VLADIMIR Weiss admits quite a few people back home in Slovakia would have been happy to see him miss out on his World Cup dream.

The flying winger, who spent the second half of last season on loan at the Reebok, is the son of the national coach, also called Vladimir.

And many Slovakians cried nepotism as the 20-year-old made the 23-man squad despite struggling to find regular football either at his parent club Manchester City or Wanderers in his four-month stay.

But Weiss is determined to enjoy his experience in South Africa, where his country will come up against Italy, Paraguay and New Zealand in the group stages.

“There are a lot of people on the internet, or wherever, saying that I shouldn’t be in there but there are also a lot of people who support me,” he said.

“There are a lot of haters, I suppose you call them, but I just try and get on with my football.

“Being a Slovak, this could only come around once in your career, so there are a lot of people who wanted to try and get in the squad, and a lot of opinions.”

Weiss had struggled to find regular football with the Whites until the closing stages of the season, and he admits his lack of match time had him worried about making the squad.

“I have been trying to keep sharp for Slovakia and doing extra in training,” he said.

“But I had spoken to my dad and he was a bit frustrated that I wasn’t playing regularly.

“I got back in at the end of the season and did okay, so now I can’t wait. It will be one of the highlights of my career.”

It remains to be seen whether Coyle will try to bring Weiss back to the Reebok next season, with the wide man hoping to break into Roberto Mancini’s first-team plans at Eastlands.

But, in the meantime, the young midfielder has targeted a place in the last 16 this summer.

“We need to get out of the group,” he said. “We have done well to get there because we had a really tough group – no-one gave us a chance of finishing top.

“Now we have got Italy, Paraguay and New Zealand, so we could get out of the group and play a bigger part in the World Cup, but we will wait and see.

“We need to beat New Zealand in the first game on Tuesday, then if we got another it would be perfect. Even a draw could play a big part.”