Róbert Mak

Róbert Mak

With Zenit Saint Petersburg in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Róbert Mak
Date of birth	(1991-03-08) 8 March 1991
Place of birth	Bratislava, Slovakia
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Playing position	Winger / Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current team	Zenit Saint Petersburg
Number	29
Youth career
1997–2004	Slovan Bratislava
2004–2008	Manchester City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2008–2010	Manchester City	0	(0)
2010–2014	1. FC Nuremberg	77	(6)
2014–2016	PAOK	58	(14)
2016–	Zenit St. Petersburg	13	(4)
National team‡
2007–2008	Slovakia U17	11	(0)
2008–2009	Slovakia U19	7	(0)
2009–2012	Slovakia U21	20	(2)
2013–	Slovakia	34	(9)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 3 December 2016. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22 November 2016

Róbert Mak (born 8 March 1991) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays for Russian Premier League club FC Zenit Saint Petersburg and the Slovakia national team as a winger.

Club career

Early career

Mak, a native of Bratislava, began playing football at the youth squad of the local club ŠK Slovan.^[2] When he was 13, he joined Manchester City Academy.^[3] There he played with his countrymen Vladimír Weiss and Filip Mentel. He progressed to Manchester City Reserves aged 17, but never got a chance at the senior squad. He is a 2007–08 FA Youth Cup winner.

1. FC Nuremberg

On 11 June 2010, he signed a three-year contract for 1. FC Nuremberg for an undisclosed fee.^[4] He enjoyed time on the pitch right from the start and completed the season in Germany's top flight with 22 appearances established himself as a dependable option on the right flank of the attack.^[5] He scored his first Bundesliga goal in a 1–3 defeat against 1. FC Kaiserslautern on 20 November 2010. He stayed in the club for four seasons, however their relegation to second-tier football coincided with the expiration of his contract. Legia Warsaw made an attempt to sign with him, but PAOK's offer and the opportunity to play in the UEFA Europa League brought him at Toumpa Stadium.

PAOK

On 19 July 2014, he signed a three-year contact with PAOK playing in Greek Super League.^[6] He enjoyed time on the pitch right from the start, and helped PAOK to lead the championship until December 2014, but some disappointing results made the club, losing its confidence, fall in the Greek Super League table into third place. On 22 February 2015, PAOK attacking midfielder feels the victory over Veria F.C. can lift up the whole squad. PAOK returned to winning ways after beating Veria F.C. 3–1 which ended a disappointing period of bad results for the club.^[7] He completed the 2014–15 Super League season with seven goals (third in his first season after Facundo Pereyra and Stefanos Athanasiadis) and five assists (second after Giannis Skondras).^[8]

On 16 July 2015, in the preliminary round of the UEFA Europa League PAOK was beaten 2–1 in the first leg in Croatia against Lokomotiva Zagreb with Mak scoring the loan goal.^[9] In the second leg against Lokomotiva Zagreb, Mak scored a brace, with one of them being a right footed shot from more than 35-yards out, in a convincing 6–0 win to advance.^[10] On 20 August 2015, in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League playoffs against Brøndby IF, Mak had a hand in all five goals, as he netted a hat-trick, created the second goal, and teed-up Garry Rodrigues for the third.^[11] On 12 September 2015, in his third appearance for the 2015–16 season he scored his first goal in a 3–0 away win against Veria.^[12] On 26 September 2015, he scored at the extra time giving his club the victory against Atromitos.^[13] On 1 October 2015, in a home match against Borussia Dortmund for UEFA Europa League, Mak was one of the Greek team's best performers, producing an energetic display that has become his hallmark in the Greek Super League. He was a constant threat for PAOK on the counter, making lung-bursting runs in behind Borussia Dortmund's back line and his 34th-minute goal was as emphatic a strike as they come.^[14] On 5 November 2015, Róbert Mak reduces the club side's arrears in added time in a 2-1 away loss for UEFA Europa League against FC Krasnodar. ^[15]

