Jan Koller ( czechoslovakian pronunciation : [ ˈjan ˈkolɛr ] ; born 30 March 1973 ) is a czech former professional football player who played as a striker. He was noted for his stature, solid physique, and heading ability. He began his career at Sparta Prague, then moved to Belgium, where he became the Belgian First Division top scorekeeper with Lokeren. He won the league backing twice with Anderlecht and the belgian Golden Shoe. In 2001, he joined Borussia Dortmund, where he won the Bundesliga title in his foremost season and scored 73 goals in 167 official games over five campaigns. He moved frequently in his late career, with stops in France, Germany and Russia.
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Koller is the all-time top scorekeeper for the Czech Republic national team, with 55 goals in 91 appearances in a decade-long career starting in 1999. He represented the state at three UEFA european Championships and the 2006 FIFA World Cup .
Club career [edit ]
early on career [edit ]
Koller started his football train as a goalkeeper, [ 2 ] but was converted to striker by the time he started his professional career with Czech club Sparta Prague. He made his début for Sparta in the give of 1995 in a match against Benešov, coming on as a alternate with 20 minutes of the game remaining. [ 3 ] In 1996, Koller caught the eye of belgian football and signed with the club Lokeren for a fee equivalent to €102,000. [ 2 ]
Anderlecht [edit ]
After a successful three-year stint, in which he managed to finish as Belgian First Division top-scorer in his last season at Lokeren, Koller was signed by belgian club Anderlecht. He cursorily built up a successful partnership with canadian striker Tomasz Radzinski, excelling in his debut season and earning him the belgian Golden Shoe in 2000. At the conclusion of the season, he was bought by german side Borussia Dortmund after turning down english side Fulham. [ 4 ]
Borussia Dortmund [edit ]
While Koller was at Dortmund, the baseball club won the 2001–02 Bundesliga, thanks in partially to Koller ‘s 11 league goals. Besides the Bundesliga title his biggest success whilst at Dortmund was helping them to the 2002 UEFA Cup Final, where his goal could not prevent them losing 3–2 to Feyenoord. His coach as a goalkeeper saw some use in the 2002–03 season. In a Bundesliga match against Bayern Munich, Dortmund ‘s goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was sent off in the second half for a second yellow tease, [ 5 ] and Dortmund had already used their three substitutions. Koller, who had already opened the score in the 8th minute, moved from striker to goalkeeper after 67 minutes of the match. He prevented any more goals for the rest of the match, despite Dortmund having been reduced to nine players due to the earlier extrusion of Torsten Frings. [ 6 ] Koller was named by kicker as the Bundesliga ‘s top goalkeeper of the week for his performance. [ 7 ] [ 8 ]
Monaco and Nürnberg [edit ]
In a surprising motion, Koller signed with french side AS Monaco in 2006 but a two-season disappoint campaign, despite a properly grade record, forced him to move back to Germany to play with Nürnberg. [ 9 ] unfortunately for Koller, who was n’t the lone Czech in the team as he was partnered with Tomáš Galásek and Jaromír Blazek, the Nürnberg-based club had performed ailing throughout the season and were relegated to 2. Bundesliga at the conclusion of the 2007–08 season .
late career [edit ]
On 23 June 2008, Koller was transferred to russian clubhouse Krylia Sovetov Samara in a deal worth €1 million. [ 10 ] On 5 December 2009, Koller returned to France, joining Championnat National team AS Cannes, with a shrink until June 2011. [ 11 ] Koller announced his retirement from football in August 2011 after a serial of injuries. [ 2 ]
International career [edit ]
Koller made his introduction for the Czech Republic in a friendly away to Belgium at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels on 9 February 1999, and netted the only finish of the game in the 73rd moment. He scored six goals in six games in UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying as the Czechs topped their group ; this included two in a 4–0 gain in Lithuania. At the finals in Belgium and the Netherlands, he started each game as his team exited in the group stage. In 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification, Koller entirely scored twice in eight games, both in a 4–0 winnings over Iceland in Teplice. His best operation in a major tournament was in Euro 2004, when his side reached the semi-finals and he scored two goals, forming a pivotal partnership with fellow striker Milan Baroš. He became the all-time contribute scorer for the Czech Republic on 8 June 2005, following a match against Macedonia in which he scored four goals in just 11 minutes of a 6–1 succeed, taking his international sum to 39. [ 12 ] In the 2006 World Cup, Koller scored the open finish of a 3–0 gain against the United States in their first base game, but later suffered a minor thigh injury ; the Czech Republic lost their adjacent two matches without him and were eliminated. Into his third gear calendar month with Nürnberg, Koller announced that he would retire from the Czech national team after Euro 2008. [ 13 ] He finished his international career with 55 goals, including a crucial head goal in their decision making Euro 2008 Group A meet against Turkey ; however, his goal was not enough as the Czechs conceded three goals in the last 15 minutes, losing the match 3–2, and failing to progress to the knock-out stage, prompting Koller to announce his retirement from the national team.
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In July 2009, he announced that he would rejoin the national team because of poor people results in the 2010 World Cup qualification. [ 14 ] He played in the match against Slovakia, but on 6 September 2009, he again announced his retirement from external football .
style of play [edit ]
Koller was peculiarly noted for his stature, potent physique and heading ability, being referred to as a “ eminent forward “ [ 15 ] [ 16 ] and a “ human beacon ”. [ 17 ] ascribable to his stature, he was often nicknamed Dino throughout his career. [ 18 ]
career statistics [edit ]
club [edit ]
International [edit ]
Czech Republic[21]
Year
Apps
Goals
1999
10
9
2000
11
6
2001
7
0
2002
9
5
2003
9
7
2004
14
6
2005
6
7
2006
8
7
2007
9
4
2008
7
4
2009
1
0
Total
91
55
Honours [edit ]
Sparta Prague
Anderlecht
Borussia Dortmund
Individual
References [edit ]
Read more: Ex on the Beach (British series 6)