Weiss steps down as Slovakia coach
Reuters - Tuesday 31 January 2012, 16:01
Slovakia national
coach Vladimir Weiss, who steered the team to the 2010
World Cup, agreed with the Slovak Football Association (SFZ) to
resign on Tuesday, in the wake of the team's failure to reach
the finals of Euro 2012.
"Failure to qualify is the simple reason why we came to an
agreement about ending his tenure," SFZ President Jan Kovacik
was quoted as saying on uefa.com.
"If the team had better results, we would have no reason to
change," said Kovacik, though he added: "To be honest, I think
he will come back one day."
Weiss led the team into the last 16 at their maiden World
Cup in 2010, helped by a win over 2006 champions Italy, but the
team finished fourth in qualifying Group B for Euro 2012.
Kovacik said it had not yet been decided who would take over
as national coach.
Weiss, 47, will continue his job as coach of Slovan
Bratislava.
"We will remember fantastic days during the World Cup finals
in South Africa forever," Slovakian captain Marek Hamsik was
quoted as saying by Slovak agency SITA.
"Coach Weiss knew how to squeeze the maximum possible out of
us, he has done everything in his powers for the national team."