#Milan Baroš

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Know the Top 5 Scorers in UEFA Euro 2004

#SportsCrunch: #DidYouKnow the Top Scorers in #UEFA #Euro2004? #UEFAEuro #Euro #Football

Today we bring you the footballers who hit the most goals in Euro 2004. The UEFA European Championship 2004 was the twelfth edition of the European football tournament co-hosted by Portugal during June 12- July 4, 2004. Sixteen teams qualified for the final tournament. Greece won their first UEFA Euro title. We see here the exceptional scorers who got listed among the most goals in Euro 2004. 8.…

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Milan Baroš Euro 2004 vibes 😍 Euro 2020 is absolutely his playground 🔥 🏟 4 Games ⚽️ 4 Goals 🥇 Probably the best goal of Euro 2020 Patrik Schick becomes the first Czech Republic player to score 4 goals at a single Euros since Milan Baroš scored 5 in Euro 2004. He is one goal away from equalling Milan Baroš as the Czech Republic's leading goal-scorer at Euros.

[diegoalvesisgod]

I translated this article a few weeks ago, mainly because I wanted my friend @soy-celeste to read it... and it’s been sitting in my files since. I read this article at 2 AM with tears running down my cheeks, pressing a hand over my mouth because I didn’t want to wake up the house with my crying. I translated it the following day, and I didn’t touch it ever since. I didn’t quite know what to do with the translation... it’s an issue that concerns my hometown club that probably no one on here follows. But now it’s kind of ripened in me. 

If you want to know how ugly football can be, read this. 

Warning: it’s long, and not a light read. 

Just this once

Daniel Holzer

“Now think carefully about this decision: You want to stay in Baník, or you want to leave?”

I didn’t hesitate for a second. I was in shock, my body was still paralyzed by adrenaline and fear, but when the new owner of the club, Václav Brabec, asked me on the phone how I saw my future, the answer was automatic.

I couldn’t imagine that I would stay in Baník Ostrava - the club that brought me up and gave me the chance to captain a first league club at the age of twenty. Not after what I’ve just gone through. And what was the reason I was still shaking.

Suddenly, I didn’t care about what people would think of me. I’m leaving and that’s it. I have to. I felt that in the atmosphere around me, there was no other option anyway.

“I want to leave.”

I answered the owner’s call with a shaking hand when I was going back home to Havířov, on the empty team bus. We used to do it that way. The bus went to Havířov’s yard after every match anyway, and our driver would always offer to take me right to my house. That day, I was really grateful for it. I wouldn’t be able to drive.

I was sitting there, buried in my seat, the hood of my sweatshirt over my head, looking out of the window with tears in my eyes, and I was thinking about where I went wrong. Why all of our fans suddenly hated me so much. Why they were lynching me for something I didn’t want to do until that moment. But mainly: what the hell was all that happened that day supposed to mean?

July 23, 2016.

The worst day of my football career.

The day that concluded with the decision that as a graduate and captain, I would leave the club that recently got relegated.

The day that decided that the whole city of Ostrava would hate me - basically still an adolescent.

That day, we played a friendly match in Katowice. More than a preparation for the upcoming season, it was an exhibition celebrating the 20th anniversary of the friendship between the fans of both teams. The stands were decorated with breathtaking yellow and white tifos, and while all of my teammates got goosebumps from it, I felt that something terrible was looming above the pitch. The information that there were negotiations going on concerning me leaving for Sparta had leaked to the fans. And the fact that I wasn’t starting in the match, although I still don’t really know why, only confirmed it to them. People in the stands took my leaving for granted; in the eyes of the most loyal fans, I was a traitor.

“Holzer, you bitch!”

“You Spartan cunt!”

“Go to Letná, you swine!”

They went hard on me. Emotions escalated right after the match, when we were celebrating with the packed stadium and then went around the stands and shook hands with the fans; we used to do it that way in Baník before. At that moment, people started to touch me through the bars, and added an uncomfortable physical contact to the verbal harassment. The crowd even ripped the jersey from my body, because in their eyes, I lost the right to wear it.

I’m not going to lie: I was scared. I was really afraid of those people at that moment.

It went so far that my own teammates asked me to leave the pitch and hide in the cabin.

I felt embarrassed.

I was walking through the center of the pitch to hide inside the stadium, and I couldn’t breathe. I felt physically sick, there was pressure on my chest, and my pulse was higher than in the actual match. I felt immense anxiety. In the tunnel, I had to bend forward and breathe deeply not to pass out. At that moment, Ondra Šašinka was already holding me up. He had sneaked out of the celebrations, so that at least someone would be there with me.

None of us knew that the worst was yet to come.

When I got out of the showers after ten minutes, wearing just a towel, three angry fans broke into the cabin. They threw me against the massage table in the middle of the room, and it all started anew, in front of all of my teammates.

“Why are you going to Sparta?”

“Who do you think you are?”

“Are you just going to let all of these boys down?”

Of course there were harsher words said. I was alone, and practically naked, against these 220 pounds guys, and I was ashamed.

And I was scared. I was really scared.

Because I couldn’t resist them.

And I had nothing to say to them. 

I wasn’t going to Sparta at that moment. Even though it was one of the options, they did want me at Letná, but I was avoiding it. I didn’t want to even talk about it. But who would have believed me then? Those people already had their truth.

Not even my teammates dared to defend me. The cabin was full of boys even younger than me, and I was twenty. I remember our coach, Vlastimil Petržela, sitting hunched in the corner of the room, swaying back and forth, his eyes fixed on the floor. And I remember our fitness coach, who was the only one who wanted to help me.

“Shut the fuck up and sit back, or you’re fucking next,” they snapped at him. They didn’t care about what he had to say. They were only interested in me.

I started to tear up. I was so scared that I knew I was going to cry. And I cried. I still don’t know how the fans even got into the cabin. And I don’t remember how they left in the end. But for long minutes after that, I stood naked again in the showers, with ice cold water pouring over me, and I was sobbing. While the rest of the team remained sitting in the cabin in deathly silence, I was crying in the shower like a little boy.

When I recounted all of this to our owner on the phone, he probably understood that in this situation, there was no point of holding me back and forcing me to stay at the club.

The next day, I really left.

For Sparta Prague.

*

AC Sparta Praha. The forbidden club.

The hatred people in Ostrava feel against the club from Letná can’t be described with words. It’s not a feeling that you gain through life experience or particular events. It’s not something you learn. It’s something you are simply born with if you’re from Ostrava. It’s a part of our specific DNA.

Since childhood, we live in this environment, among people who hate Sparta, and I think they can’t really explain why. Our grandfathers, aunts, parents, everyone feels this way, they feel this rivalry naturally and they respect it. I’ve always felt it, and my children will once feel it as well, I’m sure about that. There’s a lot of talk about the hatred towards Opava as well, the media write about the Silesian derby, but actually, since I was a child, I’ve felt that the only real rival of our club was Sparta.

When we were children and we were ball boys at matches, we usually had trouble getting enough people for regular matches. But when it was against Sparta, we were able to literally fight to death to get our place. Just to be there when Baník would beat up Sparta’s players in front of the sold out stadium, kick them black and blue, and - hopefully - also defeat them. Because these are the moments that people here remember for years. The moments men talk about while having their beer.

I hated Sparta this way already as a little boy. And I still do. Even though I wore their jersey, and I got to know a lot of their players personally, and I came to like a lot of them. Bořek Dočkal, for example. The man I couldn’t stand for so long! I only had to switch on the TV, and I already hated him, the way he kept spitting around him, and yelling at referees and opponents. Now I know it’s one of the best and smartest people I’ve met in Czech football. A great guy who’s got an amazing career behind him, and once he retires, he will be an amazing manager as well. I’d bet on that.

