Dušan Fitzel (born 15 April 1963) is a Czech

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and a former player. He is an assistant coach with FC Viktoria Plzeň. He managed the Malta national team from 2006 to 2009.

Playing career

For the most part of his career Fitzel played in the

Czechoslovak First League The Czechoslovak First League (, ) was the premier football (soccer), football league in the Czechoslovakia from 1925 to 1993, with the exception of World War II. Czechoslovakia was occupied by German forces who formed Gauliga Sudetenland and Ga ...

for

Dukla Prague Dukla Prague () was a Czech football club from the city of Prague. Established in 1948 as ATK Praha, the club won a total of 11 Czechoslovak league titles and eight Czechoslovak Cups, and in the 1966–67 season, reached the semi-finals of the ...

in the position of

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. In 158 appearances he scored three goals. In 1992, he left for EPA Larnaca in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

where he made 42 appearances and scored three goals. Fitzel retired from his career as a professional footballer in 1995 for FK Chmel Blšany.

Coaching career

Fitzel started his coaching career with the youth team of

SK Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional association football, football football team, club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are ...

. From 1998 to 2005 Fitzel worked within the

Football Association of the Czech Republic The Football Association of the Czech Republic (; FAČR), or colloquially the Czech Football Association, is the governing body of association football in the Czech Republic based in Prague. It organizes the lower-level league competitions in the ...

, coaching teams from U18 to U21 level. His greatest achievement came when with him as assistant coach the Czech U21 team won the European Under-21 Championship in 2002. In January 2006 he was appointed the head coach for Malta as the successor to Horst Heese. His contract was to expire with the end of 2007. The Maltese national team results under Fitzel were promising, including a 2–1 victory over

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

(first win for the team in official games since 1993) and a 2–2 draw against the 2002 World Cup bronze medalists

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

.Malta holds Turkey in 2-2 draw
/ref> Fitzel was nicknamed "La Valette" in Malta after the Maltese grandmaster and hero Jean de la Valette. In July 2009 health problems made it necessary to give up the role of manager. He is a lecturer in coach education as well as a contributor of articles on football and coaching in '' Fotbal a trénink''.

Personal life

He is married and has two children.

Honours

: **Runner-up (2): 1983-84, 1987–88 * Czechoslovak Football Cup: **Winner (2): 1985, 1990

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzel, Dusan Living people 1963 births Czech men's footballers Slovak men's footballers Czechoslovak men's footballers Dukla Prague footballers FK Chmel Blšany players Czechoslovak First League players Cypriot First Division players Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Czech football managers Czech expatriate football managers Czech expatriate men's footballers Slovak football managers Slovak expatriate football managers Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Malta Slovak expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Malta Expatriate football managers in Malta Malta national football team managers Expatriate football managers in Russia Men's association football midfielders Czech people of Slovak descent Sportspeople from Bojnice