The whole of Slovakia currently lives by hockey. Slovak representatives who reached the semi-finals of the Olympic tournament for the second time in a row after defeating the Germans 6-2 in Wednesday’s quarter-final match. They will fight for advancement to the finals on Friday from 9:10 p.m. with Team USA. The Germans believed in themselves before the match, but their Olympic journey ended in a crushing defeat.
“A visibly disappointed superstar Leon Draisaitl and his teammates quickly left the ice of the stadium in Milan, catching only a glimpse of the victory lap of the Slovaks. The ambitious German team lost its chance for a medal and suffered a debacle in the Olympic quarter-finals.” said DPA after the match. The result was a big disappointment for the Germans, on the contrary, the Slovak fans were jumping for joy.
There was also a popular presenter among them Zlatica Švajdová Puškárová. “Fantasy. Thanks guys for making us dream” bequeathed Slovakian ice hockey players to the Winter Olympics. The family of the television star and her husband Patrik Švajda (53) also lives in private through hockey. Their older son Leo (16) received an offer that he did not refuse and has been playing for a prestigious Swedish club since last year. Who knows, the young hockey talent might one day play for a medal under the five rings. His parents would certainly indulge him. PHOTOS of Puškárová’s posts can be found in the gallery.
We want to come home with some metal
Coach Vladimír Országh believes that his players can win at least one of the two games that await them in Milan. “It’s a fantastic feeling and I couldn’t be more proud of these guys. They stand by each other from the first day of training, fight for each other and live their dream. We live it together. We are in selected company and I am glad that we managed to follow up on the last Olympic Games and that we can defend the bronze medals,” he said.
“There weren’t many optimists in Slovakia and we got this far. But of course we go with humility. We’re uniting Slovakia again, we have hockey fever again and we’re happy that we’re doing well. But it’s not over yet. We have a chance to play for medals, we have at least two matches ahead of us, and when we are already this far, we would definitely like to return home with some metal.” Országh said.
However, the success of Országh is not only due to the coaching skills, but also to the ritual that he revealed. “MI still have the same shirt. Because we lost in the last match (Sat Sweden, note ed.)it was such a lose through smile, I kept it because we moved on. But I changed the shirt under it. It worked. So I have something to wear again for the next match,” revealed to journalists.