But at the same time, once I meet him on the pitch in the red shirt, I’ll kick him when I get the chance. Just like you are supposed to in Ostrava.

We have this in us naturally. This is how we were raised, and especially the day of the match, the atmosphere of resentment is strong in the cabin. The hatred just seeps out of us in a way our rivals aren’t even able to grasp. Milan Baroš has always been the master of this. He would sow hatred in the cabin the week prior to the match, and he would do it so well that even players who originally came from Sparta could suddenly feel it towards their old club.

I know that our fans have it in them this way as well.

I understand this hatred.

I grew up here. And if I weren’t a football player, I would be in the stands with them every match.

*

In truth, I was convinced that I would leave Baník even before the incident in Katowice.

I just had it planned a completely different way.

This decision was slowly ripening inside of me for a few weeks following our relegation after the season when Baník was a laughing matter for the entire world of Czech football. We had no chance to save ourselves. Under the manager Korytář, we won ridiculous four points in the fall part of the season. The team consisted of players who didn’t have a club before the season started, and we practically knew from the start that there were no leaders and players who would help Baník save itself among them.

Nothing was right in the club at that time.

Under the leadership of the owner Šafarčík, Baník was balancing on the brink of its non-existence. Even Milan Baroš left the outrageously managed organization, preferring to play for Mladá Boleslav or Liberec to playing in that Baník. And with him, other people who grew up at the club, also left. Patrizio Stronati, Honza Baránek, Michal Frydrych or Jirka Pavlenka. All of these talented boys probably saved their careers by saying goodbye to the club in time. I, at twenty, had this career still in front of me.

After the relegation, the managers logically started to speculate what would become of me. I personally could imagine staying for that one season. But the EURO U21 was approaching. In our year, the team was huge. Schick, Matějů, Lüftner, Barák, Jankto, I could go on and on… Me and everyone around me felt that if I wanted to get onto the final nomination list for the tournament in Poland, I had to stay in the first league.

And right at that moment, Liberec called.

I started the summer preparation with Baník, when Jindřich Trpišovský started to call me quite regularly to make me come to Slovan. He made a huge impression on me. At the beginning of each call, he’d ask me how I was, and then started to emphasize how much he was interested in me. I’m not going to lie: he turned my head. He surprised me by how he perceived me as a footballer. He told me that he saw great potential in me, the potential of a game creator. He told me that he would like to move me from the position of a left back to that of a midfielder, and for me - a player who likes to play on the ball and isn’t technically that bad - those words literally caressed my ego. Everything he was saying, I could - and mainly wanted to - picture very vividly.

On top of that, Liberec was going to play the European League, they were letting the young players play, and there is literally no media pressure or pressure from fans in this club. This option was making sense. Knowing that this transfer wouldn’t cause much bad blood among the people from my club, I decided to leave for Liberec.

The problem was my price tag.

The original 3 millions weren’t cutting it. I had a buyout clause of 10 millions, and the new owner of the club, Václav Brabec, didn’t feel the need to sell me, even though we talked about it and Slovan Liberec was increasing their offer day by day.

But it still wasn’t enough.

*

“There’s an offer from Sparta on the table,” Mr. Brabec told me during one meeting.

I started to sweat and sway nervously in the armchair in a hotel lobby. 

The captain is going to Sparta. Traitor. My mind was immediately one huge chaos and - it was also actually a very accurate picture of what would eventually happen. I knew the story of Miroslav Matušovič very well - after the transfer to Sparta, he can’t to this day, years and years later, show up at the stadium in Ostrava.

“But I can’t go to Sparta!”

I was still convinced that if my transfer was to make sense, it had to be to Liberec and nowhere else. This meeting happened in Kroměříž, a few days before the match in Katowice, and right after that, Sparta’s manager Zdeněk Ščasný called me. He was trying to convince me of his interest and the plan for me to replace Ladislav Krejčí on the left back, because he was leaving for Serie A. But when he asked me what I thought about it, I couldn’t answer. I just told him politely that I needed to think about it.

Because I had no idea what to do and how to react. But I knew I had to make the decision soon.

I grabbed my phone and started to call the people I knew and respected, and who did a lot for Baník.

Radek Slončík told me then that he left for Sparta only after he did everything he could have done for Baník.

Hmm. And what have I achieved here? I captained the team that got relegated.

Martin Svědík, who was the first one who gave me the opportunity to play in the first team, told me emphatically that Liberec was definitely the better option.

Thanks, coach, but I know that myself.

I tried even Milan Baroš, and his words actually surprised me. He told me to get the hell out of there, because who knows what would happen to Baník.

Sure, we’ve got a new owner and we’re rotting in the 2nd league. But because of that, I should take Sparta’s offer?

The cherry on top was the talk with the manager Vlastimil Petržela. He told me that he really wished he could build the team for the 2nd league around me, but at the same time, he added something along the lines of: “Some Liberec… That’s a second class club. If you have to leave, go directly to Sparta, don’t even bother with Slovan.”

You can imagine, my mind was a mess.

Any other player at my age anywhere else in this country wouldn’t have to think about this at all. He wouldn’t care how people would look at him. He’d take Sparta for the nice money and he’d be happy to make a step forward in his career. In Brno, Opava, Olomouc, anywhere else I wouldn’t have to hesitate a single minute at twenty years old. But here it’s different, and even my parents felt bad about me going to Sparta.

They are from Ostrava, and they are proud of it. In my family, Sparta has always been the rival.

*

The day after Katowice, right after a sleepless night, the owner of the club called me up to his office.

“I don’t want you to leave. But if you’ve decided that you don’t want to stay in Baník, I’m selling you to Sparta.”

At that moment, I looked even worse in the eyes of the fans.

A day prior, I was explaining to them, sobbing, that I didn’t want to go to Sparta at all. And not even twenty-four hours later I was to sign a new contract for several years, after a transfer both clubs agreed on and that all of the country’s media were talking about. My phone immediately started to vibrate with tons and tons of messages from people who were absolutely furious. Everyone knew what car I was driving and where I lived, and they were promising to pay off a score with me.

We kept the circumstances of the transfer between us with the owner of the club, based on a verbal agreement. Until today, no one knew, except my closest people, and there’s not a lot of them. I’m telling you now with the full authorization of Mr. Brabec, because for a long time now, I’ve felt the need to tell the truth. To stop lying. So that everyone knows how I felt at that time. To help the young players, who could end up in this position in professional sports sooner or later, make the right decision. Because I didn’t make it.

And I’m telling you now to prove to the people that I’ve always cared for Baník, and that I truly regret the transfer to Sparta.

“We’re selling you to Sparta, but not for the buyout clause. No one was ready to pay it. I understand that you don’t want to play here in this atmosphere. But you need to understand that Baník is in huge debt, and I have to sell you to whoever pays more. Sparta outbid Liberec,” the owner told me then. “You’re going to Sparta on one condition that will stay in this room. We will tell the media that Sparta activated the buyout clause. And I will explain to the fans that I couldn’t do anything about the transfer.”

I agreed.

I agreed and put on the crown of thorns for someone who enforced the transfer to Sparta.

I blocked my Facebook profile and in a few minutes, I was on my way to Prague.

