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05th Sep 2017

Martin Skrtel terrified football fans across the nation during Slovakia’s national anthem

We're still shaking

Simon Lloyd

Martin Å krtel returned to an English football pitch on Monday night.

Although his Slovakia side were on the wrong end of a 2-1 scoreline at Wembley, the former Liverpool defender can at least take comfort from the fact he utterly terrified those watching on television as he sung his national anthem ahead of kick-off.

As always, a cameraman ran along both starting XIs as they belted out / awkwardly mumbled their anthems. As Slovakian captain, Škrtel, who now plays his club football in Turkey for Fenerbahçe, was last in line.

With the camera eventually reaching him, the 32-year-old stared into its lens – and deeply into the souls of every man, woman and child watching ITV’s broadcast.

What was actually only a matter of seconds somehow managed to feel like an eternity…

… as Å krtel ensured he’d be haunting English football fans’ dreams for months to come.

https://twitter.com/davewebb1988/status/904776479380299776

https://twitter.com/kieran_gallop/status/904776660901355521

Slovakia started the game well, too: Stanislav Lobotka’s early goal putting them ahead. England drew level before half-time thanks to Eric Dier, with Marcus Rashford scoring the winner in the second half.

England now look likely to seal qualification to next summer’s World Cup, the in putting them five points clear at the top of Group F.