Jan Polák (Czech pronunciation: [ˈjan ˈpolaːk]; born 14 March 1981) is a retired Czech footballer[2] who played as a midfielder.
 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
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 May 2018 | |||||||||||||||||
Career
editIn 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
edit1. FC Nürnberg
Anderlecht
References
edit- ^ "2006 FIFA World Cup Germany: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 21 March 2014. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2019.
- ^ "Jan Polák". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
- ^ "European U-21 Championship 2002 - Final Tournament Details". RSSSF. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
- ^ "Česko U21 - Historické statistiky - Nejvíce startů". Football Association of the Czech Republic. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
External links
edit- Jan Polák at FAČR (also at old FAČR website) (in Czech)
- Official website
- Jan Polák at National-Football-Teams.com