*

I knew perfectly well how difficult this situation was for the boss. There was huge anxiety about Baník. The club was falling apart, the previous owners indebted it so much it went into hundreds of millions, and the new one had a nearly impossible mission ahead of him - to gain the most important thing. The trust of the fans. You don’t need to be that smart to understand that if the first thing he would have done after coming to Baník would have been selling the only player who had some value in the club, for big money, to the biggest rival, it wouldn’t have looked good in the eyes of the fans. Because at that time, Baník didn’t know if there was even anyone who could play the 2nd league for them.

I was avoiding the big interviews. I was afraid someone would ask me why I preferred Sparta to Liberec. I didn’t know what to say to keep my word to Mr. Brabec. And when someone eventually did ask, I lied. I lied to everyone. I talked about ambition, European League, and the chance to win the league.

I was spending my evenings reading the comments on the internet, which made me feel even worse. There were people who wrote that if someone gets a good offer, they should take it. There were people who commended me for leaving Baník for Sparta. But those who didn’t were still a big majority.

But things happened fast and the whole train couldn’t be stopped anymore. And so suddenly, I was sitting in the car of Dan Zítka, the goalkeepers’ coach and our family friend, who was taking me up to Letná for the first time. We turned right at McDonald's, drove through the gates of the stadium, and I was starting to realize for the first time that this wouldn’t, couldn’t end well. That I’ve made a big mistake.

For a moment, I started to laugh. Because I remembered the scene from the movie with Miroslav Donutil, in which a football player after a transfer to Sparta walks through the tunnel to the pitch and yells: “Baníííík pičoooo!” to the whole Letná.

But soon enough, I got back to reality.

Because my reality had nothing in common with this light television comedy.

*

I felt strange.

From my first minutes at Sparta, I knew that I wasn’t supposed to be there.

The idea of playing the European League against Inter Milan was amazing for a young player, but to represent a club you feel no connection to, because since you were a child, you were taught to hate it? No… that really couldn’t work.

Already the first interview for the club’s TV was hard. The reporters started to ask me how I felt about putting on the red jersey for the first time, what I thought about Sparta’s fans and if the move to Letná was a dream come true. Luckily, I’m quite good at talking and I think I didn’t do too bad then. Even then, I thought of Miroslav Matušovič. I knew I couldn’t say anything too good about Sparta, like he did then. I didn’t say anything about dreams coming true and great fans.

On the pitch, I was trying hard and I did play some matches for Sparta, but it just wasn’t me. I didn’t feel well in the cabin either, even though I am still friends with some of the players and from time to time, we call each other. At the beginning of the season, I was getting a lot of minutes, but I wasn’t satisfied with my game. I couldn’t have been.

Every time we walked out on the pitch and Sparta’s anthem started to play, I was looking around and I didn’t know what to do. All of my teammates were singing it loudly, but I just couldn’t push the words past my lips. Since the beginning of each match, I lived a lie. I was opening my mouth, so that it would look like I was singing as well. But I never learned the lyrics of the anthem. In my mind, I was singing our own… Baníčku, my jsme s tebou (Baník, we are with you).

A few weeks were enough for football to stop being a joy for me. It became a chore. For that year, football was just a job.

Play well, you’ll get the money. 

Nothing less, nothing more.

It wasn’t like I didn’t want to play for Sparta at all. The European League matches motivated me. I was enjoying playing against Icardi, Van Dijk, there are a lot of memories. And let’s be honest, I was paid really well. But when it came to the league, I couldn’t find the motivation to fight for Sparta the way the others did.

Lafata, Dočkal, Vácha… Before every match, they reeled us up to fight for Sparta. They meant well. But I lived next to them in a complete lie. I was giving the practice my all, I worked hard. I didn’t slack, I would be against myself if I did. But when the weekend came, and the match with it, suddenly I didn’t have that important sixth sense. The sixth sense I call passion.

No one said a word about it to me during that year at Sparta. No one told me I wasn’t giving it my all. But sometimes, the people at the club reprimanded me for not showing any emotion on the pitch. What was wrong with me? I didn’t use to be that way. But that all is connected to that passion. I didn’t show any emotion because I didn’t feel any. I didn’t care for the club the jersey of which I was putting on twice a week.

When I scored my first goal for Sparta in Karviná, I was happy. I was shouting and I ran to the corner flag with my arms spread. But I did it for myself. They weren’t emotions that could influence any of the people around me - my teammates. In the moments I needed them, I didn’t have these emotions. I couldn’t give it my all.

There are matches when nothing goes right. The referee is annoying you, so you yell at them. You’re losing, so you go into a fight with the opponent just a little bit harder. You just do whatever crazy thing to entice the people in the stands or your teammates.

But I couldn’t do any of it in Sparta.

My game obviously slumped.

To make things clear: it’s not like I didn’t care if we lost. I’ve always been competitive, and this hunger for winning and being constantly better than others got me among the small number of those who can have this nice life because of football. Every loss at Sparta hurt me inside. But not enough.

The atmosphere at the club wasn’t good at that time, either. During that one season, the club had three managers. Ščasný started off the season, then Holoubek came, and Rada finished off the season. I couldn’t play more than my average standard under any of them. And that wasn’t enough for Sparta.

I lacked the inner strength to go beyond the line and be even better.

You’ve probably heard about Sparta being a specific club. That not everyone could take the pressure they put on the players. That not everyone can succeed at Sparta. From my own experience, I think there’s more to it. Sparta is a brand that divides people, provokes emotions. You either love it, or you hate it. There’s no middle ground.

And that was the reason why after one year, it was over for me.

*

Just this once. 

Just once I came to Ostrava wearing the opponent’s shirt. I never want to experience that feeling again.

As soon as I ran out on the pitch, it started. Ten thousand people in the stands whistling, cursing at me.

“Holzer, what? You whore!” they would sing every time I touched the ball, to remind me of what I’ve done.

I knew it would happen. For a week before the match, it was all that was on my mind, and I wondered how I would live through it. Whether you want it or not, it gets to you eventually. Whoever says that they don’t care is lying. I don’t believe that there is one single football player who is so immersed in the match that they don’t feel the hatred coming their way from the stands.

I could feel it a lot. And it didn’t feel good at all.

But I really was lucky then. I didn’t have to come to Ostrava wearing Sparta’s red shirt. I returned to Vítkovice’s City Stadium a year later, after Baník came back to 1st league. Thank God already as a player of Zlín.

Before the season, big changes happened at Sparta. The Italian coach Andrea Stramaccioni came to Letná, and he didn’t want me and didn’t take me to a single practice. And even though the EURO U21 was quite a success, it wasn’t enough for a transfer to a foreign club. And so Zlín’s manager Bob Páník, who knew me from Ostrava when I was a kid, called me. I immediately knew that I wanted to take that offer. Zlín was also playing the European League then, and for me, this loan was a lifesaver. In a great team, nice city, surrounded by nice people, I healed a little bit. I also think that I was one of the key players in the team.

It’s a paradox and I still can’t explain it to myself, but in Ostrava, under the weight of the jeering of the fans, I played probably my best match for Zlín. I was good at the left line, I had an assist as well, and Václav Svěrkoš stood up for me that evening. He’s the club’s icon that is quite close to the people from the ultras. “Big respect for the game today. I believe you will soon tell the truth about the transfer. You and your family deserve it.” he wrote on his Instagram profile. The post is still up there today, and I am immensely grateful for it. Because even then, a year later, there were people who couldn’t forgive me for that transfer, and were very keen on letting me know.

I remember that once - when I already played for Zlín - I came back home to Havířov for the weekend. At eight o’clock in the evening, I went to a bar with a friend. It was freezing cold, and across the street, there was a group of fans standing there. They were already a bit drunk. I noticed them, but I tried to ignore them. But not even fifteen minutes later, they burst into the bar, surrounded our table and started to harass me again.

