Vladimir Smicer Ends His Playing Career
Just a day after retiring from football, Vladimir Smicer has been appointed “manager” (”manazer”) of the Czech national team set-up.
Having been substituted at half time of Slavia’s 0-0 draw with Plzen on Monday, the 36-year-old unexpectedly announced that he was ending his playing career after the game.
There’s speculation that Smicer’s decision, which he attributed to his ongoing injury problems, is actually the result of a falling-out with Slavia coach Karel Jarolim.
Smicer’s new job is a largely administrative role, overseeing the running of the Czech national teams in all age categories; Michal Bilek remains the senior Czech team’s coach (”trener”).
Smicer and Bilek will work with Dusan Fitzel, who has been appointed the CMFS’s (Czech football association’s) new technical director, having held a similar role in Malta.
Despite frequent injury problems, Smicer had a remarkable playing career, making 81 appearances for the Czechoslovak/Czech national team and representing his country at Euro 96, Euro 2000 and Euro 2004, scoring at all three tournaments.
An attacking midfielder, Smicer had an uncanny knack of scoring vital goals.
At Euro 96, his late equalizer against Russia kept the Czech Republic in the tournament; at Euro 2004, his late winner completed the Czechs’ remarkable comeback against the Netherlands; and in the 2005 Champions League final, Smicer scored Liverpool’s second in their amazing comeback.
At club level, Smicer played for Lens, Liverpool and Bordeaux but is most closely connected with Slavia, where he began and ended his professional career and won Czech league titles in 1996, 2008 and 2009.
Smicer’s retirement means his good friend Patrik Berger, currently at Sparta Praha, is the only member of the Czech Republic’s Euro 96 squad still playing professional football.
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Sources: CT Teletext, Prague Daily Monitor, Tyden.cz, Goal.com, Wikipedia