Coach Vladimir Weiss has nurtured a group of players who work well as a team, have pace on the wings and a cutting edge up front. They showed it best last week in the 3-2 win over Italy and by no means embarrassed themselves in Monday's 2-1 defeat by Netherlands.
"It was a good result just to get here, anything else was a bonus," midfielder Vladimir Weiss, son of the coach, told reporters. "We hope we can come back to many World Cups in the future."
They tried the same approach against Netherlands but were torn apart by winger Arjen Robben, who coach Weiss called a "genius", and were punished for wasting chances.
"If we lost, I think it was because of lack of experience," midfielder Miroslav Stoch told reporters.
"This is our first time in the World Cup. We beat Italy, we were heroes. It was fantastic, I hope next time it will be better."
"Our players showed heart and courage and good football," said the proud coach.
"We have not disappointed fans at all," said captain Marek Hamsik, who along with defender Martin Skrtel were the only established names in the Slovakia side before the tournament.
