Zlín Region
Friday, May 6, 2011
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Zlín Region will look to emulate the Central Moravia side who beat Braga on penalties to win the 2001 UEFA Regions' Cup, with the final staged in Zlin.
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Coach: Petr Zapletal
Date of birth: 28/05/1969
Having joined then-Czechoslovakian champions FC Vítkovice in 1986, Petr Zapletal saw a series of injuries culminating in a broken leg force him to retire at 23. He returned to his native Otrokovice, coaching local teams before becoming the Football Association of the Czech Republic (ČMFS) youth coach for the Zlín region in 2009.
Team profile
Football in eastern Moravia has never matched the achievements of Zlin-based TJ Gottwaldov, who won the Czechoslovak Cup in 1970, but the area has produced decent international players like Zdeněk Nehoda and Michal Kadlec.
The Zlín Region side is composed of players from 11 different clubs, but they came together in style to win intermediary round Group 6 with two wins and a draw. Now they will look to emulate the Central Moravia side who beat Braga on penalties to win the 2001 UEFA Regions' Cup, with the final staged in Zlin.
Zapletal's squad features a professional soldier, an engineer and a businessman, with the coach eager to adopt a strong team ethic. "Teamwork is the strongest element of this side," said the coach, who dropped a key player for missing a training camp ahead of the finals. "There is no place for bigheads even if they play superbly."