Still searching for confirmation of an injury--or maybe I missed it earlier--but Martin Skrtel missed out on the squad for Slovakia's important away tie in Liechtenstein today, leaving Marek Hamsik to captain the side in their 1-1 draw in Vaduz. The hosts took the lead through a Martin Buchel goal in the 13th minute and were on their way to their first win in qualifying for over an hour, only for Jan Durica to head Slovakia level after a well-worked corner routine in the 76th minute.
With Greece and Bosnia-Herzegovina both winning their matches (1-0 and 5-0 respectively), it's crucial points dropped for Slovakia. Greece are only ahead by a point but have a game in hand on the Slovakians, who now have to face the group leaders when qualifying resumes in September. Skrtel's omission is further confusing, as there weren't any pre-match reports about fitness concerns and, given the lack of time he saw down the stretch for Liverpool, it seemed a sure bet that he'd feature.
Makes for an even slower start to the weekend in internationals for Liverpool, but there's the U21s to look forward to tomorrow, and there's a nearly seven minute highlight package to enjoy from this one just because odds are you've got seven minutes you wanted to waste anyway.