Juraj Kucka

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Juraj Kucka
Ukrain-Slovakia (5).jpg
Kucka in 2014
Personal information
Full name Juraj Kucka
Date of birth (1987-02-26) 26 February 1987 (age 29)
Place of birth Bojnice, Czechoslovakia
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Milan
Number 33
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 46 (3)
National team‡
2007–2008 Slovakia U21 11 (0)
2008– Slovakia 52 (6)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 29 January 2017.
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 November 2016

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] He is nicknamed Kuco, a moniker he was given in kindergarten.[2]

Club career[edit]

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[edit]

On 6 January 2011, he signed a four-and-a-half-year contract for €3.55 million transfer fee[3] with Genoa C.F.C. (later extended one more year to 30 June 2016).[3][4] 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.[5] 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.[6][7]

Milan[edit]

On 28 August 2015, Kucka was signed by A.C. Milan[8] for €3 million[9] However, Milan also paid an unknown parties for an additional €1 million.[10] 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[edit]

Kucka, a former Slovakia under-21 player, made his senior international debut in an friendly match against Liechtenstein on November 19, 2008. Slovakia manager Vladimír Weiss called him up for the 2010 FIFA World Cup despite the fact that Kucka had not played in any qualification matches. He played in three games at the World Cup: against New Zealand, Italy and The Netherlands.

Kucka was called up to the squad for the Euro 2016 tournament in France.

Career statistics[edit]

Club[edit]

As of 29 January 2017.[11]
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Ružomberok 2006–07 Super Liga 6 0 — — — 6 0
2007–08 24 5 — — — 24 5
2008–09 18 3 — — — 18 3
Total 48 8 — — — 48 8
Sparta Praha 2008–09 First League 12 3 — — — 12 3
2009–10 20 5 2 0 5 1 — 27 6
2010–11 13 3 — 11 2 — 24 5
Total 45 11 2 0 16 3 — 63 14
Genoa 2010–11 Serie A 17 0 1 0 — — 18 0
2011–12 26 2 1 0 — — 27 2
2012–13 33 3 2 0 — — 35 3
2013–14 11 2 1 0 — — 12 2
2014–15 34 2 0 0 — — 34 2
2015–16 1 0 0 0 — — 1 0
Total 122 9 5 0 — — 127 9
Milan 2015–16 Serie A 29 1 5 0 — — 34 1
2016–17 17 2 2 1 — 1[a] 0 20 3
Total 46 3 7 1 — 1 0 54 4
Career total 261 31 14 1 16 3 1 0 292 35
  1. ^ Appearance in Supercoppa Italiana

International[edit]

Slovakia national team
Year Apps Goals
2009 3 0
2010 9 0
2011 6 1
2012 6 0
2013 9 1
2014 4 2
2015 6 0
2016 9 2
Total 52 6

International goals[edit]

As of match played 11 November 2016. Slovakia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Kucka goal.[11]
International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 10 August 2011 Wörthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt, Austria 17  Austria 1–0 2–1 Friendly
2 15 November 2013 Stadion Miejski, Wrocław, Poland 35  Poland 1–0 2–0 Friendly
3 9 October 2014 Štadión pod Dubňom, Žilina, Slovakia 37  Spain 1–0 2–1 UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
4 15 November 2014 Philip II Arena, Skopje, Macedonia 39  Macedonia 1–0 2–0 UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
5 29 May 2016 WWK Arena, Augsburg, Germany 46  Germany 3–1 3–1 Friendly
6 11 November 2016 Štadión Antona Malatinského, Trnava, Slovakia 52  Lithuania 2–0 4–0 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours[edit]

Club[edit]

Sparta Praha[12]
Milan

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Slovakia – Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 20 December 2010. 
  2. ^ Nobilini, Simone (8 June 2016). "Juraj Kucka: la Nazionale Slovacca e il perchè del nome "Kuco"" [juraj Kucka: Slovakia national team and the reason for the name "Kuco"]. milannews.it (in Italian). Retrieved 3 September 2016. 
  3. ^ a b Genoa CFC SpA Report and Accounts on 31 December 2011 (Italian)
  4. ^ "Kucka definitívne hráčom Janova, podpísal 4,5-ročnú zmluvu" (in Slovak). profutbal. 6 January 2011. Retrieved 2011-02-08. 
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ Genoa CFC SpA Report and Accounts on 30 June 2012 (Italian)
  7. ^ FC Internazionale Milano SpA Report and Accounts on 30 June 2012 (Italian)
  8. ^ "MILANELLO: ARRIVATO JURAJ KUCKA" (in Italian). A.C. Milan. 28 August 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015. 
  9. ^ Genoa C.F.C. S.p.A. bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 31 December 2015, PDF purchased from CCIAA (in Italian)
  10. ^ A.C. Milan S.p.A. bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 31 December 2015, PDF purchased from CCIAA (in Italian)
  11. ^ a b Juraj Kucka profile at Soccerway
  12. ^ http://us.soccerway.com/players/juraj-kucka/35495/

External links[edit]

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