Inter defender Milan Skriniar is dreaming of bringing fans of the Slovakian national team joy and enthusiasm by performing well at this summer’s European Championships.
Skriniar’s Slovakia are in Group E for the tournament which was postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, where they are due to face Poland, Sweden and Spain.
He played 90 minutes last night for Inter as they lost 2-1 Juventus at San Siro in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final.
“We don’t just want to take part in the tournament with our team and teammates, we want to show off,” Skriniar explained in an interview with Slovakian news outlet Sport.sk.
“I think there will be fans at the matches at the Euros, albeit to a limited extent.
“People will support us, all of Slovakia will be with us during the championships.
“We would love to bring them joy and enthusiasm after these difficult times.”
Asked about Zlatan Ibrahimovic potentially returning to the Swedish national team, the 25-year-old said: “I think there is talk of his comeback, so we’ll see what happens.
“The only sure thing is that we will have three quality matches in the group.
“Not only against Sweden, but also against Spain and Poland.”
Prior to competing in the European Championships, Slovakia will also begin the qualification process for the 2022 World Cup and he will be coming up against some Inter teammates in the qualifying phase.
“Am I looking forward to the first qualifying match with Croatia? It will not only be against Marcelo Brozovic but also Ivan Perisic, and we have to recognise the fact that the Croatians are clearly the favourites.
“In March, however, we will have other matches that we have to manage.
“It would be nice to go to the World Cup after having qualified for the European Championships.”
This season the former Sampdoria player, who recently made his 150th appearance for Inter, has made 22 appearances across all competitions to date, in which he has scored two goals.
