{"id":371,"date":"2022-10-03T10:27:19","date_gmt":"2022-10-03T10:27:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/soccerstickersfc.net\/?p=371"},"modified":"2023-09-07T19:55:52","modified_gmt":"2023-09-07T19:55:52","slug":"marek-hamsik-the-slovakian-goat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soccerstickersfc.net\/2022\/10\/marek-hamsik-the-slovakian-goat\/","title":{"rendered":"Marek Ham\u0161\u00edk – The Slovakian GOAT"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Recognised for his iconic hairstyle. A Serie A and Napoli legend. Today I am going to review Ham\u0161\u00edk\u2019s career and discuss his place in the hobby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From humble beginnings, Marek Ham\u0161\u00edk was introduced to football at the age of 4 (1991) when his father enrolled him at private football club Jupie Podlavice.1<\/a><\/sup> Marek excelled at the youth level and in the 1998\/99 season, he scored an incredible 111 goals in 38 games.1<\/a><\/sup> In 2002 Ham\u0161\u00edk was very close to joining Sparta Prague, but the transfer fell through as his parents were unable to find work in the Czech capital.1 <\/a><\/sup>With the deal falling through, Marek signed a professional deal with Slovakian team, Slovan Bratislava.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aged 17, he played 6 games scoring 1 for Bratislava; resulting in a move to Brescia later that year. Brescia spent 500,000 euros to secure the deal;2<\/sup> <\/a>a huge amount for a player his age from the Slovakian Division. The fee could have been larger if Hamsik has signed a contract extension with the Slovak outfit, but he opted to join Brescia; the 500,000-euro fee agreed for compensation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His debut for his new club came, also, aged 17 in the Serie A. Unfortunately for Brescia, and Ham\u0161\u00edk, they finished 19th<\/sup> and were relegated to the Serie B. Ham\u0161\u00edk played 2 seasons in the Serie B, with the latter being very successful: playing 40 games and scoring 10.3<\/a><\/sup> This success drew the attention of the bigger teams and Napoli came calling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ham\u0161\u00edk signed for Napoli for a 5.5-million-euro fee at the start of the 2007\/08 season.4<\/a><\/sup> In his first interview Ham\u0161\u00edk said, \u201cI am very happy and proud to play for such a prestigious club as Napoli.\u201d5<\/a><\/sup> He well and truly repaid Napoli\u2019s faith in him. By the end of his first season, he finished the top scorer for the club with 9 goals. He repeated this feat in his second season, scoring 11; very impressive for a midfielder! In 2009 he was named the best young player in the Serie A6<\/a><\/sup> and in 2010 he wore Napoli\u2019s armband, becoming the youngest ever Napoli captain.8<\/a><\/sup> He made the Serie A team of the year for the 2010\/11 season7<\/a><\/sup> and the following season, he has the most assists, and completed the most minutes of any player in the league (3441).1<\/a><\/sup> Ham\u0161\u00edk went from strength to strength with Napoli becoming their permanent captain in 2014,9<\/a><\/sup> winning the Copa Italia10<\/a><\/sup> and the Italian Super Cup.11<\/a><\/sup> 2016 and Marek did the unthinkable; he broke Diego Maradona\u2019s goal record for Napoli, with his 115 goals.12<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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