Generali Slovakia: A Huge Surprise for Slovakian Football Star Marek Hamšík

Marek Hamšík - the captain of the SSC Napoli Football Club in Italy and a famous member of Slovakia’s national football team - celebrated a round birthday this summer. As Generali Slovakia supports Hamšík’s JUPIE Football School – which gives opportunities to young and talented footballers – the company decided to organize with Marek’s fans a special surprise for his 30th birthday.

Roman Juráš, CEO of Generali Slovakia, presenting the birthday card to Marek Hamšík on behalf of his fans.

A big 5 m x 2.5 m birthday card took Marek completely by surprise during Slovakia’s national football team meeting. It contained the birthday messages posted to him by his fans on Generali Slovakia’s Facebook Page - and the fans who had sent him birthday wishes also became a part of the card because it was made up of their pictures.

“This is most certainly a very creative and lovely present. I really like it, and thanks so much as well for the messages from my fans on the rear of the giant card. Since Generali supports my football school, I will display the card somewhere near our football pitches,” said Marek, after receiving the gift.

Numerous Slovakian daily papers and Slovakia’s major TV channels covered the story.

In the words of Roman Juráš, CEO of Generali Slovakia, who presented the birthday card to Hamšík on behalf of his fans, “Marek is an incredible football phenomenon and a wonderful person. We are delighted that he liked the messages from his fans — and we are glad to have created a way for them to send their birthday wishes to their football idol. We wish Marek all the best both as a member of the national football team and as captain of SSC Napoli, among other things in the Champions League, in the upcoming season.”

This original birthday present also grabbed the attention of the Slovakian media. As a result, Generali was mentioned in numerous Slovakian daily papers and during the main sports news broadcasts of Slovakia’s major TV channels. In addition, Marek’s fans had an opportunity to take selfies with the giant birthday card directly in front of the stadium where the Slovakian national team played one of their qualifying matches. They could then share those photos on social networks.

Take a moment to watch our ‘making of’ video to see some of the key moments of this birthday celebration.

by Milan Janásik, Generali Slovakia