Martin Škrtel

Martin Škrtel

Martin Škrtel (born 15 December 1984) is a Slovak professional footballer who currently plays for Turkish club İstanbul Başakşehir. He previously played for Trenčín and Zenit Saint Petersburg, before joining Liverpool for £6. 5million in January 2008. He has won the Russian Premier League and the League Cup, as well as being named Slovak Footballer of the Year four times. He is also a member of the Slovak national football team, having played for the national side at the 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008 World Cup finals and the 2008 European Championships.

About Martin Škrtel in brief

Summary Martin ŠkrtelMartin Škrtel (born 15 December 1984) is a Slovak professional footballer who currently plays for Turkish club İstanbul Başakşehir. He previously played for Trenčín and Zenit Saint Petersburg, before joining Liverpool for £6. 5 million in January 2008. After eight-and-a-half years with Liverpool, where he played 319 official games and scored 18 goals, he joined Fenerbahçe. He made his international debut for Slovakia in 2004 and has earned a total of 104 caps, making him the third most capped player of his country at the time of his retirement in 2019. He has won the Russian Premier League and the League Cup, as well as being named Slovak Footballer of the Year four times. He retired as Slovakia’s 10th best international scorer with 6 goals, sharing the spot with Július Šimon and Miroslav Stoch. He represented the country as they reached the last 16 at both the 2010 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2016. He was named Slovakia’s captain for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and the 2016 European Championship in France. He is also a member of the Slovak national football team, having played for the national side at the 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008 World Cup finals and the 2008 European Championships. He also played for Czech side Spartak Trnava and the Czech Republic at the 2010 European Championships and the 2010 World Cup, and the 2014 European Championships in Brazil. He won the UEFA Champions League with Sparta Prague in 2010 and the UEFA Europa League with FC Ljubljana in 2014.

He played in the Champions League final for Slovenia in 2010, and has been named in the UEFA Team of the year four times, including in the 2014 Champions League and 2014 European Champions League. In the 2010–11 season, he played every minute of every Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur. He suffered a broken foot while playing for Tottenham in the White Hart Lane victory over Unirea Urziceni on 18 November 2010. In August 2010, he signed a two-year contract extension with the club, committing his future to the club until 2014 until 2014. In November 2009, he scored his first goal for Liverpool in a 2–2 draw with Manchester City, it was his first ever goal for the club. On 26 January 2008, he gave away a corner which put Liverpool 1–0 behind, and was also involved in a goal mouth scramble which saw Liverpool go 2–1 down after having equalised, before Liverpool eventually won 5–2. On 5 October 2008, ŠKrtel suffered a serious knee injury after falling awkwardly when challenging Ched Evans late in a game against Manchester City which Liverpool went on to win 3-2. It was later confirmed the central defender had torn the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee but did not require surgery and was expected to be back before Christmas. On 21 November 2011, he was a regular starter for Liverpool during the second half of the season, as the team finished second in the Premier League with 86 points.