Vladimír Darida (; born 8 August 1990) is a Czech 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 lea ...

who plays as a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Czech First League The Czech First League () also known as the Chance Liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Czech Republic and the highest level of the Czech Republic football league system. Seasons typically run from A ...

club

Hradec Králové Hradec Králové (; ) is a city of the Czech Republic. It has about 94,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Hradec Králové Region. The historic centre of Hradec Králové is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech R ...

. He represented the Czech Republic national team between 2012 and 2021.

Club career

Early football career in the Czech Republic

Born in

Plzeň Plzeň (), also known in English and German as Pilsen (), is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 188,000 inhabitants. It is located about west of P ...

, Darida came through at

Viktoria Plzeň Viktoria usually refers to Viktoria, a name which is the same as Victoria (name), but may also refer to: Places * FK Viktoria Stadion, stadium of Viktoria Žižkov * Viktoria-Luise-Platz, building in Berlin * Viktoriastadt, now known as Victor ...

whilst also spending time on loan at

FK Baník Sokolov FK Baník Sokolov is a Czech football club based in Sokolov. The club plays in Division B, which is the fourth tier of Czech football. Historical names * 1948 – ''SK HDB Falknov nad Ohří'' * 1948 – ''ZTS Sokol HDB Sokolov'' * 1 ...

in 2011.

SC Freiburg

In late summer 2013, Darida transferred to

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions ...

for a transfer fee reported as four million Euros, joining up with his compatriots Pavel Krmaš and

Václav Pilař Václav Pilař (; born 13 October 1988) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a winger for Hradec Králové. He represented the Czech Republic at international level between 2011 and 2015. Club career Pilař joined Plzeň on loan fro ...

. According to Viktoria Plzeň owner Tomáš Paclík, Freiburg paid 6.2 million Euros for Darida and a 30% share of the next transfer. On 24 October 2013, Darida debuted for SC Freiburg in the

2013–14 UEFA Europa League The 2013–14 UEFA Europa League was the 43rd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the fifth season under its current title. The final was played between Sevilla and Benfica at the Juventus Stadium in Tu ...

group stage match against Estoril Praia, scoring a goal in the 11th minute which ended in a 1–1 draw. The same year on 27 October, he made his

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

debut in a 0–3 home defeat against

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

. On 2 November 2014, Darida scored a penalty for the only goal of the game away to

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., better known as simply 1. FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English language, English, is a German professional association football, football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 ...

to give the club their first win in their 10th game of the season, moving them out of the direct relegation places.

Hertha BSC

Darida signed for

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC () or Hertha Berlin, is a German professional football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football league system, German footbal ...

following

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

's relegation ahead of the

2015–16 Bundesliga The 2015–16 Bundesliga was the 53rd season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football competition. The season started on 14 August 2015 and ended on 14 May 2016. Bayern Munich were the defending champions, after winning their 24th Bundeslig ...

for an undisclosed fee, wearing number 6 shirt. He made an immediate impact for his club by scoring on his debut in the first round of

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

against

Arminia Bielefeld DSC Arminia Bielefeld (; full name: ; commonly known as Arminia Bielefeld (), also known as ''Die Arminen'' or ''Die Blauen'' ), or just Arminia (), is a German sports club from Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. Arminia is most well known as ...

, which ended in a 2–0 victory. Darida got his first assist of the season through setting up

Salomon Kalou Salomon Armand Magloire Kalou (born 5 August 1985) is an Ivorian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward or Midfielder#Winger, winger. He started his career with local club AS ...

in a 3–1 defeat to

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

. On 27 September he got his first league goal of the season scoring the equaliser in a 1–1 draw away to

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

Aris Thessaloniki

Darida signed for

Aris Thessaloniki Athlitikos Syllogos Aris Thessalonikis, means Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki (), is a major Greece, Greek multi-sport club founded on 25 March 1914 in Thessaloniki. Nicknamed ''God of War'', Aris was one of the strongest Greek clubs during t ...

in December 2022.

Hradec Králové

On 23 May 2025, Darida signed a one-year contract with

with option.

International career

On 26 May 2012, Darida debuted for the Czech Republic national football team in a 2–1 friendly victory against

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Two days later, he was included in the Czech squad for the

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...

to replace the injured defender Daniel Pudil. In the UEFA Euro 2012 quarter-final against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, Darida earned his second international appearance as well as first in a competitive tournament, replacing the injured

Tomáš Rosický Tomáš Rosický (; born 4 October 1980) is a Czech former professional association football, footballer who was the Captain (association football), captain of the Czech Republic national football team, Czech Republic national team for a ten-y ...

before coming off as a substitute after 61 minutes for Jan Rezek, ending in a 1–0 loss for the Czechs. Darida was included in the Czech Republic squad for

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

, serving as captain, after which he retired from international football as he wanted to focus on spending time with his family.

Tomáš Souček Tomáš Souček (; born 27 February 1995) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club West Ham United and captains the Czech Republic national team. Club career Slavia Prague Souček joined Slavia Prague's youth tea ...

was named as his successor as national team captain.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Czech Republic's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Darida goal.''

Honours

Viktoria Plzeň *

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 2012–13 *

Czech Cup The Czech Cup (), 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 1961. The winner ...

: 2009–10 *

Czech Supercup The Czech Supercup () was an annual football match between the winners of the Czech First League and the Czech Cup, organised by the Czech Football Association. It was last sponsored by Synot Tip and was therefore officially known as the Synot ...

: 2011 Czech Republic *

China Cup The China Cup International Football Championship () is an annual association football tournament organized in China by Wanda Sports Holdings. The Championship was inaugurated in 2017 as a single-elimination tournament A single-elimination kn ...

bronze:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Individual *

Czech Footballer of the Year The Czech Footballer of the Year () 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, coach and Czech First L ...

: 2017

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Darida, Vladimir 1990 births Living people Footballers from Plzeň Czech men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Czech Republic men's international footballers Czech Republic men's under-21 international footballers Czech Republic men's youth international footballers Czech First League players Czech National Football League players Bundesliga players Super League Greece players FC Viktoria Plzeň players FK Baník Sokolov players SC Freiburg players Hertha BSC players Aris Thessaloniki F.C. players UEFA Euro 2012 players UEFA Euro 2016 players UEFA Euro 2020 players Czech expatriate men's footballers Czech expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Czech expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Greece 21st-century Czech sportsmen FC Hradec Králové players