Martin Skrtel

Club

_Retired Soccer

Position

Defender

Nationality

Slovakia

Date of birth

1984-12-15

Birthplace

Handlová, CSSR

Height

1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)

Weight

79 kg (174 lb)

Signing / transfer fee

Retired

Martin Škrtel (born 15 December 1984) is a retired Slovak professional footballer who last played as a centre-back for Slovak First Football League club Spartak Trnava. He is a former player and captain of the Slovakia national team.

Škrtel previously played for FK AS 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 320 official games and scored 18 goals, he joined Fenerbahçe. He has won the Russian Premier League and the League Cup, as well as being named Slovak Footballer of the Year four times.

Škrtel 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, behind Marek Hamšík and Miroslav Karhan. He also 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.