Ján Ďurica


Ján Ďurica is retired Slovak footballer who played as a central defender and currently the assistant manager of FC Petržalka.

Career

Ďurica moved to FC Saturn Moscow Oblast after a highly successful UEFA Champions League campaign with FC Artmedia Bratislava. On 31 January 2009, Ďurica signed a three-year contract with Lokomotiv Moscow, who have paid around €3.5 million to overtake Celtic and Panathinaikos in the auction for the Slovakia national. On 13 January 2010, it was confirmed that he would join Hannover 96 on-loan until the end of the season.

International career

On 9 July 2004, Ďurica made his national team debut against Japan at the 2004 Kirin Cup. He was picked for the Slovak squad for their first FIFA World Cup ever, held in South Africa. He played all four matches at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He also remained a regular center-back for the upcoming years, forming a solid defensive duo with Martin Škrtel. After contributing to Slovakia's first appearance at a UEFA European Championship he was one of the players who completed all of Slovakia's four matches of the tournament. After the tournament, he hinted the intention to retire from international football after the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, where he spent a notable part of his career. However, as Slovakia failed to qualify, Ďurica retired on 14 November 2017, in a home friendly match against Norway, with a final statistic of 91 caps and 4 goals.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.13 October 2007Mestský štadión, Dubnica nad Váhom, Slovakia7–07–0UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
2.12 October 2010Stadium Pod Dubňom, Žilina, Slovakia1–11–1UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
3.7 June 2013Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein1–11–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification
4.5 March 2014Netanya Stadium, Netanya, Israel2–03–1Friendly match

Honours

Club

Artmedia Petržalka
Lokomotiv Moscow