Quick Facts
Biography
Juraj Kucka (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈjuraj ˈkutska]; born 26 February 1987) is a Slovak footballer who plays as a midfielder for Italian club Milan in Serie A and the Slovakia national football team. He is nicknamed Kuco, a moniker he was given in kindergarten.
Club career
Kucka made his Slovak Super Liga debut for MFK Ružomberok on 11 March 2007. He played six games in his first season. Overall, Kucka played 49 games and scored eight goals for Ružomberok. Czech manager Michal Bílek, coaching Ružomberok in 2008, recommended Kucka for Sparta Praha. In January 2009, he has signed a three-year contract for Sparta. In 2009–10 Czech First League season he won the champions.
Genoa
On 6 January 2011, he signed a four-and-a-half-year contract for €3.55 million transfer fee with Genoa C.F.C. (later extended one more year to 30 June 2016). He made his debut in the Coppa Italia match against Inter on 12 January 2011. He was voted man of the match by Genoa fans after 1–1 draw against Milan on 6 February 2011. Kucka proved immediately to fit fine in the squad, showing a remarkable physical strength and good technical skills, resulting the second best player of Genoa. He scored his first goal for Genoa in a 2–1 away win against Lazio on 18 September 2011.
On 31 August 2011, the last day of transfer window, Inter and Genoa came to an agreement to swap co-ownerships of Juraj Kucka (€8M) and Emiliano Viviano (€5M). In June 2012 Kucka returned to Genoa where he spent 2011–12 season on loan for just €6.5 million, co-currently Samuele Longo returned to Inter for €7M.
Milan
On 28 August 2015, Kucka was signed by A.C. Milan for €3 million However, Milan also paid an unknown parties for an additional €1 million. He made his debut on 29 August 2015 in a 2-1 home win against Empoli, and scored his first Milan goal on 9 January 2016 to equalize against Roma in a 1–1 draw.
International career
Kucka, a former Slovakia under-21 player, made his senior international debut in an friendly match against Liechtenstein on November 19, 2008. Slovakia manager Vladimír Weiss called him up for the 2010 FIFA World Cup despite the fact that Kucka had not played in any qualification matches. He played in three games at the World Cup: against New Zealand, Italy and The Netherlands.
Kucka was called up to the squad for the Euro 2016 tournament in France.
Career statistics
Club
- As of 25 January 2017.
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Ružomberok | 2006–07 | Super Liga | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | 6 | 0 | |||
| 2007–08 | 24 | 5 | — | — | — | 24 | 5 | |||||
| 2008–09 | 18 | 3 | — | — | — | 18 | 3 | |||||
| Total | 48 | 8 | — | — | — | 48 | 8 | |||||
| Sparta Praha | 2008–09 | First League | 12 | 3 | — | — | — | 12 | 3 | |||
| 2009–10 | 20 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | — | 27 | 6 | |||
| 2010–11 | 13 | 3 | — | 11 | 2 | — | 24 | 5 | ||||
| Total | 45 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 3 | — | 63 | 14 | |||
| Genoa | 2010–11 | Serie A | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 0 | ||
| 2011–12 | 26 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 27 | 2 | ||||
| 2012–13 | 33 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 35 | 3 | ||||
| 2013–14 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 2 | ||||
| 2014–15 | 34 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 2 | ||||
| 2015–16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 122 | 9 | 5 | 0 | — | — | 127 | 9 | ||||
| Milan | 2015–16 | Serie A | 29 | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 1 | ||
| 2016–17 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 1 | — | 1 | 0 | 19 | 3 | |||
| Total | 45 | 3 | 7 | 1 | — | 1 | 0 | 53 | 4 | |||
| Career total | 260 | 31 | 14 | 1 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 291 | 35 | ||
International
| Slovakia national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2009 | 3 | 0 |
| 2010 | 9 | 0 |
| 2011 | 6 | 1 |
| 2012 | 6 | 0 |
| 2013 | 9 | 1 |
| 2014 | 4 | 2 |
| 2015 | 6 | 0 |
| 2016 | 9 | 2 |
| Total | 52 | 6 |
International goals
- As of match played 11 November 2016. Slovakia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Kucka goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 August 2011 | Wörthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt, Austria | 17 |  Austria | 1–0 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 2 | 15 November 2013 | Stadion Miejski, Wrocław, Poland | 35 |  Poland | 1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 3 | 9 October 2014 | Štadión pod Dubňom, Žilina, Slovakia | 37 |  Spain | 1–0 | 2–1 | UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying |
| 4 | 15 November 2014 | Philip II Arena, Skopje, Macedonia | 39 |  Macedonia | 1–0 | 2–0 | UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying |
| 5 | 29 May 2016 | WWK Arena, Augsburg, Germany | 46 |  Germany | 3–1 | 3–1 | Friendly |
| 6 | 11 November 2016 | Štadión Antona Malatinského, Trnava, Slovakia | 52 |  Lithuania | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Honours
Club
- Sparta Praha
- Gambrinus liga (1): 2009–10
- Supercup (1): 2010
- Milan
- Supercoppa Italiana: 2016