Róbert Mak

Mak, a native of Bratislava, began playing football at the youth squad of the local club Slovan Bratislava.[2] When he was 13, he joined Manchester City Academy.[3] There he played with his countrymen Vladimír Weiss and Filip Mentel. He progressed to Manchester City Reserves aged 17, but never got a chance at the senior squad. He is a 2007–08 FA Youth Cup winner.

Róbert Mak with 1. FC Nürnberg in 2010

On 11 June 2010, he signed a three-year contract for 1. FC Nürnberg for an undisclosed fee.[4] He enjoyed time on the pitch right from the start and completed the season in Germany's top flight with 22 appearances established himself as a dependable option on the right flank of the attack.[5] He scored his first Bundesliga goal in a 1–3 defeat against 1. FC Kaiserslautern on 20 November 2010. He stayed in the club for four seasons, however their relegation to second-tier football coincided with the expiration of his contract. Legia Warsaw made an attempt to sign with him, but PAOK's offer and the opportunity to play in the UEFA Europa League brought him at Toumpa Stadium.

On 19 July 2014, he signed a three-year contact with PAOK playing in Super League Greece.[6] He enjoyed time on the pitch right from the start, and helped PAOK to lead the championship until December 2014, but poor results made the club fall in the league table to third place. On 22 February 2015, PAOK returned to winning ways after beating Veria 3–1 which ended a disappointing period of bad results for the club.[7] He completed the 2014–15 Superleague Greece season with seven goals (third in his first season after Facundo Pereyra and Stefanos Athanasiadis) and five assists (second after Giannis Skondras).[8]

On 16 July 2015, in the preliminary round of the UEFA Europa League PAOK was beaten 2–1 in the first leg in Croatia against Lokomotiva with Mak scoring the lone goal.[9] In the second leg against Lokomotiva Zagreb, Mak scored a brace, with one of them being a right footed shot from more than 35-yards out, in a 6–0 win to advance.[10] On 20 August, in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League playoffs against Brøndby IF, Mak had a hand in all five goals, as he netted a hat-trick, created the second goal, and teed up Garry Rodrigues for the third.[11] On 12 September, in his third appearance for the 2015–16 season he scored his first goal in a 3–0 away win against Veria.[12] Two weeks later, he scored in extra time giving his club the victory against Atromitos.[13] On 1 October, in a home match against Borussia Dortmund in the Europa League, Mak contributed a 34th-minute goal in a 1–1 draw.[14] In late October, it was reported that Mak was in talks with the club regarding a contract extension until 2019.[15] On 5 November 2015, Mak reduced the club side's arrears in added time in a 2–1 away loss for Europa League against FC Krasnodar. [16] On 30 November, he was substituted off the pitch in a 3–1 win over Kalloni after sustaining a knee injury.[17] On 6 December, he gave the lead by scoring the first goal in a 2–1 home win against Panionios.[18] Four days later, he scored his ninth goal in this year's Europa League to force a surprise defeat on Borussia Dortmund, who qualified in second place from Group C despite the loss. Mak ran onto a Giannis Mystakidis throughball, knocked it beyond goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller and cut home from a tight angle.[19]

On 30 January 2016, he gave the lead to his club after an assist from Dimitris Pelkas, in a 1–1 home draw in the 20th day of the league against Atromitos.[20] On 4 March, after the episodic semi-final derby for the Greek Cup against champions Olympiacos, that never finished due to excessive episodes, Mak received four match ban and a €250 fine after his red card.[21] On 11 April, in his return to action scored sealing a 2–0 home win against Levadiakos.[22] After a good season with the club, PAOK, according to Real News, started negotiations offering to the player double wages on a new three-year deal.[23]

After a successful UEFA Euro 2016 with the national team, Mak was no longer considered to be a member of PAOK, as the Slovak winger had farewelled all his teammates and the members of the club at the pre-season squad's hotel in Netherlands. The administration of the Greek club confirmed that there were three official transfers bids for him and he had taken leave of absence, in order to start negotiations with the interested sides.[24]

