Juraj Kucka

Juraj Kucka

Kucka in 2014
Personal information
Full name Juraj Kucka
Date of birth (1987-02-26) 26 February 1987
Place of birth Bojnice, Czechoslovakia
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Milan
Number 27
Youth career
2001–2002 Prievidza
2002–2004 Radvaň
2004–2006 Podbrezová
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2005–2007 Podbrezová 42 (3)
2007–2008 Ružomberok 48 (9)
2009–2011 Sparta Praha 45 (11)
2011–2015 Genoa 122 (9)
2015– Milan 26 (1)
National team‡
2007–2008 Slovakia U21 11 (0)
2008– Slovakia 45 (4)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 04:23, 22 April 2016 (UTC).
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17 November 2015

Juraj Kucka (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈjuraj ˈkutska]; born 26 February 1987) is a Slovak footballer who plays as a midfielder for Italian club Milan in Serie A and the Slovakia national football team.[1]

Club career

Kucka made his Slovak Super Liga debut for MFK Ružomberok on 11 March 2007. He played six games in his first season. Overall, Kucka played 49 games and scored eight goals for Ružomberok. Czech manager Michal Bílek, coaching Ružomberok in 2008, recommended Kucka for Sparta Praha. In January 2009, he has signed a three-year contract for Sparta. In 2009–10 Czech First League season he won the champions.

Genoa

On 6 January 2011, he signed a four-and-a-half-year contract for €3.55 million transfer fee[2] with Genoa C.F.C. (later extended one more year to 30 June 2016).[2][3] He made his debut in the Coppa Italia match against Inter on 12 January 2011. He was voted man of the match by Genoa fans after 1–1 draw against Milan on 6 February 2011. Kucka proved immediately to fit fine in the squad, showing a remarkable physical strength and good technical skills, resulting the second best player of Genoa.[4] He scored his first goal for Genoa in a 2–1 away win against Lazio on 18 September 2011.

On 31 August 2011, the last day of transfer window, Inter and Genoa came to an agreement to swap co-ownerships of Juraj Kucka (€8M) and Emiliano Viviano (€5M). In June 2012 Kucka returned to Genoa where he spent 2011–12 season on loan for just €6.5 million, co-currently Samuele Longo returned to Inter for €7M.[5][6]

Milan

On 28 August 2015, Kucka was signed by A.C. Milan .[7] He made his debut on 29 August 2015 in a 2-1 home win against Empoli, and scored his first Milan goal on 9 January 2016 to equalize against Roma in a 1-1 draw.

International career

Kucka, former Slovakia under-21 player, made his senior international debut in friendly match against Liechtenstein on 19 November 2008. Slovakia manager Vladimír Weiss called up him at the 2010 FIFA World Cup even though that he did not play any qualification match. He played in three games at the World Cup against New Zealand, Italy and the Netherlands.

International goals

Scores and results list Slovakia's goal tally first.
Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 10 August 2011 Hypo-Arena, Klagenfurt, Austria  Austria 1–0 2–1 Friendly
2. 15 November 2013 Stadion Miejski, Wrocław, Poland  Poland 1–0 2–0 Friendly
3. 9 October 2014 Štadión pod Dubňom, Žilina, Slovakia  Spain 1–0 2–1 Euro 2016 qualifier
4. 15 November 2014 Philip II Arena, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia  Macedonia 1–0 2–0 Euro 2016 qualifier
Correct as of 15 November 2014

Honours

Sparta Praha

References

  1. ↑ "Slovakia – Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  2. 1 2 Genoa CFC SpA Report and Accounts on 31 December 2011 (Italian)
  3. ↑ "Kucka definitívne hráčom Janova, podpísal 4,5-ročnú zmluvu" (in Slovak). profutbal. 6 January 2011. Retrieved 2011-02-08.
  4. ↑ Only Kakha Kaladze did better than him according to the Italian sports newspaper la Gazzetta dello Sport, see Filippo Grimaldi, Marcello Pirovano, Carrarmato Kucka: che affare
  5. ↑ Genoa CFC SpA Report and Accounts on 30 June 2012 (Italian)
  6. ↑ FC Internazionale Milano SpA Report and Accounts on 30 June 2012 (Italian)
  7. ↑ "MILANELLO: ARRIVATO JURAJ KUCKA" (in Italian). A.C. Milan. 28 August 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, April 25, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.