Jan Koller (; born 30 March 1973) 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 ...
who played as a
striker. He was noted for his height, strong physique, and heading ability.
He began his career at
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 ...
, then moved to Belgium, where he became the
Belgian First Division
The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 te ...
top scorer with
Lokeren. He won the league championship twice with
Anderlecht and the
Belgian Golden Shoe In association football, the Belgian Golden Shoe ( nl, Gouden Schoen, french: Soulier d'Or) is an award given in Belgium at the beginning of each civil year to the best footballer of the Belgian First Division A for the past year. The trophy is spon ...
. In 2001, he joined
Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional fo ...
, where he won the
Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...
title in his first season and scored 73 goals in 167 official games over five campaigns. He moved frequently in his later career, with stops in France, Germany and Russia.
Koller is the
all-time top scorer for the
Czech Republic national team, with 55 goals in 91 appearances in a decade-long career starting in 1999. He represented the nation at three
UEFA European Championship
The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...
s and the
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...
.
Club career
Early career
Koller started his football training as a
goalkeeper
In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...
,
but was converted to
striker by the time he started his professional career with Czech club
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 made his début for Sparta in the spring of 1995 in a match against
Benešov
Benešov (; german: Beneschau; also known as Benešov u Prahy) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 16,000 inhabitants. The town is known for the Konopiště Castle.
Administrative parts
Villages of Baba, ...
, coming on as a substitute with 20 minutes of the game remaining. In 1996, Koller caught the eye of Belgian football and signed with the club
Lokeren for a fee equivalent to €102,000.
[
]
Anderlecht
After a successful three-year stint, in which he managed to finish as Belgian First Division
The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 te ...
top-scorer in his last season at Lokeren, Koller was signed by Belgian club Anderlecht. He quickly built up a successful partnership with Canadian striker Tomasz Radzinski
Tomasz Radzinski (born 14 December 1973) is a former professional soccer player who played as a striker and winger. He featured for clubs including North York Rockets in Canada, Germinal Ekeren, Anderlecht (where he won the national champions ...
, excelling in his debut season and earning him the Belgian Golden Shoe In association football, the Belgian Golden Shoe ( nl, Gouden Schoen, french: Soulier d'Or) is an award given in Belgium at the beginning of each civil year to the best footballer of the Belgian First Division A for the past year. The trophy is spon ...
in 2000. At the end of the season, he was bought by German side Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional fo ...
after turning down English side Fulham.
Borussia Dortmund
While Koller was at Dortmund, the club won the 2001–02 Bundesliga
The 2001–02 Bundesliga the 39th season of the Bundesliga. It began on 28 July 2001 and concluded on 4 May 2002.
Teams
Eighteen teams competed in the league – the top fifteen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted fr ...
, thanks in part to Koller's 11 league goals. Besides the Bundesliga title his biggest success whilst at Dortmund was helping them to the 2002 UEFA Cup Final, where his goal could not prevent them losing 3–2 to Feyenoord.
His training as a goalkeeper saw some use in the 2002–03 season. In a Bundesliga match against Bayern Munich, Dortmund's goalkeeper Jens Lehmann
Jens Gerhard Lehmann (; born 10 November 1969) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He was a member of Arsenal's " Invincibles", playing every match of their unbeaten title-winning season. He holds the UEFA Ch ...
was sent off in the second half for a second yellow card, and Dortmund had already used their three substitutions. Koller, who had already opened the scoring in the 8th minute, moved from striker to goalkeeper after 67 minutes of the match. He prevented any more goals for the rest of the match, despite Dortmund having been reduced to nine players due to the earlier expulsion of Torsten Frings
Torsten Klaus Frings (born 22 November 1976) is a German former footballer and manager, who last managed SV Meppen.
A former midfielder, throughout his career he played for several German clubs, namely Alemannia Aachen, Werder Bremen, Borussia D ...
. Koller was named by ''kicker
Kicker or The Kicker may refer to:
Sports
* Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football
* ''Kicker'' (sports magazine), in Germany
* Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player
* Kicker, the word used i ...
'' as the Bundesliga's top goalkeeper of the week for his performance.
Monaco and Nürnberg
In a surprising move, Koller signed with French side AS Monaco
Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Frenc ...
in 2006 but a two-season disappointing campaign, despite a decent scoring record, forced him to move back to Germany to play with Nürnberg. Unfortunately for Koller, who wasn't the only Czech in the team as he was partnered with Tomáš Galásek
Tomáš Galásek (; born 15 January 1973) is a Czech former football player and current manager. He was a holding midfielder who was also strong as a centre-back.
Club career
Galásek started his career with Banik Ostrava in 1991, before mo ...
and Jaromír Blazek, the Nürnberg-based club had performed poorly throughout the season and were relegated to 2. Bundesliga
The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...
at the end of the 2007–08 season.
Later career
On 23 June 2008, Koller was transferred to Russian club Krylia Sovetov Samara in a deal worth €1 million. On 5 December 2009, Koller returned to France, joining Championnat National
The Championnat de France National ( en, French National Championship), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, serves as the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, ...
team AS Cannes
Association Sportive de Cannes Football (; commonly referred to as AS Cannes or simply Cannes) is a French association football club based in Cannes. The club was formed 1902 as a sports club and currently plays in the Championnat National 3, t ...
