Marek Hamšík

Marek Hamšík (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈmarɛɡ ˈɦamʃiːk]; born 27 July 1987) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for the Chinese Super League club Dalian Yifang and the Slovakia national team, for which he is captain. Until 2017 he served as a vice-captain to Martin Škrtel. After beginning his club career with Slovan Bratislava in 2004, Hamšík moved to Italian club Brescia later that year. In 2007, he was purchased by newly promoted Serie A club Napoli, where he has since become a mainstay in the squad's starting line-up. His energy, leadership, creativity, skill and eye for goal from midfield saw him play a key role in helping the team to two Coppa Italia titles, a Supercoppa Italiana, UEFA Champions League qualification and the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League semi-finals. He scored 121 goals for the club and collected 521 appearances in all competitions during his 12 seasons with the team, and also served as the club's captain between 2014 and 2019; he became the club's all-time top goalscorer in 2017, and the club's all-time appearance holder in 2018. In February 2019, he joined Chinese club Dalian Yifang. At international level, Hamšík represented Slovakia at the 2010 FIFA World Cup as the team's captain, helping his country to qualify for the tournament for the first time in their history, and subsequently led the national team to the round of 16 of the tournament with a victory over defending champions Italy in the final match of the group stage. He later also led his nation to qualify for UEFA Euro 2016, making their first ever appearance at the European Championship, and once again helped the national side to reach the second round of the competition. He has collected over 110 international caps at senior level, scoring over 20 goals, and in 2018, he became his nation's most capped player ever. In 2019, he became Slovakia's top goal scorer with 24 goals, overcoming Róbert Vittek. For his performances, Hamšík has also won several