Kozák thrilled by Slovakia, Kondratiev steps down

• Ján Kozák feels recent results reflect his Slovakia team's strength
• The visiting coach nonetheless admits to "an evenly contested game"
• Belarus boss Georgi Kondratiev resigns after the defeat
• Match report: Belarus 1-3 Slovakia
• Next games: Spain v Belarus, FYR Macedonia v Slovakia (15 November)

Ján Kozák, Slovakia coach
In the first half, the game was even. Belarus were waiting for our mistakes, but we tried not to make any. We played very attentively in defence. In the second half, we scored a beautiful goal. It's great that we managed to score twice and win the match.

To get the results we're getting at the moment, you need to have a good team. And sometimes even a strong team cannot get the right results. The players have respect for each other and we have good players capable of delivering good performances and winning matches.

Belarus played well in their previous games, and this game was better than the result suggested. It was a very evenly contested match by both sides, but you would have to admit that Slovakia has the better players.

Georgi Kondratiev, Belarus coach
The result is fair. We lost to a classier team. You saw today that Slovakia are on a higher level. It's not enough to just have commitment if you want to win – you need to be able to play football and we played worse than them.

As we did not get a result, the coach has to leave. I promised that and I will resign. But our players will not play differently. That is the result of the last 25 years. We are lagging behind the leading countries. Slovakia are not a super-team, but we are lagging behind them as well.