Rudolf Kučera (3 January 1940 – 11 May 2024) was a Czech

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 lea ...

who played as a forward. He played his club football in Czechoslovakia, mainly 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 ...

, with whom he became joint top scorer of the 1960–61 Czechoslovak First League with 17 goals. He won three league titles with the club, as well as the

Czechoslovak Cup The Czechoslovak Cup () was a football cup competition held in Czechoslovakia. It was officially created in 1960 and folded in 1993 with the split between Czech Republic and Slovakia. The cup was played throughout Czechoslovakia until 1968–69. F ...

in 1961.

Club career

Kučera played for TJ Gottwaldov before moving to

in 1959. Kučera scored the first competitive goal at

Stadion Juliska Stadion Juliska is a multi-use stadium in Prague-Dejvice, Czech Republic. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of FK Dukla Prague. The stadium is also used for athletics events, including the annual Josef Odlo ...

, opening the scoring in a 2–1 win against Wiener SK in the

1960 Mitropa Cup The 1960 Mitropa Cup was the 20th season of the Mitropa association football, football club tournament. It was contested as a competition between countries and there was no elimination. The five competing countries each sent six teams each to the ...

. In the 1960–61 Czechoslovak First League, Dukla won the league, with Kučera's 17 goals tying

Ladislav Pavlovič Ladislav Pavlovič (8 April 1926 – 28 January 2013) was a Slovak footballer. A winger, he played for Czechoslovakia national team in 14 matches and scored two goals. He was a participant at the Euro 1960, where he played in five matches and ...

as joint top scorer. The club also won the

the same season, earning " the double" in the process. Further league titles followed in 1961–62 and 1962–63. In the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

, Kučera scored 11 times in 14 matches,

Jeřábek Jeřábek (feminine: Jeřábková) is a Czech surname. In Czech, it means 'hazel grouse', but it is also a diminutive form of ''jeřáb'' (meaning 'Crane (bird), crane'). It was originally used as a nickname for a tall person. Notable people with t ...

, p. 103. ranking him third highest goalscorer overall from Czechoslovak players in the pre-Champions League era of the competition behind Jozef Adamec and

Ivan Mráz Ivan Mráz (24 May 1941 – 18 May 2024) was a Czechoslovak football player and manager. A forward, he competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics and won the silver medal. Scored five goals in that Olympics Football Tournament. Besides Czechoslovakia ...

. Kučera's career was ended through injury at the age of 23. In a

1963–64 European Cup The 1963–64 European Cup was the ninth season of the European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. The competition was won by Inter Milan, who beat Real Madrid 3–1 in the final at Praterstadion, Vienna, on 27 May 1964. Inter's tr ...

match against Polish side

Górnik Zabrze Górnik Zabrze Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Górnik Zabrze S.A. or simply Górnik Zabrze (), is a Polish association football, football club from Zabrze. Górnik is one of the most successful Polish football clubs in history, winning ...

, Kučera was injured following an elbow to the head from defender Stanisław Oślizło and never played at the top level again. Pivoda, p. 51.

International career

Kučera played internationally for

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, making his international debut at

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish language, Irish: ''Páirc Chnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a Association football, football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., ...

in a 3–1 win for his country against

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

in a World Cup qualifier on 8 October 1961. In total he scored three goals in seven appearances between 1961 and 1963, although he missed the

1962 FIFA World Cup The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the 7th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held from 30 May to 17 June 1962 in Chile. The qualification rounds took place between ...

due to injury. He also represented Czechoslovakia B on two occasions between 1961 and 1962.

Death

Kučera died in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

on 11 May 2024, at the age of 84.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Czechoslovakia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kučera goal.''

Honours

Dukla Prague *

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 ...

: 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63 *

: 1960–61 Individual *Czechoslovak First League top scorer: 1960–61 (shared)

References

Cited texts

* *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kucera, Rudolf 1940 births 2024 deaths People from Zlín District Czech men's footballers Czechoslovak men's footballers Czechoslovakia men's international footballers FC Zlín players Dukla Prague footballers Men's association football forwards Footballers from the Zlín Region