Jan Polák (; born 14 March 1981) is a retired Czech footballer who played as a midfielder.

Career

In his younger days he played for FC Zbrojovka Brno and Tatran Bohunice. Formerly a member of the Czech national under-21 side, Polák, alongside players like Petr Čech and Milan Baroš, was a part of the team which won the European Under-21 Football Championship in 2002. He also holds the record for the most appearances for the Czech Republic under-21 team with 45 caps. In 2005, he was transferred from the Czech First League team FC Slovan Liberec for a fee of €1,500,000 to the Bundesliga side

1. FC Nürnberg 1. Fußball-Club Nürnberg Verein für Leibesübungen e. V., often called 1. FC Nürnberg (, en, 1. Football Club Nuremberg) or simply Nürnberg, is a German association football club in Nuremberg, Bavaria, who currently compete in the 2. Bund ...

. In the same year he played for the first time under Czech national coach

Karel Brückner Karel Brückner (; born 13 November 1939, Olomouc) is a Czech retired football coach. Playing career Brückner played as a forward in the lower leagues for MŽ Olomouc, at levels between the Regional Championship and the Second League. He ma ...

. On 3 August 2007,

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

bought Polák. He was given number 8. The Czech international reportedly cost €3.5 million and was at the time the second most expensive transfer in Anderlecht's history, as well as one of the highest paid players in Belgian football. He was Anderlecht's box-to-box midfielder playing a crucial role in their 2007–08 Jupiler League season and the

2007–08 UEFA Cup The 2007–08 UEFA Cup was the 37th edition of the UEFA Cup, UEFA's second-tier club football tournament. The final was played at the City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester, England on 14 May 2008 between Rangers of Scotland and Zenit Saint Pet ...

Honours

1. FC Nürnberg * DFB-Pokal: 2006–07 Anderlecht * Belgian First Division: 2009–10 * Belgian Cup: 2007–08 * Belgian Super Cup:

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Polak, Jan 1981 births Living people Czech men's footballers Czech Republic men's under-21 international footballers Czech Republic men's youth international footballers 2006 FIFA World Cup players FC Zbrojovka Brno players FC Slovan Liberec players Expatriate men's footballers in Germany 1. FC Nürnberg players R.S.C. Anderlecht players VfL Wolfsburg players Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for the Czech Republic Czech Republic men's international footballers Czech expatriate men's footballers Bundesliga players Czech First League players Footballers from Brno Belgian Pro League players UEFA Euro 2008 players Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Men's association football midfielders Czech expatriate sportspeople in Germany Czech expatriate sportspeople in Belgium