Ján Ďurica (born 10 December 1981) is a Slovak former professional footballer who played as a central defender. He worked as assistant manager of FC Petržalka. Club career Ďurica moved to FC Saturn Moscow Oblast after a highly successful UEFA Champions League campaign with FC Artmedia Bratislava. On 31 January 2009, Ďurica signed a three-year contract with Lokomotiv Moscow, who have paid around €3.5 million to overtake Celtic and Panathinaikos in the auction for the Slovakia national. On 13 January 2010, it was confirmed that he would join Hannover 96 on-loan until the end of the season. International career On 9 July 2004, Ďurica made his national team debut against Japan at the 2004 Kirin Cup. He was picked for the Slovak squad for their first FIFA World Cup ever, held in South Africa. He played all four matches at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He also remained a regular center-back for the upcoming years, forming a solid defensive duo with Martin Škrtel (for a majority of his career - both players debuting in the same match). After contributing to Slovakia's first appearance at a UEFA European Championship he was one of the players who completed all of Slovakia's four matches of the tournament. After the tournament, he hinted the intention to retire from international football after the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, where he spent a notable part of his career. However, as Slovakia failed to qualify, Ďurica retired on 14 November 2017, in a home friendly match against Norway (1–0 win), with a final statistic of 91 caps and 4 goals. Career statistics Club International Scores and results list Slovakia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ďurica goal. Personal life Born in Dunajská Streda, he belongs to the Hungarian minority in Slovakia through her mother. Honours Artmedia Petržalka Slovak Cup: 2003–04 Slovak Superliga: 2004–05 Lokomotiv Moscow Russian Cup: 2014–15 Individual List of 33 top players of the Russian league: #1 (2007), #2 (2013–14) References External links Living people 1981 births People from Dunajská Streda Slovak footballers Slovak people of Hungarian descent Association football central defenders Slovakia international footballers 2010 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2016 players FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda players FC Petržalka players FC Saturn Ramenskoye players FC Lokomotiv Moscow players Hannover 96 players Trabzonspor footballers FK Dukla Prague players Slovak Super Liga players Russian Premier League players Bundesliga players Süper