On 30 October 2015, PAOK and Róbert Mak, are in advanced talks regarding the extension of their cooperation until 2019. The Slovakian striker, is in daily contact with Frank Arnesen and of both sides desire is to continue their cooperation for the coming years. The great year of Róbert Mak, along with ten goals he has scored seems that will, obviously, be taken under consideration in favor of him. It should be noted that the contract running ends in 2017.^[16] On 30 November 2015, PAOK attacking midfielder ]Mak picked a knee injury in the 3–1 win over Kalloni. The Slovakian forward was replaced after the injury he picked but PAOK are hopeful that his problem will not be that serious.^[17] On 6 December 2015, Mak gave the lead by scoring the first goal in a 2–1 home win against Panionios. ^[18] On 10 December 2015, Robert Mak scored his ninth goal in this year's UEFA Europa League to force a surprise defeat on Borussia Dortmund, who qualified in second place from Group C despite the loss. Mak ran onto an Giannis Mystakidis throughball, knocked it beyond goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller and cut home from a tight angle.^[19] On 30 January 2016, he gave the lead to his club with an excellent finish after an assist from Dimitris Pelkas, in a 1–1 home draw in the 20th day of Super League against Atromitos. ^[20] On 4 March 2016, after the episodic semi-final derby for the Greek Cup against champions Olympiakos, that never finished due to excessive episodes, Mak received four match ban and a €250 fine after his red card. ^[21] On 11 April 2016, in his return to action scored sealing a 2-0 home win against Levadiakos. ^[22] After an amazing season with the club, PAOK, according to Real News, started negotiaitions offering to the player double wages on a new three-year deal.^[23]

After a successful Euro 2016 with the national team, Mak is no longer considered to be a member of PAOK, since the Slovak winger farewelled all his teammates and the members of the club at the pre-season squad's hotel in Netherlands. The administration of the Greek club confirms that there are three official transfers bids for the Slovak winger and he has taken leave of absence, in order to start negotiations with the interested sides.^[24]

Zenit St. Petersburg

On 22 July 2016, Zenit Saint Petersburg and PAOK officially announced the transfer of Slovak winger Robert Mak to the Russian club, for about €3.5 million. The 25-year-old international, who had scored 20 goals in 45 appearances with the Greek club during 2015-16 season, passed the medical examinations and signed a 4-year contract with the 2007-08 UEFA Cup winners.^{[25] [26]}

Robert Mak scored his first goal for Zenit on September 11 in a match against Arsenal. He came on the pitch on the 46th minute, substituting Oleg Shatov and scored 20 minutes later, on the 66th minute. Mak scored the third goal in the match, which Zenit won by 5:0.^[27]

International career

Mak was called up to the national team for a friendly match vs. Denmark that was held on 15 August 2012, but remained an unused substitute. He made his debut for Slovakia national team against Belgium on 6 February 2013 as a 61st-minute substitute for winger Miroslav Stoch. Belgium defeated Slovakia 2–1. On 8 September 2014, Slovakia have begun their UEFA Euro 2016 qualification with a 1–0 away win against Ukraine. Even in the Ukraine were quickest out of the starting blocks, Jan Kozak's side take the lead in the 18th minute, when Robert Mak drifted in off his flank and was put clean through on goal. Mak was able time to steady himself, take a touch, get his head up and pass the ball into the near post to give the visitors the lead, and eventually the victory.^[28] On 17 November 2015, he scored two goals for first time in his international career against Iceland in a preparation friendly match for Euro 2016.^[29]

International goals

As of match played 11 October 2016. Slovakia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Mak goal.^[30]

International goals by date, venue, opponent, score, result and competition

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	15 November 2013	Stadion Miejski, Wrocław, Poland	7	Poland	2–0	2–0	Friendly
2	5 March 2014	Netanya Stadium, Netanya, Israel	8	Israel	3–1	3–1
3	8 September 2014	Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, Kiev, Ukraine	12	Ukraine	1–0	1–0	UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
4	12 October 2015	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	22	Luxembourg	3–0	4–2
5	13 November 2015	Štadión Antona Malatinského, Trnava, Slovakia	23	Switzerland		3–2	Friendly
6	17 November 2015	Štadión pod Dubňom, Žilina, Slovakia	24	Iceland	1–0	3–1
7					2–1
8	11 October 2016	Štadión Antona Malatinského, Trnava, Slovakia	33	Scotland	1–0	3–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
9					2–0

Career statistics

Club

As of 31 August 2016^[31]

International

As of 11 October 2016^[32]

References

External links

• Róbert Mak profile at Soccerway
• Róbert Mak profile at Fussballdaten

Slovakia squad – UEFA Euro 2016
1 Mucha 2 Pekarík 3 Škrtel (c) 4 Ďurica 5 Gyömbér 6 Greguš 7 Weiss 8 Duda 9 Šesták 10 Stoch 11 Nemec 12 Novota 13 Hrošovský 14 Škriniar 15 Hubočan 16 Saláta 17 Hamšík 18 Švento 19 Kucka 20 Mak 21 Ďuriš 22 Pečovský 23 Kozáčik Coach: Kozák