| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 1 November 1983 | ||
| Place of birth | Třinec, Czechoslovakia | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | FC Baník Ostrava | ||
| Number | 25 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1990–1998 | Frýdek-Místek | ||
| 1998–2001 | FC Baník Ostrava | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2001–2003 | Baník Ostrava | 48 | (14) |
| 2003–2005 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 70 | (17) |
| 2005–2006 | Hertha BSC | 10 | (0) |
| 2006–2007 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 6 | (0) |
| 2007 | Austria Wien | 7 | (0) |
| 2007–2008 | Baník Ostrava | 39 | (23) |
| 2009–2011 | Sochaux | 44 | (10) |
| 2011 | → Panionios (loan) | 11 | (1) |
| 2011– | FC Baník Ostrava | 7 | (3) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 1998–1999 | Czech Republic U15 | 11 | (3) |
| 1999–2000 | Czech Republic U16 | 20 | (6) |
| 2000–2001 | Czech Republic U17 | 12 | (5) |
| 2000–2001 | Czech Republic U18 | 7 | (2) |
| 2001–2002 | Czech Republic U19 | 12 | (6) |
| 2002–2003 | Czech Republic U20 | 4 | (3) |
| 2003–2005 | Czech Republic U21 | 23 | (8) |
| 2008– | Czech Republic | 11 | (3) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22 October 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
|||
Václav Svěrkoš (Czech pronunciation: [ˈvaːtslaf ˈsvjɛrkoʃ]; born 1 November 1983 in Třinec) is a Czech footballer who is currently playing for FC Baník Ostrava in Czech Gambrinus liga. He was the opening scorer in the Euro 2008 tournament.
Contents |
He started his career at VP Frýdek-Místek. At the age of fourteen he switched to Baník Ostrava, playing on U15 international for the Czech Republic already. Still eligible to feature for Baník's U19, Svěrkoš enjoyed his breakthrough in the Gambrinus liga, the best Czech division, for the Silesian city outfit after the departure of Milan Baroš. His record of 14 goals in just 26 first-team appearances for Ostrava and similar performances in the Czech Republic national under-21 football team got German club Borussia Mönchengladbach interested. Mönchengladbach had been unable to extend the half-a-season loan of Chelsea's Mikael Forssell, the team's top scorer in 2002–2003, in those times and regarded Svěrkoš a potential long-term replacement for the Finland international.
A stuttering start to life in Bundesliga under Ewald Lienen, Svěrkoš took advantage of a change of manager at the club and he was able to end up the teams topscorer in 2003–2004 with nine goals in 31 Bundesliga matches. His most notable contribution came half-way through that campaign when he netted a hat-trick in Mönchengladbach's win over Champions League participant VfB Stuttgart (4–2) in the last 16 of the German Cup competition.
A year later, Mönchengladbach only just avoided relegation in a season in which Svěrkoš netted seven goals for them, his ongoing presence in the youth ranks for the Czech Republic awarded him the captaincy of the Czech U21. However, his third season under contract in German football turned out to be extremely problematic. Problems in his private life, followed by poor form, took the ground from under his feet and made him long for a change. Initially planning to go on loan to MSV Duisburg, UEFA Cup participants Hertha BSC became his interim club for the remainder of the season in December 2005.
Even this change of environment did not work for Svěrkoš and though he was facing uncertain times with Hertha BSC unwilling to buy him and Mönchengladbach, to whom he had to return to at the end of the season, seemingly willing to finally sell him to another club. Mönchengladbach's decision to part with manager Horst Köppel at the same time proved to be fortunate as one of the first decisions of Köppel's successor Jupp Heynckes was allowing him to stay on and make a fresh start at the club.
In the summer of 2007 Svěrkoš returned to Baník Ostrava. He found his form again after the winter break, scoring eleven goals in thirteen matches during the spring part of Gambrinus liga. He was the top scorer of the Czech Championship 2007–2008, with 15 goals, 3 more than the runner-up Miroslav Slepička from Sparta Prague. This caused several clubs to be interested in signing him after UEFA Euro 2008, but Svěrkoš spent the rest of the year in Ostrava, in December 2008 he agreed to transfer to French Ligue 1 side FC Sochaux.
Svěrkoš was recently called up to the Czech Republic national football team and made his debut in the friendly match against Lithuania on 27 May. On 14 May 2008, it was announced that he would be part of the Czech squad for Euro 2008.After a defeat in the match against Slovakia, Rada was fired as coach. After a breach of discipline reported by a Czech tabloid (reportedly involving prostitutes), the Czech federation banned Ujfaluši, Baroš, Fenin, Matějovský, Svěrkoš and Kováč indefinitely. Ujfaluši, then the captain, immediately quit the international team. However, Svěrkoš was recalled to the national side after the appointment of Ivan Hašek as head coach and on 12 August 2009, he marked his return to international duty by earning his team a penalty in the 3:1 home win against Belgium in a friendly. He scored his 2nd international goal against San Marino.
At Euro 2008 in Basel, Svěrkoš scored his first goal for his national side against Switzerland in the 71st minute of the opening match of the tournament on 7 June 2008. It also turned out to be the first goal of the tournament as the Czech Republic won the match 1–0.[1]
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 7 June 2008 | Basel, Switzerland | Switzerland | 1–0 | 1–0 | Euro 2008 |
| 2. | 9 September 2009 | Uherské Hradiště, Czech Republic | San Marino | 4–0 | 7–0 | 2010 WCQ |
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||