“What are you doing here? Get out of here, you traitor!”

I heard again that I wasn’t welcome in this city anymore.

Again, they asked why I left Baník.

And I still couldn’t tell them the truth.

No one would have believed me anyway.

Luckily, nothing worse than an occasional harassment of this kind hadn’t happened to me. At home, I tried to avoid clubs and bars and public places, and I decided not to go on social media. Because at that time, I already felt the same way as the fans.

If I were them, I would treat that Holzer the same way.

Because I was from here. We all live football this way here.

*

I picked up the phone, called my agent and said: “I want to go back to Baník.”

It was after the loan to Zlín was over, when I came back to Sparta and in the hotel room with the Spanish midfielder Nestor Albiach, we were waiting for the decision about what would become of us. I wanted to take things back into my hands.

I think my agent thought that I was delirious then.

“I’m coming home. I’ve made the decision. Just make it happen somehow.”

My - maybe illogical for a lot of people - decision actually made sense. Václav Svěrkoš sent me a text that there were talks about me in Ostrava. Marek Jankulovski, the sports director of the club, was allegedly asking about me, and I clung to that little piece of information. Suddenly, I didn’t care what people at home would say about it.

I knew Sparta didn’t want me. And I knew that if there ever was a place where I enjoyed football, it was home at Baník, that was already being managed by Bob Páník. Zdeněk Grygera was trying to make me stay at Zlín. But I’ve made the decision already. I was so convinced that I was coming back home that I cut short a phone call with Miroslav Pelta. The “Big Stork” called me at the hotel to make me come to Jablonec, who were putting together a team for the upcoming European League.

“Thank you, Mr. Pelta, but I’m going to Baník.”

I pretty much hung up on him then. My agent was furious. He was yelling at me what the hell was wrong with me, and he had no idea of what we would do if Baník didn’t want me back. But I was adamant. I was refusing offers even before we even got to talk to Baník at all. I just wanted to go to Ostrava and I wasn’t ready to accept anything else.

A few days later, Baník bought me from Sparta.

Mr. Brabec allegedly paid more for me than what he had sold me for.

I joined the team for the last friendly match we played in Markvartovice. A classic village pitch where people watch the match standing at the railing behind the lines with a beer in hand. And all of those people jeering at me were even more irritated by the captain’s band my teammates had put on me so that I would have to pay more into the club’s piggy bank.

But compared to what I had already gone through, it was nothing. I was just thinking about the meeting with the ultras I was supposed to attend before the start of the season. They wanted to set things straight with me. I was scared of that meeting.

It was initiated by Swed, one of the fans and the team’s equipment manager at that time. I was nervous, but he kept assuring me it would be okay.

We were sitting at a restaurant, talking about what was going to happen to me.

I was ready for the people not accepting me back. I was ready for them whistling and maybe even preparing some kind of a presentation in the stands. I knew a lot of them thought I was making fun of them by coming back.

I was surprised with how nice the meeting actually was. It was really a nice talk. I think that with time, they came to understand that I wasn’t a complete idiot, and they appreciated that I never said any nonsense about how I loved Sparta.

They even promised me then that the ultras would stand behind me. That they wouldn’t whistle or curse at me. But they told me that they had no say in how the main stands would react to me. And so the situation was actually quite comical: in the first round against Jablonec, I came on for the last thirty minutes. And while the ultras were standing up applauding me, the rest of the stadium was whistling.

I started to laugh in the middle of the pitch.

Because I was home. Finally back in the place where passion radiates from the stands. And I wanted to show everyone that I cared.

I fully realized it only after the match, watching the replay and listening to people’s reactions. I still remember one moment when I won the ball by a slide, and sprinted down the line towards the opponent’s goal. It was an action during which the stands started to roar. And I felt it. I knew that I was home. And I knew that it would be alright. With time.

I knew the only way to get people back on my side was through my game. That if I played bad, everyone would remind me of Sparta. But if I were good, no one would remember what happened three years ago. And so I worked my ass off.

From the first minutes I was running down the left line like crazy, just to prove to the people in the stands that I was serious. The second match I even scored a goal. I enjoyed the break style of Páník and the teamwork with Jirka Fleišman on our side. We played great football, Baník was in the front positions from the beginning of the season.

I’ll tell you another funny thing. Remember the guys who assaulted me in the cabin at the beginning of everything?

Two of them are now my friends. They are among those who have known this whole story for a while, and have kept it to themselves, just like our club’s owner. They know why I decided to leave Baník then, what the background of my transfer to Sparta was then, and I think that with time, they managed to understand my reasons. After all, it’s them who invite me each year to the Christmas party of the ultras, and I would never refuse this invitation.

I’m always glad to come and have a few beers with the guys. You can think whatever you want about them, but I think they are nice people after all.

Thanks to honesty, we have all things clear between us.

*

People say that I was Baník’s captain and by leaving for Sparta, I only directed my career to Zlín. That I wasted two years. More than once, I’ve heard the question where I could be if I had stayed in Baník. But I never think about it that way. I could as well be asking where I would be, had I forced the move to Liberec.

Why would I torment myself this way?

What happened, happened, there’s no sense in nitpicking the things. Truth is that even though I was the captain at the age of twenty, I definitely didn’t feel like the captain. In the ruined team which had sold everyone with a value, I was the only player from Ostrava with some responsibility and loyalty to the club that remained and could wear the armband. The role was simply left for me. People saw me as the leader, but I was no leader back then.

Today, it’s different. Milan Baroš has retired and there aren’t many players from Ostrava left at Bazaly, maybe only Honza Laštůvka. I would like to see myself in his position, I would like to be the true leader for Baník. And so I tell the younger boys in the cabin from my own experience what it means to play for Baník, and how important it is to truly value that chance.

When someone tells me that the unfortunate transfer held me back, I have my own arguments. I am twenty-five, and I have played nearly 200 league matches. I know what it’s like to train with players like Milan Baroš or Tomáš Rosický. And I know what it’s like to play European League. I know how much work it is to get at this level. And what it takes to stay there.

I could have ended up much, much worse off. Instead, I have a lot of experience I can still draw from.

I’ve never reproached our owner anything. That’s out of question. Everyone here has to be grateful to him for doing with Baník what he did with it. That we once again have the conditions and ambition to play football again, football people will like. That we’ve got the chance to get Baník back on top, where it belongs.

And I am very much aware of what I owe to him. What he did for me. He took an insane amount of his money and brought me home, gave me the chance to come back and play here again. He believed in me. And I want to give back to him.

I can’t quite imagine the situation of leaving Baník again. And still the time of talking about my future is approaching again. My contract runs for two more years. On one hand, I’m looking forward to potential talks. On the other hand, I’m scared of it.

I believe that I still have the best years of my career ahead of me. I believe that during those years, we will bring joy to people in Ostrava together. And that many of us will get great opportunities. I also want more from my career. To move forward. I would be glad if I could play at a level that would allow Baník to sell me to a foreign club. Our owner would deserve it. Because if I am to leave Ostrava ever again, I don’t want it to be in the same way it was the first time. I want to leave with the good feeling of knowing that I have done for Baník, and mainly for its owner, everything that I could.

I want to leave in such a way that I will never again be afraid to come home.

If my story taught me something, it was to trust my gut feeling.

I will never again be afraid to make my own decisions.

I will never again listen to people around me, even though I know that they mean well.

