Football
Did you know about them? Czech footballers who play on opposite sides of the world
Czech footballers are not only active in European clubs. We could find a few of them on the opposite sides of the country. Take a look at a selection of a few.
Czech footballers are not only active in European clubs. We could find a few of them on the opposite sides of the country. Take a look at a selection of a few.
When footballers from the Czech Republic go on foreign assignments, it is usually to European clubs. Of course, there are exceptions, such as Ondrej Kudela or Michael Krmencik leaving for Indonesia.
But did you know that the Czech Republic is represented in the Korean league, the American MLS or in Australia?
Tomáš Ostrák (St. Louis City, MLS)
The career of the Czech midfielder, who grew up playing football in Cologne, Germany, has taken a very unprecedented turn. There, however, he failed to break into the first team. Not even a successful guest stint in Karviná helped him.
After the end of his contract, he took a bold step. He signed with St. Louis City, which since the current season is one of the clubs playing in the MLS. And how are Ostrák and his club doing? Above expectations.
St. Louis City leads the entire Western Conference. They are also behind Los Angeles FC, which won the last MLS season and the Czech player has played in twenty-one games so far, scoring twice.
Jassem Koleilat (Los Angeles FC II, MLS Next Pro)
Although it may not seem like it from his name, Jassem is a Czech goalkeeper who has Lebanese and Canadian citizenship in addition to his Czech citizenship. In his very early days, he worked in the academy of Prague’s Sparta before moving on to Stade Laval in France.
He then spent several years in university teams before being drafted as the first choice to Los Angeles FC, where he is gaining experience in the reserve team.
Martin Bejbl (Bay Olympic, New Zealand – Northern League)
The 23-year-old central defender is another one of those who have embarked on a very unexpected engagement. The son of Radek Bejbl and an offspring of Slavia Prague, he has also tried out for the youth team of Viktoria Žižkov and the reserve team of Mladá Boleslav.
In 2022, he will head to New Zealand. In an interview with eFotball , he said that this idea was born after he got in touch with a coach from New Zealand who was interested in him.
Clubs in New Zealand operate more on a semi-professional level and can be compared to our third league. Some play football as a way of working and some play it as a regular livelihood.
He started his career with Manukau United FC and is now with Bay Olympic. It seems that his New Zealand journey will come to an end as he plans to return to the Czech Republic to finish school.
Tomáš Petrášek (Jeonbuk, K League)
Czech representation can also be found in the Korean league. The thirty-one-year-old footballer headed here as a free player before the start of the current season of the top league. Before that, he worked in Raków in Poland, where the Hradec Králové graduate headed from Žižkov.
He was thus at the rise of the club, which rose from the third league to the very top of Poland. Jeonbuk is a very successful club in Korea. Last year they finished second in the table and the year before last they even enjoyed the first place.
Marek Mádle (Rochedale Rovers, National Premier League Queensland)
The now thirty-two year old footballer, who flashed his early days in Jablonec’s youth team, made his way abroad very soon. But never at a fully professional level.
For example, he worked for three clubs in the Scottish Fifth Division before heading to the opposite corner of the world to Australia. Here, too, he changes clubs quite frequently. He is now playing for his fourth club and third in the semi-professional league.
He is not doing badly at all in his current position. He has scored 10 goals in 19 games this year.
Source: Soccerway, eFootball, Livesport, Transfermarket