Vladimír Šmicer (; born 24 May 1973) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

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 lea ...

who played as a

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 ...

. He started his senior career at Slavia Prague, the only Czech club he ever played for. In 1999, Šmicer moved to England where he played for

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, winning multiple honours. He is perhaps best remembered at Liverpool for his long-range goal in the 2005 UEFA Champions League final victory against

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. At Liverpool he also won an

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

and League Cup treble in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

as well as the 2003 League Cup. He also notably played for French sides

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...

, with whom he won the

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

title, and

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

. At international level, Šmicer played once for the Czechoslovak national side and 80 times for the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. He retired from professional football in 2009.

Club career

Liverpool

Šmicer joined Liverpool for a fee of £4.2 million, recruited to fill the void left by the departure of Steve McManaman to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

. Upon arriving at Anfield in 1999, Šmicer was given the number 7 shirt, although he would later switch to number 11 after the arrival of Harry Kewell. When he left Liverpool in 2005, Šmicer said: "Just signing for Liverpool in itself was a dream because I supported them as a kid. It was a dream come true." He made his Liverpool debut in a match against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

Hillsborough Stadium Hillsborough Stadium is a association football, football stadium in the area of Owlerton, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. With a total capacity of 39,732, it has been the home of Sheffield Wednesday F.C., Sheffield Wednesday Football Club ...

and scored his first Premier League goal in a 3–2 away victory against

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

. Although Šmicer was plagued with injury problems, he scored the last minute winner against Chelsea in 2002, and a stunning volley against

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 ...

Šmicer also scored Liverpool’s second goal during the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final vs

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

. The game ended 3-3, with Liverpool coming back from 3-0 to bring it to penalties. Šmicer would then score Liverpool’s fourth and final penalty to win the game.

Slavia Prague

Upon returning to Slavia Prague in 2007, Šmicer won the Personality of the League award at the Czech Footballer of the Year awards in 2008. He ended his football career after a goalless draw against Viktoria Plzeň on 9 November 2009, but made his farewell party on 11 May 2010.

International career

Šmicer began his international career in 1993. At the Euro 1996, he represented the Czech Republic as they made it to the finals. He was the Czech’s only substitute in the final, coming on in the 88th minute against Germany to replace Karel Poborský. At the

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

, he scored both goals in the national team's only tournament victory, 2–0 against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. Šmicer did not participate in the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

due to a leg injury.

Managerial career

Just one day after retiring from football, Šmicer became sports manager of the Czech national team, working alongside head coach Michal Bílek.

Personal life

Šmicer stood for minor Czech party VIZE 2014 in the European Parliament election; his stated priority was to reduce obesity among children. As a result of Šmicer's playing career, he can speak English and French apart from his native Czech.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

:''Scores and results list the Czech Republic's goal tally first.''

Honours

Slavia Prague *

Gambrinus liga 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 ...

: 1995–96, 2007–08, 2008–09 Lens *

: 1997–98 *

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...

: 1998–99 Liverpool *

: 2000–01 *

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

: 2000–01, 2002–03 *

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

: 2004–05 *

: 2000–01 Bordeaux * Coupe de la Ligue: 2006–07 Czech Republic *

UEFA European Football Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

runner-up:

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

References

External links

* * *
Player profile at LFChistory.net
* *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smicer, Vladimir 1973 births Living people Sportspeople from Děčín Czech men's footballers Czechoslovak men's footballers Men's association football midfielders SK Slavia Prague players RC Lens players Liverpool F.C. players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players Czech First League players Ligue 1 players Premier League players UEFA Europa League–winning players UEFA Champions League–winning players Czech football coaches Czech Republic men's under-21 international footballers Czech Republic men's international footballers Czechoslovakia men's international footballers Dual internationalists (men's football) UEFA Euro 1996 players 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup players UEFA Euro 2000 players UEFA Euro 2004 players Czech expatriate men's footballers Czech expatriate sportspeople in France Czech expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in England Footballers from the Ústí nad Labem Region