I will never again do anything that I won’t be 100% convinced is right.

Just this once, I did exactly that.

And I’ve paid the price for it.

[allesmulleroderwas]

This week one of my favorite football players and an amazing legend of my home club Baník Ostrava ended his football career.

Let's not forget that he was actually one of the players who led Liverpool to CL victory more than ten years ago!

Thank you, legend!!

Congratulations for your amazing career, Milan Baroš.

[bajapapaja3]

Milan Baroš

[cysnews]

Nedvěd, Čech, Rosický, Poborský či Baroš. Zlatá éra českého fotbalu v novém cyklu České televize

Nedvěd, Čech, Rosický, Poborský či Baroš. Zlatá éra českého fotbalu v novém cyklu České televize

Slavnou generaci české kopané z přelomu století zmapuje nový premiérový cyklus České fotbalové legendy. V jedenácti dílech představí individuální kariéry hráčů na pozadí klíčových turnajů – Euro 1996, 2000 a 2004. Diváci uvidí, jaký osud si „vykopali“ Pavel Nedvěd, Karel Poborský, Jan Koller, Milan Baroš nebo třeba Petr Čech. Každý z dílů se zaměří na jednu z legend, její vstup do velkého světa i…

[mysticdragonkid]

Vagner Love Fifa 13

4312.Welliton-Vagner Love Ronaldinho FIFA 13. 2570 posts Fans' Favourite. February 13, 2017 10:15PM.

FIFA 13 Pack Opening #3 - Vagner Love - Duration: 3 minutes, 33 seconds. 194 views; 7 years ago; 5:58. FIFA 13 Pack Opening #1 -Falcao - Duration: 5 minutes, 58 seconds. 121 views; 7 years ago.

Check out all the new top players for FIFA 18 Ultimate, filter results, and add to squads.

FIFA 14 Infinity Patch (5 New Leagues) Single Link and Part Link

We are proud to present you today the biggest patch we’ve ever released on our website! FIFA Infinity Patch 14 will introduce 5 new leagues in your FIFA 14 game and add tons of other amazing features:

- 5 New Leagues:

Czech Gambrinus Liga -Actual rosters for the 2013/14 season -Real club info and transfer budgets -Realistic player data (years in club, contract lenths loans) -Real kits, flags and banners -Many names readed by the comentators -Chantpacks for 1.FC Slovacko, Banik Ostrava, Sigma Olomouc, Slavia Prague, Slovan Liberec, Viktoria Plzen -Real club rivalries -Real tournament trophies -Hidden EA referees -Realistic generic adboards -Czech cup is in real format +real matchdates and hours

Greek Superleague Ellada: -Actual rosters for the 2013/14 season -Real club info and transfer budgets -Realistic player data (years in club, contract lenths loans) -Real kits -Real club rivalries -Real tournament trophies -Real referees -Official Superleague ball -Realistic generic adboards -Greek Superleague with accurate league schedule (matchdates and hours) -Greek Cup in real format +real matchdates and hours

Japan J-League 1: -Actual rosters for the 2013 season -Real club info and transfer budgets -Realistic player data (years in club, contract lenths loans) -Real kits, flags and banners -Real club rivalries -Real tournament trophies -Real referees -Official J-League ball (adidas Kotohogi) -Realistic generic adboards

Turkish Super Lig: -Actual rosters for the 2013/14 season -Real club info and transfer budgets -Realistic player data (years in club, contract lenths loans) -Many names readed by the comentators -Real kits, flags and banners -New kit numbers for Fenerbahce, Galatasaray + UCL, Besiktas, Bursaspor, Trabzonspor, Eskisehirspor & Gaziantepspor -Real club rivalries -Real tournament trophies -Hidden EA referees -Realistic generic adboards -Official Nike Incyte ball -Super Lig with accurate league schedule (matchdates and match hours) -Turkish Cup in real format +real matchdates and hours

Ukrainian Premier League: -Actual rosters for the 2013/14 season -Real club info and transfer budgets -Realistic player data (years in club, contract lenths loans) -Real kits, flags and banners -New kit numbers for Chornomorets Odesa, Dynamo Kyiv, Dnipro, Arsenal Kyiv & Metalurh Donetsk -Cyrillic Name Font -Many names readed by the comentators -Real club rivalries -Real tournament trophies -Real referees -Chantpacks for Chornomorets, Dnipro, Dynamo Kyiv, Karpaty, Metalurh Zaporizhya, Metalist, Tavriya, Volyn Lutsk, Vorskla -Realistic generic adboards -Ukrainian Cup in real format +real matchdates and hours

New national teams (playable in career mode): -Bosnia & Herzegovina -Croatia -Japan -Serbia -Ukraine

New teams in ROTW: -Pandurii Targu-Jiu(ROU) -Steaua Bucuresti (ROU) -BATE Borisov (BLR) -GKS Katowice (POL)

- Updated rosters in all of the original leagues to mid december - New Free Agents: Nenê, Quaresma, Miccoli, Vagner Love, Lisandro Lopez, Nilmar, Raúl, Misimovic, Rivaldo, Nelson Valdez, Elkeson, Kanoute, Miku, Vittek & Vukcevic - Real tournament names and team names (for originally non-licenced ones) [ENG only]- UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League licensed with realistic adboards, balls,referee kits, stadium boards,etc - Licensed referee kits for EPL, Liga BBVA, Serie A, UCL, Brasileiro Série A and Friendlies (Referee kits also available for lower leagues and domain cups) - Over 700 new boots with specific assignments for over 9000 players - Serie B fully licensed (Logos, Kits, Ball,etc) - All national teams licensed - New 13/14 Kits for Germany, Spain, France, Brazil, Colombia, Denmark, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Scotland, Sweden + Adidas 14 Kit Numbers - Alternative & Third kits for Crystal Palace, Lokomotiv Moskva, Vasco da Gama, Olymprique Marseille, CSKA Moskva, Borussia Dortmund, Austria Wien, Coritiba, Flamengo & Palmeiras - Updated kits for India, Egypt, Udinese, AS Roma & Torino - Stadium updates for Santiago Bernabeu and Old Trafford - New gloves - New scarfs for Liga BBVA - Realistic generic adboards for Brasileiro Série A & Friendlies - Updated Nike Incyte Ball Pack + HI-Vis (With RM14 assignments) - European kit numbers for Arsenal, Chelsea & Manchester United - New kit numbers for Brazil, Steaua, Ajax, Athletic Bilbao, Bayern Munich, Celta Vigo, Elche CF, Napoli, Reak Sociedad, AS Roma, Schalke 04, UD Almeria, Werder Bremen, Amkar Perm, Anzhi, FC Krasnodar, Krylia Sovetov, FC Rostov, Kuban Krasnodar, Lokomotiv Moskva, Spartak Moskva, Terek Grozny & Zenit - Cyrillic Name Font for Russian and Ukrainian Leagues (Latin Name Font in European Cups) - EPL Name Font Updated with new charachters like é, c, C, ü, á, Ö etc - New HD Pitch - New Kit Shadows - Many new missing minifaces for over 20 leagues - Real season schedules for the next 13 leagues: Austria tipp3-Bundesliga Belgium Jupiler Pro League Brazil Campeonato Brasileiro Denmark Superliga England League Championship Germany 2. Bundesliga Holland Eredivisie Italy Serie B Poland T-Mobile Ekstraklasa Portugal Liga ZON SAGRES Russia Premier League Scottish Premiership Switzerland Super League

- New 17 hidden faces: Nakamura Shunsuke Trémoulinas Benoît Hleb Aliaksandr Emre Belözoglu Malouda Florent José Bosingwa Baroš Milan Ferdinand Anton Frey Sebastien Taiwo Taye Cicinho Babel Ryan Quaresma Lisandro Lopez Raúl Nelson Valdez Kanoute

Available language versions: ENG, GER, ITA, PL, CZ, RUS.

