Czechs No1 for No1s

By Ladislav Josef

Having shone in the Premiership with Chelsea FC and performed brilliantly at UEFA EURO 2004™, Petr Cech is the biggest name in Czech goalkeeping, but the giant No1 is not the only current success story. The Czech Republic is rapidly becoming Europe's first stop for great goalkeepers.

No1 first
While in most other countries youngsters dream of becoming great goalscorers, in the Czech Republic the No1s on the pitch are just as likely to be the No1s in the hearts of young fans and seasoned journalists. Tellingly, journalists voted Cech as the nation's best player of 2004, well ahead of European Footballer of the Year Pavel Nedved and Milan Baroš, the leading scorer at EURO 2004™.

Illustrious Plánicka
Goalkeepers have held a special place in the country ever since František Plánicka vied with Spain's Ricardo Zamora for the unofficial title of Europe's best custodian. Plánicka captained Czechoslovakia as they won the silver medal at the 1934 FIFA World Cup, and was a much more popular figure in his home country even than the tournament's top scorer, Oldrich Nejedly. His popularity rose even higher in the 1938 finals when he soldiered through a game against Brazil with a broken arm.

Viktor's role
In the 1970s, Plánicka's mantle was passed on to Ivo Viktor, who won Player of the Year awards in Czechoslovakia five times - a record that stands to this day. Viktor's goalkeeping helped Czechoslovakia win the 1976 UEFA European Championship and he would surely have become a major figure in European football had the old 'iron curtain' not prevented him playing in the west.

Coaching ability
However, by staying at home, Viktor was able to help lay the ground for the goalkeepers that followed. He helped to train other shot-stoppers and a competition to win 'Viktor's Ball' was to be an important badge of honour. He was also Dušan Uhrin's assistant as the Czech Republic finished second at UEFA EURO '96™.

Velvet revolution
By that time, the 'velvet revolution' of 1989 had opened the doors to the west and Czech goalkeepers had taken full advantage. Ludek Miklosko headed to West Ham United FC in England where he remains coaching goalkeepers. Meanwhile, his countryman Jan Stejskal headed to another London club, Queens Park Rangers FC, and is now goalkeeping coach at AC Sparta Praha.

English moves
Those two goalkeepers helped whet the Premiership's appetite for Czech No1s and following Cech's success at Chelsea, SK Slavia Praha's Radek Cerný joined Tottenham Hotspur FC in January while Jaroslav Drobný will soon be at Fulham FC having agreed a move from Greek side Panionios NFC.

European spread
However, Czech goalkeepers are making their mark all over Europe. Pavel Srnícek, who spent his best years in Newcastle United FC, is at Portuguese side SC Beira-Mar, Ladislav Maier is a star at Austria's SK Rapid Wien, Antonín Kinský is doing well at Russian side FC Saturn Ramenskoye, Jan Lastuvka is with Ukraine's FC Shakhtar Donetsk and Daniel Zítka is thriving in Belgium with RSC Anderlecht.

First choice
Perhaps there is something in the Czech style of play that helps create good goalkeepers. Significantly, the Czech Republic's best-ever scorer in international games, 35-goal striker Jan Koller, started off between the sticks and was only too keen to don the gloves after his goalkeeper at BV Borussia Dortmund was dismissed during a game against FC Bayern München in 2002.

Production line
Czech youngsters continue to covet the No1 shirt almost more than any other. Perhaps that is why the production lines in Prague are continuing to come up with the goods.