Slovakia awards football player Hamsik with order for his contributions

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) – Trabzonspor midfielder Marek Hamsik was honored with an order in his homeland Slovakia for his service for football.

Trabzonspor said in a statement on Sunday that Hamsik, 35, was handed the Order of Ludovit Stur 2nd Class by Slovakian President Zuzana Caputova for his contributions to the sports and representing his country abroad.

As part of events marking the 30th anniversary of Slovakia’s independence, the country honored 28 people including Hamsik.

Slovakia became an independent state in 1993 following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia.

Hamsik, a Trabzonspor player since 2021, spent majority of his career in Italy.

He played for Italian clubs Brescia (2005-2007) and Napoli (2007-2019) before moving to China's Dalian Yifang in 2019.

Hamsik then played for Sweden's Goteborg and Trabzonspor.

He won the Italian Cup twice with Napoli and secured an Italian Super Cup with this club.

Hamsik also helped Trabzonspor win the 2022 Turkish Super Lig title and a Turkish Super Cup before the ongoing 2022-23 season.

Playing in the center of the park, Hamsik amassed 135 international caps to score 26 goals for Slovakia.