NOTES

The new leagues can be seen ONLY in OFFLINE mode! The patch is online compatible and won’t affect your online modes! The patch is NOT COMPATIBLE with mods that uses database files!

If you want to play Career Mode with the new leagues simply go offline with Origin. If you want to play online, go to Origin and switch to online mode. You career will remain safe as long you don’t use the Career Mode while online.

A-League, Ligue 2, Irish League, Swedish Allsvenskan & Norwegian Tippeligaen are replaced by the new leagues in Career Mode. However you can still transfer and scout players from those league!

Irish League, Swedish Allsvenskan & Norwegian Tippeligaen are unplayable in Tournament Mode!

New Zealand, Wales, Northern Ireland,Finland and Norway have been replaced by the new national teams.

While playing Ultimate Team or Seasons, Shakthar and Galatasaray will use Steaua and Bate Borisov kits and logos.

DOWNLOAD LINK:

ADRIVE : CLICK HERE

MEGA : CLICK HERE

CHATS FROM MEDIAFIRE : CLICK HERE

ZYPPYSHARE:

PART 2: CLICK HERE

HOW TO INSTALL: CLICK HERE

Wagner Love Fifa 13 Download

Our weekly FIFA 13 news roundup is here!

The 3rd TOTS got released and features the best Barclay’s Premier League players of 12/13 season:

FIRST XI GK: Petr Cech, Chelsea – 84>89 RB: Pablo Zabaleta, Manchester City – 79>85 CB: Jan Vertonghen, Tottenham Hotspur – 81 (83)>87 CB: Rio Ferdinand, Manchester United – 83 (84)>88 LB: Leighton Baines, Everton – 80 (81)>86 CDM: Michael Carrick, Manchester United – 81 (82)>86 RM: Eden Hazard, Chelsea – 87 (88)>91 LM: Gareth Bale, Tottenham Hotspur – 85 (88)>93 CAM: Juan Mata, Chelsea – 86 (87)>90 ST: Luis Suarez, Liverpool – 86 (88)>91 ST: Robin van Persie, Manchester United – 88 (89)>93

SUBS GK: Asmir Begovic, Stoke City – 76 (78)>82 CB: Ashley Williams, Swansea City – 76>82 CDM: Steven Gerrard, Liverpool – 84 (85)>89 CAM: Marouane Fellaini, Everton – 81 (83)>86 CAM: Santi Cazorla, Arsenal – 84 (86)>89 CF: Michu, Swansea City – 77 (80)>84 ST: Christian Benteke, Aston Villa – 72 (76)>81 You can get these TOTS players in packs from 6PM BST on 15th May – 22nd May. View this team in-game in the Web App or more detailed at FUTHead!

The normal TOTW 35 is also out featuring the next IN-Form players:

FIRST XI GK: Samir Handanovič, Inter – 83>85 CB: Arribas, CA Osasuna – 75>77 LB: Andrés Guardado, Valencia CF – 82>84 CB: Charlie Mulgrew, Celtic – 75>77 LM: André Ayew, Olympique de Marseille – 81>82 CAM: Vágner Love, CSKA Moskva – 82>83 RM: Kevin Mirallas, Everton – 78>80 CDM: Frank Lampard, Chelsea – 83>85 ST: Jérémy Ménez, Paris Saint-Germain – 81>82 ST: Branimir Hrgota, Borussia M’gladbach – 66>72 ST: Daniel Sturridge, Liverpool – 80>81

SUBS GK: Jelle ten Rouwelaar, NAC Breda – 71>74 RB: Davy De Fauw, SV Zulte-Waregem – 70>73 RM: Robert Snodgrass, Norwich City – 74>77 CDM: Remi Johansen, Tromsø IL – 63>64 RM: Saber Khelifa, Évian Thonon Gaillard FC – 68>73 RW: Russell Teibert, Vancouver Whitecaps – 61>64 ST: Mustapha Yatabaré, En Avant Guingamp – 61>67 These IN-forms will be available in packs from 6PM BST on 15th May – 22nd May. View this team in-game in the Web App or more detailed at FUTHead!

More MOTM (Man Of The Match) cards got released last week featuring players like Jo,McManama or Ivanovic:

Another ProPlayer card has been bought in the FUT Auction House last Sunday! This time the personal FUT13 card of Gareth Bale ended up on the FUT market and got bought for a price of 4,6 million coins! For a more detailed story of this card please go here.

And finally here are the best FIFA 13 related articles and guides of the week:

– The Backpage FIFA 13 Tips | End Your Losing Streak (EA)

Wagner Love Fifa 13 Demo

– Time Method on FIFA 13 Ultimate Team (FIFAUTeam)

– Hours Method on FIFA 13 Ultimate Team (FIFAUTeam)

Wagner Love Fifa 13 Repack

– How To Add Custom Audio To FIFA And Where To Get It From! (UltimateFIFA)

– 5 Star Skill Players in FIFA 13 (FGN)

[wolfking6828-blog]

Dukla Praha - Baník Ostrava

Dukla will welcome Baník Ostrava, who will need to score a full score for Friday. Both teams did not win in the last round and will be more thirsty for success.

Home soccer players in the 6th round broke a good series without defeat when they lost a hopefully played match in Jihlava. She did two minutes before the end, leading to a 2: 3 loss. Fans expect a home run, though Baník will not be an easy bite.

Baník did not win the first round, and won three points for three unmatched results in the following games. The last to win at home with Jablonec, despite losing two goals. Banik could have a good result with some luck, but the final 2: 2 is probably fair.

In any case, Baník has not won five rounds in a row, and he would like to interrupt this series at Julisce, where he has never won in modern history. "I have the quality and strength on the home court for a long time, it's just a fact, and I think that in relation to all the rivals, not just to Baník, even this season it proves that when both home games against Bohemia and Zlín have managed. the tactical concept of the game and the combination is unpleasant, "said Radim Kučera.

There are two large losses reported on each side. Hanousek does not help home, which is also complemented by Koreus. Both are injuries. Banik may be missing out on Milan Baroš. "This week, we were playing on Friday, short, so we're still calculating with all the variants, but I'd like it if Bars were healthy and could play, even if there's a training breakdown, so far it's open," said Radim Kučera.

[agentlemanswords-blog]

Do Bazaly prichádza silný Jablonec. Baník sa snaží brániť štvrté miesto

15. kolo sa hrá v sobotu o 20.15 hod. v Bazale v Ostrave. "Možno to bude lepšie ako naše predchádzajúce domáce zápasy s Jihlavou a Hradcom Králové," dúfa stredopoliar Nitra Daniel Holzer. "Oba tímy prišli brániť, ale pre nás je lepšie, keď súper chce hrať futbal." To potvrdzuje ostravský tréner Martin Svědík: "Z hľadiska našej hry by nám mal Jablonec sedieť viac ako tímy, ktoré hlavne bránia. Ale vieme, že Plzeň, Sparta a Jablonec sú kvalitou kádra aj bodovo inde než ďalšie ligové celky. "

Kouč zdôraznil, že Jablonec už osem zápasov neprehral. Okrem toho ho Baník v lome osemkrát za sebou neporazil, alebo ešte viac, v predchádzajúcich štyroch góloch nezískal gól.Ako teda na neho?

