.jpg) Mráz withBrøndby in 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1997-05-13)13 May 1997 (age 27) | ||
| Place of birth | Malacky, Slovakia | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Motor Lublin | ||
| Number | 90 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2003–2007 | ŠK Malacky | ||
| 2007–2009 | TJ Záhoran Kostolište | ||
| 2009–2014 | Senica | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2014–2016 | Senica | 63 | (5) |
| 2017–2018 | Žilina | 45 | (23) |
| 2018–2021 | Empoli | 6 | (1) |
| 2019 | →Crotone (loan) | 5 | (1) |
| 2019–2020 | →Brøndby (loan) | 22 | (4) |
| 2020–2021 | →Zagłębie Lubin (loan) | 27 | (2) |
| 2021–2023 | Spezia | 2 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | →Slovan Bratislava (loan) | 19 | (7) |
| 2022–2023 | →Mirandés (loan) | 11 | (0) |
| 2023 | →Anorthosis (loan) | 19 | (6) |
| 2023 | Volos | 3 | (0) |
| 2024– | Motor Lublin | 41 | (18) |
| International career‡ | |||
| Slovakia U16 | |||
| 2013 | Slovakia U17 | 3 | (0) |
| 2015–2016 | Slovakia U19 | 6 | (1) |
| 2017–2018 | Slovakia U21 | 6 | (4) |
| 2018– | Slovakia | 7 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:21, 20 March 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 09:12, 24 March 2025 (UTC) | |||
Samuel Mráz (born 13 May 1997) is a Slovak professionalfootballer who plays as aforward for Polish clubMotor Lublin and theSlovakia national team.
Mráz started his football career at hometown club ŠK Malacky, before first moving to TJ Záhoran Kostolište and later to the youth academy ofSenica. In July 2013, Scottish clubCeltic showed their interest in him,[1] but in the end he chose to stay in Senica. In February 2014, he won a poll for Best Athlete in the City of Senica in 2013 in the collective category of under-17s.[2]
Mráz made his professional debut for Senica againstAS Trenčín on 12 April 2014 as a starter,[3] before being substituted in the 62nd minute. That year, he was in the starting lineup eight times under head coachPavel Hapal. On 30 June 2014, he signed a new contract with the team until the end of the 2016–17 season.[4] He scored his first goal for Senica that season in a league match 28 November 2014; a regional derby againstSpartak Trnava, which ended in a 1–1 draw. On 25 February 2015, was awarded Best Athlete in the City of 2014 in the under-19 collective category.[5] He made 15 appearances that year.
On 19 July 2018, Mráz joined newly promotedSerie A teamEmpoli.[6] Empoli's coachAurelio Andreazzoli fielded Mráz for his first league fixture on 26 August 2018, againstGenoa in a 2-1 defeat. Mráz came on in 77th minute forAntonino La Gumina. He also became the first Slovak to score in his Serie A debut, when he scored againstFederico Marchetti in the 94th minute, after a cross fromGiovanni Di Lorenzo.
On 30 September 2018, he was selected in the starting XI of a game in Italy for the first time. He played 60 minutes of the game againstParma, which Empoli lost 0-1.
On 30 January 2019, Mráz joinedSerie B clubCrotone on loan until 30 June 2019.[7] On 10 February, he made his debut in a home match againstVerona while scoring his first goal forI Rossoblu two weeks later in a 3–0 home win overPalermo.
In August 2019, Mráz moved toDanish Superliga clubBrøndby IF on a one-season loan while his new club secured an option to sign him on a permanent basis.[8]On 1 September 2019, he made his Superliga debut for Brøndby as a substitute in a 0–1 loss againstFC Midtjylland.[9] Mostly a substitute through the fall of the2019–20 season, Mráz made two subsequent starts during regularforwardKamil Wilczek's two-match suspension. In the second fixture, a league match againstEsbjerg fB, Mráz scored a brace to secure a 2–1 home win and thereby helped consolidate Brøndby's third position in the league table.[10]
After Wilczek left in January 2020, Mráz made more appearances and scored his first goal of the new decade on 23 January in a 2–3 loss toAaB.[11] On 30 June 2020, Mráz and teammateSimon Hedlund tested positive forSARS-CoV-2 during theCOVID-19 pandemic, ruling them out for at least a week.[12] He left the club at the end of the season with 23 appearances and five goals to his name, as his loan deal expired.[13]
On 13 August 2020, Mráz joined PolishEkstraklasa clubZagłębie Lubin on a season-long loan with an option to buy.[14][15] He made his debut as a starter on 21 August in 2–1 home win overLech Poznań, before being substituted in the 67th minute forRok Sirk.[16] On 7 December, he scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 home draw againstPiast Gliwice.[17]
On 9 August 2021, after his loan with Zagłębie Lubin ended, Mráz moved to Serie A clubSpezia on a permanent deal, signing a three-year contract.[18][19] He made his debut on 13 August in aCoppa Italia match againstPordenone.[20] On 23 August, he made his first league appearance for the club as a substitute in the 69th minute forEmmanuel Gyasi in a 2–2 draw againstCagliari.[21]
