Marek Hamsik is a Slovak footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Swedish Allsvenskan club IFK Goteborg and the Slovakia national team, for which he is captain.
Hamsik is a quick, hard-working, and tactically versatile midfielder, who is capable of playing in several offensive positions on either side of the pitch, or even through the centre; throughout his career, he has been deployed as a central midfielder, as an attacking midfielder, as a winger, or even as a supporting striker or inside forward on occasion. Although naturally right footed, he is capable of striking the ball well with both feet, and is known for his ability to both score and create goals, often dropping deep to participate in his team's build-up plays. A talented, elegant, and technically gifted advanced playmaker, in addition to his footballing skills, he is also known for his leadership, as well as his play and intelligence off the ball, in particular his ability to make attacking runs to get into good positions in the opposition's half.
On 28 June 2007 newly promoted Serie A club Napoli announced that Hamsik had signed a five-year contract with them. On 10 August 2013, Hamsik signed a contract extension with Napoli, tying him to the club until the summer of 2018. Under the club's new manager Maurizio Sarri, Hamsik returned to playing as a central midfielder on the left in Napoli's three-man midfield for the 2015–16 season, which he described as being his preferred role. He is a regular member of the Slovak national team. He made his debut on 7 February 2007 in the friendly match against Poland. Hamsik captained his country in their first World Cup experience in South Africa in 2010, where the team made it to the first knockout stage. Slovakia was defeated by later finalist Netherlands in the first knockout stage. |
