Wednesday, April 13, 2011

How far has football fallen in Prostějov?

Back over 10 years ago, Prostějov had a decent, but old stadium, and a competitive team in the 'higher' divisions. The city even hosted a few Czech Republic international games (non-senior). It really wasn't so long ago that this city was seen as a football town, now those days are over for the time being. It has turned into a basketball and volleyball town, but things may change soon with the possible merger of Kralice na Hané and SK Prostějov. Or there is a possibility of Haná Prostějov climbing the football ladder through promotion, as they currently play in the 7th level of football in this country.

On September 30th, 1997 the Czech Republic U20 side defeated Lithuania U20 in a friendly 2-0. Goals were scored by Jankulovski in the 60th minute and Jarošik in the 67th minute. The Czech Roster on that day featured:

Jindřich Skácel
Erich Brabec
Jan Vorel
Martin Švejnoha
Jan Šimák
Jiří Jarošík
Roman Lengyel
Libor Sionko
Marek Jankulovkski
Petr Smíšek
Martin Raška
Jan Buryán
Petr Papoušek
Jiří Krohmer
Marek Heinz

Quite a few big name players were on the squad that day including Jankulovski (AC Milan), Jarošík (Real Zaragoza), Marek Heinz (played for Galatasary, Nantes), Jan Simak (Mainz), Libor Sionko (played for Rangers, and Copenhagen).

Two years later, the Czech U21's came to Prostějov on August 18, 1999, when they face South Korea U21 in a friendly. A crowd of 1200 (reported by the Czech FA) showed up to watch some future Czech footballing stars lose 4-1. The biggest star on the pitch that day was Park Ji-Sung who has won over 100 caps for South Korea and currently plays for Manchester United. He scored on goal on the day. The only goal for the Czech U21's was scored by Tomáš Došek, who currently plays for FC Brno. The line-up on the day featured:

Jindřich Skácel
Lukáš Došek
Adam Petrouš
Marcel Lička
Roman Lengyel
Radoslav Kováč
Jan Šimák
Tomáš Ujfaluši
Marek Jankulovski
Tomáš Došek
Marek Heinz
Jan Polák
Petr Papoušek
Erich Brabec
Jiří Jarošík

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