia titles and a Supercoppa Italiana. He scored 121 goals for the club and collected 521 appearances in all competitions during his twelve seasons with the team, and also served as the club's captain between 2014 and 2019; he became the club's all-time top goalscorer in 2017, and the club's all-time appearance holder in 2018. In February 2019, Hamšík joined Chinese club Dalian Professional. He signed for Turkish side Trabzonspor in 2021, winning a Süper Lig title, before announcing his retirement in 2023. He also formerly captained the Slovakia national team from 2007 until his retirement from the national team.
At international level, Hamšík helped Slovakia qualify for the country' first ever FIFA World Cup, captaining the side at the 2010 tournament as they reached the round of 16 following a victory over defending champions Italy. He would go on to lead his nation to European Championship qualification for the first time in 2016, as they once again reached the second round of a major tournament; a second consecutive European Championship appearance would follow for Hamšík in 2020. From 2007 to 2023, Hamšík collected 138 international caps at senior level, scoring 26 goals, and in 2018 became Slovakia's most capped player ever. In 2019, he scored his 25th international goal, overtaking Róbert Vittek as the nation's all-time top scorer.
For his performances, Hamšík has also won several individual awards: he is an eight-time winner of the Slovak Footballer of the Year Award, and he was named Serie A Young Footballer of the Year in 2008. In 2011, 2016 and 2017, he was named to the Serie A Team of the Year, and in 2015, he was included in the UEFA Europa League Squad of the season. In 2013, Hamšík was ranked as the eighth best footballer in Europe by Bloomberg.
Club career
Early career
Despite the fact Hamšík grew up in Banská Bystrica, he never played for major local team Dukla Banská Bystrica. Instead, he began playing for a small youth team, Jupie Podlavice. In 2002, he signed with top Slovak club Slovan Bratislava. He played six times for the Slovan Bratislava first team and scored one goal.In 2004, at age 17, Hamšík joined Italian Serie A club Brescia for a €500,000 transfer fee. He made his Brescia debut in a 3–1 away defeat against Chievo on 20 March 2005, when he was 17 years and 237 days old. Later that season, Brescia finished 19th in Serie A and was therefore relegated to the Serie B. In 2005–06, he played 24 league matches for Brescia, with Brescia finishing tenth. He had an impressive 2006–07 season, scoring 10 goals in 40 matches.
Napoli
On 28 June 2007, newly promoted Serie A club Napoli announced Hamšík had signed a five-year contract with the club after Napoli paid Brescia a €5.5 million transfer fee. Napoli club chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis described Hamšík as a player who should be closely watched in the future.Hamšík played his first competitive match with Napoli on 15 August 2007, against Cesena in the first round of the Coppa Italia; Napoli won the match 4–0, as Hamšík set up the opening goal and scored the second himself. He scored his first goal in Serie A on 16 September 2007 in the match against Sampdoria.
His football icon is Czech midfielder Pavel Nedvěd, to whom Hamšík has often been compared due to his playing style. In 2007, he was voted the second-best Slovak footballer of the year, after Martin Škrtel, and also he was voted the best young Slovak footballer. Hamšík ended his first season with Napoli as the club's top scorer, with nine goals from 37 matches. At the start of the 2008–09 season, Hamšík scored in both of Napoli's first two matches and went on to score a further nine goals in his second season with the club, finishing as Napoli's top scorer for the second-straight year.
In March 2009, he was announced as runner-up, again behind Martin Škrtel, as best Slovak footballer of the year for 2008, as well as being that year's best young Slovak footballer, for the second year in a row.
2010–11 season
On 19 September 2010, Hamšík scored Napoli's first goal as they came back from a goal down to defeat Sampdoria 2–1 in Genoa. On 23 September, Hamšík signed a three-year contract extension set to last until June 2015. Three days later, Hamšík scored his second goal of the new season with an 81st-minute penalty to earn Napoli a 4–1 comeback win away to newly promoted Cesena. On 30 January 2011, Hamšík scored a well taken effort as Napoli hammered Sampdoria 4–0.The 2010–11 season was very productive for Hamšík, as he helped lead Napoli to a very successful season and earn automatic qualification into the UEFA Champions League by finishing third in Serie A. Hamšík played in 36 of Napoli's 38 Serie A matches that season, scoring 11 goals and contributing 6 assists.
