BIOGRAPHY AND CAREER
Marek Hamsik born 27 July 1987 is a Slovak football midfielder who currently plays for Serie A club Napoli and captains the Slovakia national team.
Although Hamsik grew up in Banska Bystrica, he never played for their major team Dukla Banská Bystrica. He instead began playing for small youth team Jupie Podlavice.In 2002 he signed with a major Slovak team Slovan Bratislava. He played once for the Slovan A-team and scored a goal.
He moved from Slovan to Brescia in 2004 as a 17 year old young talent at a transfer fee of €500,000.His first match in Serie A with Brescia was against Chievo Verona in 20 March 2005 at the age of 17 years and 237 days. Later that season, Brescia finished 19th in the Serie A league and was relegated to the Serie B. In 2005–06, he played 24 league matches for Brescia in Serie B, with Brescia finishing 10th. He had an impressive 2006–07 season, scoring 10 goals in 40 matches.
On 28 June 2007 newly-promoted Serie A club Napoli announced Hamšík had signed a five-year contract with them. The transfer cost Napoli €5.5 million. The president of the club De Laurentiis described him as a player to look out for in the future.
He played his first major match for Napoli against Cesena in the first round of the Italian Cup. Napoli won 4–0, Hamšík made the opening goal and scored the second himself.He scored his first goal in the Serie A on 16 September 2007 in the match against Sampdoria.
His football icon is Czech midfielder Pavel Nedved.In 2007 he was voted second best Slovak footballer of the year (behind Martin Skrtel) and was also voted best young Slovak footballer (The Peter Dubovský Trophy). Hamsik ended his first season with Napoli as the club's top scorer, with 9 goals from 37 games. At the start of the 2008/09 season, Hamšík scored in both of Napoli's first two games and went on to score a further 9 goals in his second season with the club, finishing as Napoli's top scorer for the second year running.In 2009 he was again runner-up as best Slovak footballer of the year and repeated his success as best young Slovak footballer.
Hamsik represented Slovakia at junior level, playing in the UEFA Under-17 European Championships qualifiers and the UEFA Under-19 European Championships. He played also for the Slovak U-21 national team.
He is a regular member of the Slovak national team. He made his debut on 7 February 2007in the friendly match against Poland which ended 2–2. He played his second match against Germany in the Euro 2008 qualification, which Slovakia lost 2–1. He has become the key member of the attack in the national team, usually playing as a left or central attacking midfielder. Hamsik captained his country in their first World Cup experience in South Africa 2010, where Slovakia was beaten by later finalist Netherlands in the first knockout stage match.
MAREK HAMSIK PROFILE
Date of birth: 27 July 1987
Place of birth: Banská Bystrica, Czechoslovakia
Height: 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position: Attacking Midfielder, Playmaker
Club information
Current club: Napoli
Number: 17
Youth career
2001 Jupie Podlavice
2002–2004 Slovan Bratislava
Senior career
2004 Slovan Bratislava 6 (1)
2004–2007 Brescia 65 (10)
2007– Napoli 134 (39)
National team
Slovakia U-17 6 (3)
2005–2006 Slovakia U-19 6 (1)
2006–2007 Slovakia U-21 2 (0)
2007– Slovakia 43 (8)
