A late addition to the Czech Republic's UEFA EURO 2012 squad, dynamic young FC Viktoria Plzeň midfielder Vladimír Darida was originally selected by Michal Bílek as emergency cover for captain Tomáš Rosický but ended up replacing the injured Daniel Pudil in the final party.

• Joined Plzeň as a schoolboy, making his first-team debut as a substitute in a 1. Liga match against SK Dynamo České Budějovice on 24 April 2010.

• Made only one substitute appearance for Plzeň in their 2010/11 1. Liga title-winning campaign, spending the second half of the season on loan to second-tier FK Baník Sokolov.

• Restored to Plzeň in 2011/12 and made his UEFA Champions League debut away to AC Milan, one of three substitute appearances in the competition; scored on his first European start, a 1-1 home draw with FC Schalke 04 in the UEFA Europa League round of 32.

• A goalscorer on each of his first two appearances for the Czech Republic Under-21 side – against Andorra and Armenia – he made his senior debut on 26 May 2012 in a 2-1 unofficial friendly defeat of Israel, as a substitute for Petr Jiráček, and did enough to clinch a UEFA EURO 2012 squad place.

• Ended the 2011/12 1. Liga season with three goals in 22 games for Plzeň.