Lev Ivanovich Yashin was a Soviet professional footballer considered by many to have been the greatest goalkeeper in the history of the game. He was known for his athleticism, positioning, imposing presence in goal, and acrobatic reflex saves. He was also deputy chairman of the Football Federation of the Soviet Union.
Franz Anton Beckenbauer was a German professional football player, manager, and official. Nicknamed der Kaiser, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, and is one of nine players to have won the FIFA World Cup, the European Champions Cup, and the Ballon d'Or. Beckenbauer was a versatile player who started out as a midfielder, but made his name as a central defender. He is often credited as having invented the role of the modern sweeper.
Josef Masopust was a Czech football player and coach. He played as midfielder and was a key player for Czechoslovakia, helping them reach the 1962 FIFA World Cup Final. He was capped 63 times, scoring ten goals for his national team.
Dukla Prague was a Czech football club from the city of Prague. Established in 1948 as ATK Praha, the club won a total of 11 Czechoslovak league titles and eight Czechoslovak Cups, and in the 1966–67 season, reached the semi-finals of the European Cup. As late as 1985–86 they reached the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup semi-final and they also made a great impact in the American Challenge Cup competition in New York City with four wins between 1961 and 1964. The club sent seven players to the silver medal-winning Czechoslovakia national team in the 1962 World Cup, in a year which saw them win the fifth of their domestic league titles as well as their player Josef Masopust be named European Footballer of the Year. Between the start of the competition in 1955 and 1991, Dukla played more matches in the European Cup than any other team in Czechoslovakia.
The Czechoslovakia national football team represented Czechoslovakia in men's international football from 1919 to 1993. The team was controlled by the Czechoslovak Football Association, and the team qualified for eight World Cups and three European Championships. It had two runner-up finishes in World Cups, in 1934 and 1962, and won the European Championship in the 1976 tournament.
Antonín Kinský is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played club football in the Czech Republic for nine seasons, winning the national league in 2002 with FC Slovan Liberec. He subsequently moved to Russia, where he played for Saturn Ramenskoye. During his seven years in Russia, he played 200 competitive games and was recognised as the Russian Premier League's best goalkeeper in the 2007 season.
Antonín Panenka is a Czech retired footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He spent most of his career at Czechoslovak club Bohemians Prague before having spells with various Austrian clubs including Rapid Wien. Panenka won UEFA Euro 1976 with Czechoslovakia and gained recognition for his winning penalty kick in the shoot-out of the final against West Germany, where he scored with a softly-chipped ball up the middle of the goal as the goalkeeper dived away. This style of penalty is now known as a panenka. In 1980, he won Czechoslovak Footballer of the Year and his team finished third at Euro 1980.
Jozef Adamec was a Slovak football forward and manager.
Zdeněk Nehoda is a former Czech football forward.
Radoslav Látal is a Czech football manager and former player who played as a midfielder.
Ladislav Jurkemik is a former Slovak football player and later a football manager. He played in the Czechoslovak First League for Inter Bratislava and Dukla Banská Bystrica. Jurkemik played internationally for Czechoslovakia; he played a total of 57 matches and scored 3 goals. He managed Slovakia in 2002 and 2003.
Jan Fiala is a Czech former football player.
Marián Masný is a Slovak former football player. He played for Czechoslovakia, for which he played 75 matches and scored 18 goals. His brother Vojtech was also football player.
This article discusses the structure of football leagues in the Czech Republic. These leagues are organised by The Football Association of the Czech Republic (FAČR). Football is the most popular sport in the Czech Republic.
Albert Alekseyevich Shesternyov was a football player for CSKA Moscow and the Soviet Union. He is generally regarded as the best football defender in Soviet football history.
Václav Ježek was a Czech football manager. Ježek is best known for being the serial manager at Sparta Prague, one of the Czech Republic's most successful clubs, as well as helming the Czechoslovakia national football team to the 1976 UEFA European Football Championship triumph, the country's sole international title.
František Štambachr or Štambacher, nicknamed "Štambi", is a former Czechoslovak footballer, gold medalist with the Czechoslovak Olympic Football Team at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. He was considered as an allrounder who could play in almost every position of the midfield.
Ján Kozák is a Slovak football manager and former player. Most recently, he managed Slovak national team. As the manager of Slovakia, his team qualified for the 2016 UEFA Euro, thus becoming Slovakia's first time to appear in the tournament.
Jan Berger is a Czech former football midfielder and was most recently the manager of Slavoj Vyšehrad.
Günter Bittengel is a Czech football coach and former player. He played as a striker in the Czechoslovak First League and went on to play in the Czech First League after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. As a result, he also represented both Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic at international level.
