VLAD WANTS SAME AGAIN

VLADIMIR WEISS hopes to enjoy a healthy dose of deja vu in Thursday’s Euro 2020 play-off final with Northern Ireland at Windsor Park.

The former Rangers winger, now with Slovan Bratislava, was a youngster when he helped Slovakia secure a 2-0 World Cup qualifying win in Belfast in 2009.

Weiss teed up the opener for Stanislav Sestak before Filip Holosko added a second to end Northern Ireland’s hopes of reaching the 2010 finals in South Africa.

Victory also went a long way to sealing Slovakia’s place at the tournament and Weiss is hoping to enjoy another knockout result at the same venue this week.

“That match is a beautiful memory because we knew we were only a step away from the World Cup in South Africa,” he said.

“Now we are travelling to Belfast again in the knowledge that if we succeed we will go to next summer’s Euro finals. I have fantastic memories of that win and

I firmly believe we can experience the same joy after Thursday’s play-off.”

The only survivors in the Northern Ireland team from that 2009 clash are skipper Steven Davis, Jonny Evans and Niall Mcginn who rattled the bar.

Weiss (above) came up against Evans, who was playing left-back, and actually nutmegged the former Manchester United defender before crossing for Sestak to open the scoring.

“Jonny Evans is a great player,” said Weiss. “We were still young back then and today we are both more experienced.

“We know we have a difficult match ahead of us but we also know what we want and we will be doing everything we can to be successful.”

Weiss, who is nursing a hamstring strain, was recently recalled by Stefan Tarkovic after spending two years in the international wilderness.

Tarkovic was appointed following the sacking of Pavel Hapal in the wake of Slovakia’s shootout defeat of the Republic of Ireland in last month’s play-off semis.