Golden football generation: universal soldier Jaroslav Plašil

When I started writing about former Czech national team players, I didn’t know that your response would be so great. Today we take a look at one unassuming, yet great footballer. Jaroslav Plašil deserves attention.

Imagine, from Sokol Černíkovice and Rychnov nad Kněžnou you get to go to France as a young wolf. And in a few years you’re playing the Champions League final. That doesn’t sound too bad, does it? That’s the path midfielder Jaroslav Plašil chose.

His path led first to Hradec Kralove. The scouts noticed him immediately and Jaroslav went to the princely club AS Monaco FC. Cozy stadium, luxury everywhere you look, warm sunshine from the Riviera.

The perfect destination for a technical midfielder. Plašil adapted quickly to the starting line-up. He’s always been more of a passer. He played 121 games for Monaco and scored 5 goals.

The crowd loved him. In 2004, Porto, led by a certain José Mourinho, faced Monaco. Schalke 04 stadium offered a clear win for Porto 3: 0.

Plašil, meanwhile, was part of the Lions and soon made it into the Czech national A team. The Monaco club was very rich, so it was no problem to buy talents from all over the world and then sell them. There was a lot of competition.

Plašil made it to EURO 2004 and was part of the national team for many years. He made a total of 103 starts. Sometimes he was overly criticized in the Czech jersey. His finest goal came against Spain in the qualifiers, a game we lost.

After leaving Monaco he chose Spanish Osasuna, he didn’t do badly there either. But his love for France remained in his heart. He headed for Bordeaux. He played for Bordeaux for 10 years, in addition to a guest stint at Catania.

He made 290 starts, scored 15 goals and even became captain. You could say his reputation exceeded all expectations. Even so, he remained a modest and quiet pillar of the midfield. He could play as a central, offensive or wing midfielder.

Bordeaux offered him the position of coach. The blond elegance managed to establish himself as an adult abroad at an early age. And few footballers in our history have managed to do that. Let’s see if he continues his successful career as a coach. Jaroslav Plašil may have been inconspicuous, but he certainly wasn’t invisible.

Source: Wikipedia