Paying for Fame

Nearly €700 million - such is the value of the most expensive national football team - Spain, which defeated Slovakia 2-0 at home on Friday, September 4, in a qualifying match for the 2016 UEFA European Championships, the Hospodárske Noviny daily reported. According to website transfermarkt.de, the total value of the Slovak team is €83 million. Slovakia, under the leadership of the Coach Jan Kozak, recorded their first defeat in the qualifiers. In order to get to the Championships, the team needed to carry out one task: to beat Ukraine at home on Tuesday, September 8. The 0:0 draw puts the Slovak national team in the running to make it to the European Football Championships in 2016 for the first time in its history. They need to win at least one of the matches with Belarus and Luxembourg.
Why is it that the most expensive team is Spain and not, for example, Argentina with Lionel Messi? The reason is Spain's long dominance of world football as well as the fact that most of the Spanish players play for one of four leading clubs - Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester United. Among 23 players, the most valuable is the trio of Cesc Fabregas, Diego Costa (both Chelsea) and Koke (Atletico Madrid) - each worth €50 million on the football market. Meanwhile, the most expensive Slovak footballer, Marek Hamsik (Napoli), is worth €32 million. "We knew that it wouldn't be easy against the Spaniards, they have enormous strength", said Hamsik.