On 2 September 2021, Slovan announced the signing of Mráz on a one-year loan with a subsequent option for a permanent transfer. The move occurred less than a month after his signing with Spezia. Slovan had signed him to increase the internal competition ahead ofEuropa Conference League group stage as well as domestic duties and to allow Mráz to regain the form, which earned his initial transfer to Serie A.[22]
On 1 September 2022, Mráz moved on a season-long loan toMirandés in Spain.[23] He made his debut for the club two days later, replacingRoberto López in the 81st minute of a 3–0 league loss toVillarreal B.[24] The loan was terminated early on 24 January 2023.[25]
On 24 January 2023, Mráz moved onto another loan, this time toCypriot First Division clubAnorthosis Famagusta.[26][27]
On 7 July 2023, Mráz moved toSuper League Greece clubVolos.[28][29] On 30 November 2023, Volos announced the mutual termination of Mráz's contract. During his brief tenure, marked by only three appearances, he failed to make a significant impact during his time at the club.[30]
On 12 February 2024, Mráz returned to Poland to joinI liga sideMotor Lublin, signing a deal until the end of the season, with an option for another year.[31] He scored six goals in sixteen appearances, as Motor went on to win the2023–24 I liga promotion play-offs and returned to theEkstraklasa after 32 years of absence. On 6 June 2024, his contract was extended for a further year.[32]
Mráz has played for every national team youth team from the U15 team through the U21 team.
Mráz was first called up to Slovakia's seniornational team on 2 October 2018 by the coachJán Kozák for matches againstCzech Republic (a part of2018–19 UEFA Nations League) and a friendly againstSweden later in October. However, Mráz was also an alternate for friendly games againstthe Netherlands,Morocco,Denmark and Slovakia's firstUEFA Nations League match againstUkraine. Nonetheless Kozák faced questions from the press and criticism from the fans on social media for not calling Mráz up earlier in the year, especially for May/June fixture, as Mráz became the top scorer in the finishing Fortuna Liga season.
Mráz, however, did not debut under Kozák. Slovakia's most successful coach resigned on 14 October 2018 after a 1–2 derby match loss to Czech Republic. Nonetheless, he debuted on 16 October 2018 in a 1–1 draw inSolna against Sweden, in a game managed by caretaker managerŠtefan Tarkovič, coming on as a substitute forAdam Nemec in the 71st minute.
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Senica | 2013–14 | Fortuna Liga | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | 8 | 0 | |||
| 2014–15 | Fortuna Liga | 15 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 17 | 1 | |||
| 2015–16 | Fortuna Liga | 21 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 22 | 2 | |||
| 2016–17 | Fortuna Liga | 19 | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 20 | 3 | |||
| Total | 63 | 5 | 4 | 1 | — | — | 67 | 6 | ||||
| Žilina | 2016–17 | Fortuna Liga | 11 | 2 | 1 | 2 | — | — | 12 | 4 | ||
| 2017–18 | Fortuna Liga | 34 | 21 | 5 | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | — | 40 | 21 | ||
| Total | 45 | 23 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 52 | 25 | |||
| Empoli | 2018–19 | Serie A | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 1 | ||
| Crotone (loan) | 2018–19 | Serie B | 5 | 1 | — | — | — | 5 | 1 | |||
| Brøndby (loan) | 2019–20 | Superliga | 22 | 4 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 24 | 5 | ||
| Zagłębie Lubin (loan) | 2020–21 | Ekstraklasa | 27 | 2 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 29 | 3 | ||
| Spezia | 2021–22 | Serie A | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||
| Slovan Bratislava (loan) | 2021–22 | Fortuna Liga | 19 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 6[c] | 1 | — | 28 | 9 | |
| Mirandés (loan) | 2022–23 | Segunda División | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 0 | ||
| Anorthosis (loan) | 2022–23 | Cypriot First Division | 19 | 6 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 21 | 6 | ||
| Volos | 2023–24 | Super League Greece | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||
| Motor Lublin | 2023–24 | I liga | 14 | 6 | — | — | 2[d] | 0 | 16 | 6 | ||
| 2024–25 | Ekstraklasa | 18 | 9 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 9 | |||
| Total | 32 | 15 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | 34 | 15 | |||
| Career total | 254 | 64 | 22 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 285 | 71 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slovakia | |||
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 2 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 7 | 1 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 June 2019 | Štadión Antona Malatinského,Trnava, Slovakia |  Jordan | 4–1 | 5–1 | Friendly |
Žilina
Slovan Bratislava
Individual
Gola dla "Miedziowych" zdobył Samuel Mraz, jednak to trafienie Jakuba Świerczoka zdominowało artykuły w regionalnych i krajowych mediach.