After Euro, it’s over! Captain Darida quits his national team career, wants to devote himself to his family

Vladimír Darida, captain of the Czech national football team in recent years, has decided to end his career with the national team after a successful Euro at the age of 30. The reason for this was that he wanted to spend more time with his family, especially his young son.

The Pilsen native wore the jersey with the lion on his chest for the first time in 2012, when he was 21 years old. He was called up for two friendly matches by coach Michal Bílek. Since then, Vladimír Darida has become an integral part of the national team. He has been called up only very rarely, mostly due to injuries.

In nine years he represented the Czech Republic in 76 matches, scoring 8 goals and adding 10 assists. He played in three European Championships, in two of them he led the national team to the quarterfinals (2012 and 2021). In recent years, he even became the captain of the national team.

“I said goodbye to the national team at the Euros. After it, I said goodbye to my teammates whom I had the honour of captaining. I didn’t call them easy, and I don’t now, but after much deliberation I decided to end my career with the national team,” Darida recounted.

“I had a great time in the national team. Whether it was as an unexpected benjamite at my first European Championship nine years ago or now at my third EURO with the captain’s armband on my sleeve. I have always appreciated being able to defend the Czech colours,” the Czech midfielder concluded.

He made his debut on 26 May 2012 when he replaced Daniel Kolar in the 65th minute of the match against Israel and assisted on David Lafata’s goal in the third minute of the set-up to help the Czech Republic win 2-1.

It took him three years to score his first goal for the national team, but it was a very important one. It secured a 2-1 victory for the Czech Republic over Latvia, which also earned us a place at Euro 2016.

He also scored twice against San Marino, scored in the duel with Germany, and scored against Montenegro, Northern Ireland, Cyprus and Israel. But he will not bring any other country down with his goals. Now he wants to spend as much time as possible with his young son.

“I have given everything to football so far and football has given me back fully in return. But everything comes at a cost. This Bundesliga and national team season I spent 140 days away from home for matches and training camps. But now I want to spend much more time with my family and my young son,” said the former Viktoria Plzen, Banik Sokolov and Freiburg player.

From a football point of view, he will be fighting on only one front. His seventh season in the jersey of Bundesliga side Hertha will be his seventh and he will most likely fight to keep his first league affiliation. Last season, the Berlin side missed out on relegation by just two points.

“I wish the boys well. Now go to the World Cup! I’m looking forward to watching every game and cheering the boys on! You guys are great!” darida sent a clear farewell message.

Source:: fotbal.cz