Ján Mucha (born 5 December 1982) is a Slovak 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
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 ...
.
Club career
Everton
In January 2010, Mucha signed a pre-contract deal with English
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
club
Everton to join them on 1 July.
On 4 August 2010, Mucha made his Everton debut playing the first 45 minutes of a pre-season friendly against Chilean side
Everton de Viña del Mar at
Goodison Park
Goodison Park is a football stadium in the Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area 2 miles (3 km) north of Liverpo ...
, before being replaced in goal by
Iain Turner at half-time. His competitive debut for Everton came in the first match of their
League Cup campaign, a 5–1 win over
Huddersfield Town. He went on to play in the successive League Cup match against
Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross.
Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings w ...
, in which he saved a
penalty kick in the second half, but could not keep his side in the competition in the
penalty shootout
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
to decide the match, which Everton lost 4–3. Mucha made his sixth appearance for the club and his first in the
2012/13 season in a
League Cup tie at home to
Leyton Orient in August 2012, which Everton won 5–0. Mucha played in the next round as Everton lost 2–1 away to
Leeds United.
He was on the bench in all 38
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
fixtures of
2010–11
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
and
2011–12 seasons as an unused sub. On 2 March 2013, with regular keeper
Tim Howard injured, Mucha finally made his league debut for Everton in a 3–1 home win against
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
. On 9 March 2013, with Howard still injured, Mucha made his FA Cup debut in a 3–0 home loss to Wigan. He made his 10th appearance for the club the following week in a home league game against
Manchester City. Everton ran out 2–0 winners with Mucha producing a string of fine saves. Mucha left Everton when his contract expired at the end of the season.
Krylia Sovetov Samara
In July 2013, Mucha signed for Russian side
Krylia Sovetov Samara.
On 15 January 2015, Mucha signed with
Arsenal Tula
FC Arsenal Tula (russian: ФК Арсенал Тула) is a Russian professional football club from Tula playing in the second-tier Russian First League.
Originally founded in 1923, FC Arsenal Tula was promoted to the Russian Premier League ...
on loan till the end of the
2014–15 season.
Slovan Bratislava
On 28 June 2015, Mucha signed a four-year contract with Slovak club
ŠK Slovan Bratislava.
[Prichádza strojca historického úspechu Slovenska](_blank)
28 June 2015
Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza
On 29 June 2017, Mucha joined
Ekstraklasa
Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams.
Contested by 18 ...
side
Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza.
Hamilton Academical
In November 2018, Mucha signed a short-term deal with Scottish club
Hamilton Academical.
The contract expired on 1 January 2019 and he left the club.
International career
Mucha made his debut for
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 ...
in February 2008, in a friendly match against
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...
, and became the national team's first-choice goalkeeper. When Slovakia qualified for the
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIFA), the ...
for the first time, in
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 ...
, Mucha played in all four games as Slovakia made it to the second round of the competition.
Later he was selected for
Euro 2016
The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...
.
Personal life
In March 2013, Mucha was ordered to do 250 hours of community service after being caught driving with a suspended license.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mucha, Jan
1982 births
Living people
People from Snina District
Slovak footballers
Association football goalkeepers
Slovakia international footballers
Olympic footballers of Slovakia
Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics
2010 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2016 players
Slovak Super Liga players
Ekstraklasa players
Premier League players
Russian Premier League players
Scottish Professional Football League players
FK Inter Bratislava players
MŠK Žilina players
Legia Warsaw players
Everton F.C. players
PFC Krylia Sovetov Samara players
FC Arsenal Tula players
ŠK Slovan Bratislava players
Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza players
Hamilton Academical F.C. players
Slovak expatriate footballers
Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Poland
Expatriate footballers in Poland
Slovak expatriate sportspeople in England
Expatriate footballers in England
Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Scotland
Expatriate footballers in Scotland
Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Russia
Expatriate footballers in Russia