"Musíme zopakovať výkony z prvého polčasu s Boleslavou a so Spartou, k tomu sa musíme vrátiť," podotkol Svědík.

"Jablonec je o poschodie vyššie, ale skúsime sa k nemu priblížiť, "povedal Holzer, vedomý si deväťbodového rozdielu medzi tretím Jabloncom a štvrtým Baníkom.

" Súpera charakterizuje dobrá kombinačná hra, rýchle kraja a útočné obrancovia. Sú silné na balóne, "dodal Holzer.

" Nielen to.Sú tam futbalisti, ktorí patrili k najlepším v iných oddieloch, či už Pospíšil a Doležal v Košiciach, výborný je aj Kopic a Romera z Dukly, "povedal Martin Svědík. "Majú veľmi vyvážený a kvalitný káder, veď pravidelne nehrá ani skúsený Loučka."

Podľa trénera má súper Baníka silný prechod do útoku a štandardnej situácie. "Vzadu sú ale zraniteľní, Liberec mal s nimi v minulom kole tri vyložené šance," upozornil Svědík.

Ťažko povedať, či je to pre Baník, ktorý má mizernú koncovku, dobrá správa.

"Každý zápas je iný," povedal Svědík. "Vieme, že máme problém s koncom. Nedávame sa tu naposledy v Budějoviciach, kde to nebolo zlé.Ani z tých najväčších šancí nie sme schopní skórovať, ale v tréningu sa tomu maximálne venujeme. Nemáme toľko gólových hráčov, ktorí by sa vedeli dobre orientovať pri zakončovanie. "Baroš v základe nebude A Baníka opäť zrejme nepomôže vyhlásený kanonier Milan Baroš, hoci v tomto týždni po svalovom zranení začal znova trénovať.

" Od začiatku určite hrať nebude, to by sme mu skôr ublížili, "povedal Martin Svědík. Lenže nevylúčil, že na päť desať minút do zápasu zasiahne. "Bude záležať na vývoji zápasu.Milan sa tento týždeň začal ustupovať s týmto tímom, takže stále nemôžem povedať, či je zápas dobre pripravený. "Baros bude mať doteraz šesť školení. "Už sa predtým pripravoval, ale ani sme nevedeli, či bude hrať. Uvidíme, ako sa bude cítiť. "Svědek pripustil, že tréning manko má poznať Baroša v príprave. "Je to trochu lopta, rýchlosť, živosť, dynamika, ale stále si musíme uvedomiť, že sa po dlhej prestávke vráti na ihrisko.A aj to spôsobilo tie jeho terajší kŕče v lýtkach. "

Mimo hru je okrem dlhodobo zraneného Tomáša Vengřinka aj stredopoliar Marek Šichor. "Je po operácii kolena, po artroskopii," podotkol kouč.

Kto pôjde na hrot?

Najmenej jednu zmenu v zostave si vynúti absencia útočníka Francisa Narha, ktorý nesmie hrať kvôli štyrom žltým karty.

Bude to tip Jakub Sashinka, alebo skúsenejší David Petrus? Ten tréner Svědík to nepovedal. "Stále to mám pre seba, ale súprava je kresba, nemáme toľko možností." Na konci jesene sa Baník chystá na štvrté miesto. Jablonec má šancu dostať sa na front.

"Ostravu zvyčajne chýba veľa gólov a často má jeden gól na výhru.Zvlášť doma je veľmi silná a nebezpečná, má veľkú podporu fanúšikov, ale my tam ideme vyhrať, "vyhlásil jablonecký stredopoliar Martin Pospíšil pre iDNES.cz.

[fanapparelsouvenirs]

Milan Baroš Czech Slovan Liberec Jersey #15 Men's Soccer Jersey Size XL BUY IT NOW – Milan Baroš Czech Slovan Liberec Jersey #15 Men's Soccer Jersey Size XL

[walkonwalkonwithhopeinyourheart]

Farewell song dedicated to ex-Liverpool UCL winner Milan Baroš, who retired this year in age of 38, made by the most famous Czech group Kryštof. via /r/LiverpoolFC

Farewell song dedicated to ex-Liverpool UCL winner Milan Baroš, who retired this year in age of 38, made by the most famous Czech group Kryštof. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbr4MkT80W4 Submitted September 06, 2020 at 12:14PM by frunkplz via reddit https://ift.tt/2F1HzJK

[diegoalvesisgod]

Milan Baros / Pavel Nedved / Jaroslav Plasil ?

Woah there. Tricky stuff.

Marry: Milan Baroš, obviously Fuck: Jaroslav Plašil, because I can’t kill him Kill: Pavel Nedvěd... he played for Sparta, I could do that

[whytheracecardisplayed]

10 Most Racist European Soccer Countries:

#8. Olympique Lyonnais. (French football club based in Lyon). On 18 April 2007, Lyon player Milan Baroš was accused of racially abusing Rennes' Stéphane Mbia by implying that Mbia smelt. On 4 May 2007, Baroš was found guilty of the gesture, but found not guilty of racism, and was banned for three league matches.

 #9. Croatian First Football League. Henri Belle moved to Croatia at the beginning of 2011, signing with Istra 1961. He drew attention to himself both by good games and through receiving racist taunts from some supporters.

In April 2018 Dinamo Zagreb were punished for the racist actions of their fans. 

 #10 Serbian SuperLiga. Serbia's soccer team punished by UEFA after fans' racist behavior. Serbia's national soccer team has been ordered to play its next home game behind closed doors after UEFA decided to punish the "racist behavior" of its supporters.

European football's governing body had been investigating what happened in Belgrade's Stadion Rajko Mitić during Serbia's 4-2 defeat by Portugal in September and announced its decision Monday.

UEFA ruled that Serbia must play two of its next home games without supporters, with the second game was suspended for a one-year probationary period.

[fotbalovazona-blog]

👑 Milan Baroš 🖤 Poslední mohykán. Z hráčů zlaté generace našeho národa bude právě on tím, kdo uzavře tuto světlou kapitolu našich sportovních dějin.⌛️ V tomto kole vystřílel nádherným hattrickem výhru svého Baníku. Bývalý hráč Liverpoolu, nebo třeba Lyonu jeden gól vstřelil úžasnými nůžkami zachycenými na tomto snímku. ✂️ Milan je hrající legendou a dle našeho soudu by si zasloužil to největší uznání a respekt! @milanbarosofficial 🎩🎩🎩 (v místě Vítkovice, Moravskolezský Kraj, Czech Republic)

[epiderma-blog]

‚Mám ho rád, nebudeme brečet do novin.‘ Milan Baroš sváděl ostré souboje s bývalým spoluhráčem

‚Mám ho rád, nebudeme brečet do novin.‘ Milan Baroš sváděl ostré souboje s bývalým spoluhráčem

Bojovný zápas s minimem šancí a jen jediný gól. To byla pondělní dohrávka 1. kola fotbalové ligy mezi Baníkem Ostrava a Jabloncem. Domácí se radovali z výhry 1:0 po vlastním gólu jabloneckého obránce Tomáše Holeše, na kterém měl velký podíl ostravský kapitán Milan Baroš.

[honziknacestach]

Liverpool 2018 - splněný sen na Anfield Road

Na začátku března 2018 jsem si splnil svůj největší sen - vidět Liverpool naživo přímo na Anfieldu. To se mi podařilo přesně 3.3.2018 v domácím zápase proti Newcastlu United, který navíc vedl Rafael Benítez.

