/VIDEO, PHOTOGALLERY/ The career of football goalkeeper Jan Laštůvka in the league A-team Baník Ostrava has definitely come to an end. After he was informed at the end of May that he was not counted on, there was also an official farewell. Before Saturday’s match with Slovácko, the club management and fans thanked him.
Farewell to Baník Ostrava and the fans with goalkeeper Jan Laštůvka. | Video: David Hekele
The sky had clouded significantly and it was foretelling that Ostrava would be hit by a heavy downpour. That also happened. And just at the time when the two teams entered the playing area with the strike of 18 o’clock, and for a moment there was a big applause and a standing ovation even for the one before the kick-off.
“Lašty, legend, Lašty legend,” the Vítkovice chanted when Jan Laštůvka entered the lawn accompanied by his son. He listened to his comprehensive football biography, watched a short video prepared by the club, received a gift from the club management represented by the executive director Michal Bělák and enjoyed the ovation of the audience. Even rivals.
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“Yeah, I clapped. Although it was a bit longer than it could have been for my taste, Lašty deserves it, even if it was applauded for fifteen minutes. But it was a bit unpleasant in the rain, especially when it started to blow and we were standing there,” commented Daniel Holzer, Slovácko’s midfielder, who is primarily connected with Baník.
“But no, great career, legend of Ostrava. I’m glad I was able to be with him in the cabin and on the field and start something with him off the field. We are friends and hopefully it will stay that way,” added Holzer.
After all the formalities were over, and already in heavy rain, he went to the boiler, whose thanks he also heard. The 41-year-old goalkeeper seems like a tough guy, but even he could tell that this moment took him. There were also tears. In the second half, the boiler room, where Laštůvka was supposed to be and watch the match itself, pulled out a big choreography with the banners “Lašty, thanks” and Hats off, farewell to the legend.”
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THE END AFTER FIVE AND A HALF YEARS
Although Baník signed a contract for the next season with the only playing veteran of the 2004 championship title during the spring, the club decided at the end of the last one and then in the summer that he would not continue in the A-team.
“It was really an extremely difficult decision for us. We know how long both boys have been here, especially Honza, who started in Baník as a teenager, won the title and is really a player who cares about Baník. Kuzma has also been here for more than five years, he has also done a lot of good work for the club. It was very difficult for us. But age cannot be stopped, and we feel that it is necessary to start rejuvenating the squad a little,” explained Luděk Mikloško, head of Baník’s sports department, to the club’s website at the end of May.
Match of the 4th round of the first football league: Baník Ostrava – FK Teplice, August 20, 2022, Ostrava. Baník goalkeeper Jan Laštůvka. Source: Deník/Lukáš Kaboň
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Laštůvka himself obviously did not take it lightly. “I didn’t expect it at all. Of course, age cannot be stopped, but I imagined it under different circumstances,” said Laštůvka in an interview for Deník.
“Whenever the end came, I always hoped that I would be able to say goodbye on the pitch, in the match and with the fans. It would be better than saying goodbye in a month, in two…,” he also said disappointedly.
The former representative, who played for the national team in three matches and took part in the 2012 European Championship, caught a total of 275 matches in the Czech league for Baník, Slavia Prague and the parent team Karvina, keeping 89 clean sheets. Of these, he has a record of 231 league matches and 74 clean sheets in Ostrava. In addition to the domestic top competition, he spent a large part of his career abroad. He worked in Ukraine, where he obtained two degrees, as well as in Germany and England.
He should now work as a goalkeeping coach in Baník’s youth team.
