Matúš Kozáčik

Matúš Kozáčik, born on 27 December 1983, is a Slovak former football goalkeeper who later worked as a goalkeeping coach. He joined Slavia Prague from 1. FC Košice in January 2002 after a successful week-long trial, was taken on trial by Leeds United in December 2006, and moved to city rival Sparta Prague in July 2007, becoming the third player to transfer directly between the two Prague clubs. He later played in Cyprus for Anorthosis Famagusta, signed with Viktoria Plzeň in June 2012, and announced his retirement from professional football on 18 December 2019 at the age of 35. He made his debut for Slovakia on 10 December 2006 in a friendly against the United Arab Emirates and returned to the national team almost seven years later, starting a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Latvia. In September 2022 he became goalkeeping coach of the Slovakia national team under Francesco Calzona, and in March 2023 he was replaced in that role by Ján Novota.