Bořek Dočkal (born 30 September 1988) is a Czech former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and captained

Sparta Prague ) but refer to Spartans as "''Rudí''" ( en, The Dark Reds/The Maroons).'' Letenští'' , ground = Generali Česká pojišťovna Arena , capacity = 19,416 , clubname = Sparta Prague , image = Sparta Praha logo.png , image_size = 160px , fu ...

. He has previously spent time with Turkish side

Konyaspor Konyaspor Kulübü (, Konya Sports Club) is a Turkish professional football club based in Konya. They are better known as Konyaspor. In 1922 Konyaspor were founded with the name Konya Gençlerbirliği and have played at their current home stadium ...

and Norwegian side Rosenborg. Dočkal represented the Czech Republic at youth international level, and was the captain of the under-21 team, and has later become captain of his nation at senior level.

Club career

Early career

Dočkal began his football career in

Poděbrady Poděbrady (; german: Podiebrad) is a spa town in Nymburk District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 14,000 inhabitants. It lies on the river Elbe. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an u ...

. The

moved to Slavie Prague at the age of 10. Dočkal went through all the youth teams of Slavia and made his debut on the first team against

SK Kladno Sportovní klub Kladno, commonly known as SK Kladno or Kladno, is a association football, football club from Kladno, Czech Republic. It was founded on February 15, 1903. The team plays at the Stadion Františka Kloze, named after legendary player ...

. He scored his first goal for Slavia in his third match against

FK Teplice FK Teplice is a Czech football club based in the city of Teplice. The club currently plays in the Czech First League. The club was founded after World War II in 1945. The club advanced to the Czechoslovak First League in just three years after ...

. Dočkal was sent on a loan to

Czech First League The Czech First League, known as the Fortuna liga for sponsorship reasons, is a Czech professional league for football clubs. At the top of the Czech football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Seasons typically r ...

side

Slovan Liberec FC Slovan Liberec (), commonly referred to as Slovan Liberec or simply Slovan, is a Czech football club based in the city of Liberec. The club is one of the most successful in the Czech Republic, having won three league titles and the domesti ...

in winter 2008, where he signed a contract several months later. Dočkal went on a one-year loan to

Turkish Super League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

side

in July 2010.

Rosenborg

In August 2011 Dočkal signed a long-term contract with Norwegian side Rosenborg. He contributed with one assist in his first game, where Rosenborg won 3–1 over rivals

Molde Molde () is a town and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Peninsula, surrounding the Fannefjord and Moldefjord. The administrative centre of the m ...

. During the UEFA Europa League 2012–13, he scored 7 goals in 12 matches (6 goals in 7 games over the course of the preliminary stages), including a dramatic

last-minute goal The term "last-minute goal" is used in sport, primarily association football, to describe a goal scored very late in a game, usually one that affects the outcome of the game. The definition of a "last-minute goal" commonly used is one scored either ...

against Kazakh club

FC Ordabasy FC Ordabasy ( kk, Ордабасы футбол клубы) is a professional football club from Kazakhstan based at the K. Munaitpasov Stadium in Shymkent. Ordabasy was formed in 1949, following the merger of two existing Kazakhstan Premier Le ...

on 26 July 2012, to propel 9-man Rosenborg to a 4–3 aggregate win. After two years with Rosenborg, during which he scored 14 goals in 55 league-matches, Dočkal returned to the Czech Republic in August 2013 signing a three-year contract with

Henan Jianye

In February 2017, Dočkal secured a transfer from Sparta Prague to

Henan Jianye Henan Songshan Longmen Football Club (), previously known as Henan Jianye Football Club (), is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team ...

competing in the

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

. The transfer was reported in the range of €8.5 million, among the highest recorded for the Czech top division. Dočkal made 23 starts and scored four goals during the 2017 season.

Loan to Philadelphia Union

In February 2018, Dočkal signed a loan move with the

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 201 ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

as the team's third

designated player The Designated Player Rule, nicknamed the Beckham Rule, allows Major League Soccer franchises to sign up to three players that would be considered outside their salary cap (either by offering the player higher wages or by paying a transfer fee ...

. After a few matches with his new team, Dočkal's first goal was a game-winner for the Union against

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

. Dočkal proved to be successful in Philadelphia, earning the Union's most valuable player for the season and setting the record for most assists for a season, and lead

in assists for the 2018 season.

Return to Sparta

In February 2019, he returned again to

International career

Dočkal was the captain and one of the key players in the Czech U-21 team. He represented the team at the

2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *'' ...

. Dočkal is the current captain of the

Czech Republic national football team The Czech Republic national football team ( cs, Česká fotbalová reprezentace), recognised by FIFA as Czechia, represents the Czech Republic in international football. The team is controlled by the Football Association of the Czech Republic ...

. After the unsuccessful qualification for World Cup 2018, Dočkal was nominated by the present coach Jaroslav Šilhavý to the squad for the newly established League of Nations. Dockal became a captain and made two assists in the match against Slovakia.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

:''Scores and results list Czech Republic's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Dočkal goal''.

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dockal, Borek 1988 births Living people People from Městec Králové Czech footballers Czech Republic men's youth international footballers Czech Republic men's under-21 international footballers Czech Republic men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders SK Slavia Prague players SK Kladno players FC Slovan Liberec players Konyaspor footballers Rosenborg BK players AC Sparta Prague players Henan F.C. players Philadelphia Union players Czech First League players Süper Lig players Eliteserien players Chinese Super League players Major League Soccer players Czech expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Norway Expatriate footballers in China UEFA Euro 2016 players Czech expatriate sportspeople in China Czech expatriate sportspeople in Norway Czech expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Designated Players (MLS) Czech expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Sportspeople from the Central Bohemian Region