2011–12 season
Hamšík scored the winning goal in Napoli's 2–0 home victory over Villarreal on 27 September, earning Napoli its first ever victory in the Champions League. On 29 November, Napoli welcomed Serie A table leaders Juventus to the Stadio San Paolo; Hamšík missed a 15th-minute penalty before heading in a goal to give the hosts the lead seven minutes later. The match was enthralling, however it ended in a 3–3 draw after Napoli conceded two late goals to preserve Juventus' unbeaten start to the season.Hamšík provided an assist for Gökhan Inler's opening goal against Villarreal on 7 December and then scored the decisive goal, helping Napoli to a 2–0 victory in Spain. The win secured qualification to the round of 16 in a very difficult group, which included Bayern Munich and Manchester City. Hamšík helped Napoli finish the first half of the 2011–12 campaign on a high, scoring a superb goal in Napoli's 6–1 hammering of Genoa on 21 December. Hamšík also provided assists for strikes by Goran Pandev and Walter Gargano in the match. Through the first half of the 2011–12 campaign, Hamšík had appeared in 16 Serie A matches, contributing five goals and five assists. In Napoli's European campaign, Hamšík appeared in all six group stage matches and contributed two goals and one assist.
Following the winter break, Hamšík provided an assist for Edinson Cavani's goal and scored Napoli's third goal in its 3–1 defeat of Palermo on 8 January 2012. On 13 February 2012, he made his 200th appearance for Napoli in a 2–0 home win over Chievo.
On 9 March, Hamšík signed a one-year contract extension with Napoli, keeping him at the club until June 2016. The announcement was made following Hamšík scoring an incredible angled shot against Cagliari earlier that day, as Napoli ran out 6–3 winners. Hamšík's final goal of the season came in a 2–0 victory over Palermo on 1 May, as he doubled Napoli's lead in the 35th minute following a penalty from Edinson Cavani. Napoli finished the season in fifth place in Serie A, with Hamšík contributing nine league goals and nine assists.
Hamšík was also very influential as Napoli reached the Coppa Italia final against Scudetto winners Juventus on 20 May. After being slipped in by Goran Pandev, Hamšík was one-on-one with Juve goalkeeper Marco Storari and made no mistake as he touched it past the onrushing Storari, securing a 2–0 win which delivered The Partenopei its first trophy in over 20 years.
2012–13 season
Hamšík started in the 2012 Supercoppa Italiana, held in Beijing, on 11 August; however, Napoli were defeated by Juventus 4–2 in extra time. Later that month, in Napoli's first league fixture of the 2012–13 Serie A season, Hamšík scored the club's first goal and assisted Christian Maggio's strike in an eventual 3–0 defeat of Palermo. Missing leading goal-scorer Edinson Cavani for the club's match against Chievo on 28 October 2012, Hamšík connected on a Juan Camilo Zúñiga cross to give Napoli a 1–0 victory. On 6 January 2013, he made his 200th Serie A appearance in a 4–1 home win over Roma. On the penultimate matchday of the Serie A season, Hamšík collected a pass from Goran Pandev and nudged the ball home in the 93rd minute, rescuing a 2–1 win over Siena, confirming the club's place in the group stages of the Champions League while condemning Siena to relegation. The Slovak featured in every Serie A match for Napoli during the 2012–13 season, providing 11 goals and 14 assists as the Partenopei finished second behind reigning champions Juventus, a season which proved to be manager Walter Mazzarri's last at the club, as he became coach of Internazionale later that summer.2013–14 season
On 10 August 2013, Hamšík signed a contract extension with Napoli, tying him to the club until the summer of 2018. In the first match of the 2013–14 Serie A season on 26 August 2013, Hamšík scored Napoli's second and third goals in the club's 3–0 home defeat of Bologna. Hamšík continued his scoring form in Napoli's following match, netting another brace in their 4–2 away victory over Chievo on 31 August.Following Paolo Cannavaro's departure to Sassuolo in the 2014 January transfer window, Hamšík was named Napoli's new captain. On 27 April 2014, he made his 300th appearance for Napoli in a 0–0 draw against Internazionale. On 3 May 2014, Hamšík played 63 minutes in Napoli's 3–1 win over Fiorentina in the 2014 Coppa Italia Final.
2014–15 season
On 27 August 2014, Hamšík scored the opening goal, his first of the 2014–15 season, in the second leg of Napoli's Champions League play-off against Athletic Bilbao, as Bilbao came from behind to win the match 3–1 at home and eliminate Napoli from the competition. On 20 October, Hamšík scored the opening goal in a 2–0 away win over his former club Slovan Bratislava in Napoli's second group match of that season's UEFA Europa League, making his 40th appearance for the club in UEFA club competitions in the process and overtaking Antonio Juliano as the club's record appearance holder in European club competitions.On 22 December, Hamšík lifted the 2014 Supercoppa Italiana as Napoli's captain, defeating Juventus 6–5 on penalties after a 2–2 draw following extra time. On 22 January 2015, he scored his first Coppa Italia goal of the season in the round of 16 against Udinese, as Napoli went on to win the match on penalties. On 3 May, he scored his 90th goal for Napoli in a 3–0 victory over Milan in Serie A.