Róbert Mak with Zenit in 2017

On 22 July 2016, Zenit Saint Petersburg and PAOK officially announced the transfer of Mak to the Russian club, for about €3.5 million. The 25-year-old international, who had scored 20 goals in 45 appearances with the Greek club during 2015–16 season, passed the medical examinations and signed a four-year contract with the 2007–08 UEFA Cup winners.[25][26]

Mak scored his first goal for Zenit on 11 September in a match against Arsenal. He came on the pitch on the 46th minute, substituting Oleg Shatov and scored 20 minutes later, on the 66th minute. Mak scored the third goal in the match, which Zenit won by 5–0.[27]

After a poor season, despite a good early start, Mak was linked with a move back to PAOK for the next season on a loan basis. PAOK would cover 60% of his contract by paying €800,000 while the player's purchase clause would be set at €2.5 million.[28]

On 3 August 2017, Mak opened the score in a 2–0 home win game for the 2st leg of UEFA Europa League third qualifying round against Olimpik Donetsk, after an assist of Diego Biseswar. It was his first goal after his return to PAOK.[29] It was reported, that PAOK did not intend to sign Mak permanently in the summer of 2018. He scored five goals in 37 official performances in all competitions during 2017–18 season.

On 30 January 2020 Mak's signing with Konyaspor was announced. After being advised by Zenit's manager, Sergei Semak, that his play time may continue to remain limited, due to high number of foreigners in the squad, Mak had moved to the Süper Lig side to maintain play time, to be of use for the national team. He was signed for half-season [30]

He made his debut on 1 February 2020, in an away fixture against Antalyaspor.[31] He came on as a second-half replacement for Farouk Miya. The match concluded in a goal-less tie. In upcoming fixtures, he also made appearances against Göztepe, Kayserispor and Kasımpaşa, being featured in the starting XI against the latter two.

In late March, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mak had announced, that if tested positive he intends to terminate his contract with Konyaspor and travel to Bratislava, to reunite with his family, despite the agreement to keep the foreign players with their clubs. Mak feared further restrictions and the closure of the club's training center. He also claimed he didn't believe that the 2019-20 season would be completed. He was critical of authorities' late decision to suspend the Süper Lig season and enact pandemic spread prevention measures.[32]

On 30 March 2020, it was announced that Mak and Konyaspor had terminated the contract by agreement.[33]

As of 26 May 2019[36]

As of 12 November 2020[37]

As of match played 14 October 2020. Slovakia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Mak goal.[38]

International goals by date, venue, opponent, score, result and competition

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	15 November 2013	Stadion Miejski, Wrocław, Poland	7	Poland	2–0	2–0	Friendly
2	5 March 2014	Netanya Stadium, Netanya, Israel	8	Israel	3–1	3–1
3	8 September 2014	Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, Kiev, Ukraine	12	Ukraine	1–0	1–0	UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
4	12 October 2015	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	22	Luxembourg	3–0	4–2
5	13 November 2015	Štadión Antona Malatinského, Trnava, Slovakia	23	Switzerland		3–2	Friendly
6	17 November 2015	Štadión pod Dubňom, Žilina, Slovakia	24	Iceland	1–0	3–1
7					2–1
8	11 October 2016	Štadión Antona Malatinského, Trnava, Slovakia	33	Scotland	1–0	3–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
9					2–0
10	25 March 2018	Rajamangala National Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand	43	Thailand		3–2	2018 King's Cup
11	16 November 2018	Štadión Antona Malatinského, Trnava, Slovakia	49	Ukraine	4–1	4–1	2018–19 UEFA Nations League B
12	9 September 2019	Groupama Arena, Budapest, Hungary	56	Hungary	1–0	2–1	UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
13	14 October 2020	Štadión Antona Malatinského, Trnava, Slovakia	61	Israel	2–0	2–3	2020–21 UEFA Nations League B

Slovakia

• King's Cup: 2018[42][43]

• Peter Dubovský Award: 2011, 2012