Jan Polák
Czech footballer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jan Polák (Czech pronunciation: [ˈjan ˈpolaːk]; born 14 March 1981) is a retired Czech footballer[2] who played as a midfielder. His professional career spanned 22 years, during which he also played abroad for football clubs in Germany and Belgium.
![]() Polák playing for the Czech national team | |||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full name | Jan Polák[1] | ||||||||||||||||
Date of birth | 14 March 1981 | ||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Brno, Czechoslovakia | ||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||
Position(s) | Central Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
Tatran Bohunice | |||||||||||||||||
1991–1998 | Zbrojovka Brno | ||||||||||||||||
Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
1998–2002 | Zbrojovka Brno | 124 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
2003–2005 | Slovan Liberec | 65 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
2005–2007 | 1. FC Nürnberg | 62 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
2007–2011 | Anderlecht | 79 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
2011–2014 | VfL Wolfsburg | 73 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
2014–2016 | 1. FC Nürnberg | 39 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
2016–2018 | Zbrojovka Brno | 48 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
2018–2020 | Prostějov | 36 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Total | 526 | (26) | |||||||||||||||
International career | |||||||||||||||||
1999–2003 | Czech Republic U21 | 45 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
1999–2011 | Czech Republic | 57 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 May 2018 |
Polák also represented the Czech Republic national football team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2008.
Career
In his younger days he played for FC Zbrojovka Brno and Tatran Bohunice. Formerly a member of the Czech national under-21 side, Polák, alongside players like Petr Čech and Milan Baroš, was a part of the team which won the European Under-21 Football Championship in 2002.[3] He also holds the record for the most appearances for the Czech Republic under-21 team with 45 caps.[4]
In 2005, he was transferred from the Czech First League team FC Slovan Liberec for a fee of €1,500,000 to the Bundesliga side 1. FC Nürnberg. In the same year he played for the first time under Czech national coach Karel Brückner.
On 3 August 2007, Anderlecht bought Polák. He was given number 8. The Czech international reportedly cost €3.5 million and was at the time the second most expensive transfer in Anderlecht's history, as well as one of the highest paid players in Belgian football. He was Anderlecht's box-to-box midfielder playing a crucial role in their 2007–08 Jupiler League season and the 2007–08 UEFA Cup.
Honours
1. FC Nürnberg
Anderlecht
References
External links
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.