Martin Valjent
Martin Valjent (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈmaɾtiɱ ˈʋaljɛnt]; born 11 December 1995) is a Slovak footballer who plays for RCD Mallorca in La Liga as a defender.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Martin Valjent | ||
| Date of birth | 11 December 1995 | ||
| Place of birth | Dubnica nad Váhom, Slovakia | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Playing position(s) | Centre back | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Mallorca | ||
| Number | 24 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Dubnica | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2012–2013 | Dubnica | 14 | (0) |
| 2013–2017 | Ternana | 100 | (2) |
| 2017–2019 | Chievo | 0 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | → Ternana (loan) | 38 | (3) |
| 2018–2019 | → Mallorca (loan) | 33 | (0) |
| 2019– | Mallorca | 19 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2013 | Slovakia U18 | ||
| 2014 | Slovakia U19 | 14 | (2) |
| 2015–2017 | Slovakia U21 | 19 | (2) |
| 2018– | Slovakia | 3 | (0) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 9 January 2020 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13 October 2019 | |||
Career
International Career
Valjent was first called up to Slovakia's A-team by Ján Kozák sr. for a double fixture against Netherlands and Morocco on 31 May and 4 June respectively. He was additionally nominated as a result of Gyömbér's (rescheduled club fixture) and Štetina's (injury) unavailability. Although Valjent was benched in the home fixture against Netherlands (1–1), he replaced Tomáš Hubočan in the 79th minute of the fixture against Morocco in Geneva, to mark his debut in Slovakia's senior national team. He was fielded when the score was 1–2 and Slovakia failed to equalize the game.
His first competitive start came in a Euro 2020 qualifying fixture against Croatia on 6 September 2019 in Trnava, with Valjent playing as a right-back. Slovakia lost the game 0-4.[2] It was noted, that Valjent had a difficult task in defending Dejan Lovren at the side-line, as his preferred post is the one of a centre-back.[3] In October, Valjent returned to the national team in a friendly against Paraguay on his preferred post. This time his performance was reported on very positively, receiving praise from RTVS' commentary expert Marián Zeman during the farewell game for Martin Škrtel, with whom he starred in the starting XI, as well as Tomáš Hubočan and Adam Nemec. This game also coincided with a return to Tehelné pole after some 10 years and concluded with a 1-1 tie.[4]
References
- VARESE VS. TERNANA 2 - 1 28.09.2013, soccerway.com
- a.s, Petit Press. "Slovenským futbalistom sa vzdialil postup na ME, s Chorvátmi vysoko prehrali". sport.sme.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 2019-09-09.
- a.s, Petit Press. "Vavro pôsobil ako malý žiak. Azda zápas nevidel tréner Lazia". sport.sme.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 2019-09-09.
- a.s, Petit Press. "Slováci v príprave remizovali s Paraguajom, s reprezentáciou sa rozlúčila trojica hráčov". sport.sme.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 2019-10-14.