, with a contract until June 2011. Koller announced his retirement from football in August 2011 after a series of injuries.[
]
International career
Koller made his debut for the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
in a friendly away to Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
on 9 February 1999, and netted the only goal of the game in the 73rd minute. He scored six goals in six games in UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
Qualifying for the UEFA Euro 2000 final tournament, took place throughout 1998 and 1999. Forty-nine teams were divided into nine groups. All teams played against each other, within their groups, on a home-and-away basis. The winner of each group ...
as the Czechs topped their group; this included two in a 4–0 win in Lithuania. At the finals in Belgium and the Netherlands, he started each game as his team exited in the group stage. In 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification, Koller only scored twice in eight games, both in a 4–0 win over Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
in Teplice
Teplice () (until 1948 Teplice-Šanov; german: Teplitz-Schönau or ''Teplitz'') is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 49,000 inhabitants. It is the second largest Czech spa town, after Karlovy Vary. The hi ...
.
His best performance in a major tournament was in Euro 2004, when his side reached the semi-finals and he scored two goals, forming a pivotal partnership with fellow striker Milan Baroš
Milan Baroš (; born 28 October 1981) is a Czech footballer who plays as a striker. He currently plays for FK Vigantice at amateur level.
In 2005, he was part of the Liverpool team which won the UEFA Champions League. He went on to win Ligue ...
. He became the all-time leading scorer for the Czech Republic on 8 June 2005, following a match against Macedonia in which he scored four goals in just 11 minutes of a 6–1 win, taking his international total to 39. In the 2006 World Cup, Koller scored the opening goal of a 3–0 win against the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
in their first game, but later suffered a minor thigh
In human anatomy, the thigh is the area between the hip ( pelvis) and the knee. Anatomically, it is part of the lower limb.
The single bone in the thigh is called the femur. This bone is very thick and strong (due to the high proportion of ...
injury; the Czech Republic lost their next two matches without him and were eliminated.
Into his third month with Nürnberg, Koller announced that he would retire from the Czech national team after Euro 2008
The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of Europea ...
. He finished his international career with 55 goals, including a crucial headed goal in their deciding Euro 2008 Group A match against Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
; However, his goal was not enough as the Czechs conceded three goals in the last 15 minutes, losing the match 3–2, and failing to progress to the knock-out stage, prompting Koller to announce his retirement from the national team.
In July 2009, he announced that he would rejoin the national team because of poor results in the 2010 World Cup qualification
Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Ocea ...
. He played in the match against Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
, but on 6 September 2009, he again announced his retirement from international football.
Style of play
Koller was particularly noted for his height, strong physique and heading ability, being referred to as a "towering forward" and a "human lighthouse". Due to his stature, he was often nicknamed '' Dino'' throughout his career.
Career statistics
Club
International
Appearances and goals by national team and year
Honours
Sparta Prague
* 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 ...
: 1994–95
* Czech Cup
The Czech Cup ( cs, Pohár FAČR), officially known as the MOL Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the major men's football cup competition in the Czech Republic. It is organised by the Czech Football Association.
The Czech Cup was first held in 19 ...
: 1995–96
Anderlecht
* Belgian First Division
The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 te ...
: 1999–2000, 2000–01
* Belgian Supercup: 2000, 2001
Borussia Dortmund
* Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...
: 2001–02
Individual
* Belgian Pro League
The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 tea ...
top scorer: 1998–99
* Czech Footballer of the Year
The Czech Footballer of the Year ( cs, Fotbalista roku) is awarded in the Czech Republic by the Football Association of the Czech Republic (FA ČR). Eligibility extends to Czech players in the Czech Republic and abroad. Awards for young player, coa ...
: 1999
* Belgian Golden Shoe In association football, the Belgian Golden Shoe ( nl, Gouden Schoen, french: Soulier d'Or) is an award given in Belgium at the beginning of each civil year to the best footballer of the Belgian First Division A for the past year. The trophy is spon ...
: 2000
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koller, Jan
1973 births
Living people
Footballers from Prague
Association football forwards
Czech footballers
Czech Republic under-21 international footballers
Czech Republic international footballers
1. FC Nürnberg players
2006 FIFA World Cup players
AC Sparta Prague players
AS Cannes players
AS Monaco FC players
Belgian First Division A players
Borussia Dortmund players
Bundesliga players
Championnat National players
Czech expatriate footballers
Czech expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
Czech expatriate sportspeople in France
Czech expatriate sportspeople in Germany
Czech expatriate sportspeople in Monaco
Czech expatriate sportspeople in Russia
Czech people of German descent
Expatriate footballers in Belgium
Expatriate footballers in France
Expatriate footballers in Germany
Expatriate footballers in Monaco
Expatriate footballers in Russia
PFC Krylia Sovetov Samara players
K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen players
Ligue 1 players
R.S.C. Anderlecht players
UEFA Euro 2000 players
UEFA Euro 2004 players
UEFA Euro 2008 players
Czech First League players
Russian Premier League players
Outfield association footballers who played in goal