Je 1.3. ráno a já se probouzím po koncertě někde v Praze, u kámoše v bytě, který mi poskytl azyl, jelikož domů a zpět do Prahy na letiště bych to nestíhal. Dám sprchu a pomalu vyrážím směr Veleslavín, kde už čekal Pavel (ano, ten který byl s námi i na Audi Cupu) a jeli jsme směr letiště. Byl jsem trošku udiven, protože do té doby jsem letiště viděl maximálně na obrázku (tedy to pražské) nebo z autobusu v Drážďanech či v Berlíně, takže když jsem kupoval letenky, musel jsem si prostě připlatit za výběr místa. Samotný let byl na pohodu, nevím co mají někteří lidé za problém s prvním letem, já si to užil. Z mrazivé Prahy jsme se najednou ocitli v sychravém Liverpoolu, kde pršelo a vítr byl tak silný, že by nás byl schopen odfouknout vedle do Manchesteru. Oproti Praze je liverpoolské letiště hodně skromné avšak není druhého sledu a letů je zde docela dost. Z letiště jsme v shuttle busu potkali první fanoušky z Čech co také jeli na zápas. Po příjezdu do města jsme se chvíli prošli po centru, nakoupili si nějaké jídlo na večer, jelikož jsme byli ubytováni přes Airbnb v klidné části West Derby, typicky anglické čtvrti, kde hostitelé nechávají hostům volnost za určitých pravidel. Když jsme přijeli k domu, svítilo se v něm, avšak nikdo v něm nebyl a nám dalo zabrat, než jsme v chodbičce před vchodovými dveřmi našli klíč, který nás pustí dovnitř. Uvnitř nás podle očekávání uchvátil typicky anglický dům. V horním patře byl náš pokoj, kde jsme se uvelebili a šli si udělat do kuchyně večeři. Nakoupili jsme si spoustu vajec, a tak bylo jasné co budeme jíst. Po nějaké chvíli přišli hostitelé, seznámili jsme se a jelikož jsme byli po náročném dni docela unavení, šli jsme nahoru do pokoje a spát.

Druhý den jsme po snídani (zbyla nám vejce a toasty, takže to bylo opět jasné) vyrazili nejprve směr Anfield Road na prohlídku stadionu. MHD zde v intervalech 10 minut, takže jsme moc čekat nemuseli. Navíc, od Anfieldu jsme nebyli příliš daleko, a tak jsme nemuseli jet půl hodiny do centra a zase zpět, ale po cestě jsme vystoupili a zbytek došli. Jakmile jsme došli ke stadionu, nějací dva týpci se nás zeptali, zda je nevyfotíme u sochy Billa Shanklyho, když jsem se tak zadíval na displej telefonu, viděl jsem nápisy v češtině, takže angličtina byla od samého začátku zbytečná. Zajímavá náhodička, avšak ne tolik. Na každý domácí zápas Liverpoolu spousta fanoušků z Čech a Slovenska všemožnými způsoby. Pak jsme šli na prohlídku stadionu. Hned u kasy se nás ptali odkud jsme. Když jsme řekli, že z české republiky, paní v pokročilejším věku, do které byste neřekli, že s fotbalem může mít něco společného, začala solit jména Milan Baroš, Patrik Berger, Vladimír Šmicer. Ano, čeští fotbalisté, kteří v minulosti oblékali dres Liverpool FC. K prohlídce jsme dostali takové interaktivní věcičky s displejem a šlo se na věc. Spolu s námi ve skupině byli fanoušci opravdu z celého světa. Nizozemsko, Dánsko, ale i Čína a Austrálie. Průvodce od začátku prohlídky byl naprostý profesionál co věděl o Liverpoolu snad vše, bez problémů zodpověděl všechny dotaz a hlavně nebyla nuda a nebál se střílet s vtípky jak do rivalů klubu, tak i do vlastních řad. Za celou hodinu jsme si prohlídly útroby stadionu, dostali se úplně do horních řad Main Stand s výhledem na celý stadion, tak i přímo k trávníku, k lavičce domácích a mohli i sedět na místě, kde obvykle sedává Jürgen Klopp. Jediné místo, kam jsme se nedostali byla, vzhledem k nadcházejícímu utkání, šatna domácích. Po prohlídce stadionu jsme měli díky tomu ještě vstup do muzea klubu zdarma. Dalších několik desítek minut strávených s historii i přítomností tohoto klubu. Zážitek na celý život a za 20 liber ta prohlídka opravdu stojí za to.

Od stadionu jsme se prošli skrz obrovský Stanley Park na jeho druhou stranu do čtvrti Everton, konkrétně přímo ke Goodison Parku, stadionu modré části Liverpoolu. Odtamtud jeli autobusem opět do centra, které jsme si prošli již podrobněji a během toho jsme si zašli na Fish & Chips (co jiného taky v Anglii). Z centra jsme pomalu mířili k moři do doků. Tam jsme potkali nějaké 4 týpky co nám byli povědomí. Ano, The Beatles. Po procházce v Albert Docks už na nás opět padala únava, a tak jsme ještě rychle zaběhli na poštu, poslat pohledy a jeli do našeho dočasného domova. Majitelé se za celý večer neukázali.

Třetí den = 3.3. = matchday. Dopoledne jsme šli navštívit muzeum The Beatles nacházející se právě v Albert Docks. Další věc, která stojí za to v Liverpoolu navštívit, když už tam jste. Vše ale směřovalo na odpoledne a zápas Liverpoolu s Newcastlem. To bylo už od samého rána vidět po celém městě. K Anfieldu jsme vyrazili o něco dřív, nasát předzápasovou atmosféru. Všude stánky ať už s oficiálními nebo neoficiálními suvenýry. My se rozhodli navštívit hospůdku The Albert. Ta se nachází přímo před stadionem. Nelze přehlédnout, jelikož je to jediný baráček takhle blízko stadionu. Uvnitř narváno k prasknutí, že jsme měli místo sotva na stání a držení piva. Lidé se zde bavili, na obrazovkách běžely sestřihy z předchozích sezón a s Pavlem jsme akorát na ty staré časy vzpomínali jak jsme doma sledovali streamy zápasů a vybavovali si spoustu situací, které jsme viděli. Pak už jsme pomalu šli na svá místa. Osmá řada, dole v rohu. Bylo vidět krásně na celé hřiště a i blízko hráčů. Atmosféra skvělá, trochu zima, ale nás zahřála výhra 2:0, trefili se Mo Salah na naší straně a ve druhém poločase na té druhé Sadio Mané. Po zápase jsme nabití atmosférou, dojmů, zážitků, energií z výhry šli ještě utratit nějaké libry do fanshopu a pak už zpět na ubytování. Majitele jsme opět neviděli.

Poslední den jsme už nikam nespěchali, a tak jsme balili pomalu. Náš dočasný domov jsme opouštěli s tím, že jsme naše hostitele viděli pouze první večer asi tak na 5 minut, takže jsme vlastně byli páni domova my. Než jsme jeli na letiště, utratil jsem ještě v fanshopu další libry a pak už směr letiště. Sedli jsme na nějaký spoj, který jel snad přes půl Anglie a stavěl všude. Za poslední libry jsme na letišti koupili ještě sendviče v Subway, které je kromě kiosku a kavárny snad to jediné co tam je (podle mě to možná i stačí) a už se šli “nalodit” do letadla. Klidně bych v Liverpoolu zůstal déle, ale myslím že ty 4 dny byly naprosto skvěle užité a těším se až znovu pojedu na Anfield, protože to rozhodně nebylo naposledy.