This fall suits him. And not only according to solid numbers: he managed four goals and two assists in the league, he could easily top his best season in 2019/20 (5+3). “It can be done. If two things come together: spring form and health,” emphasizes Vodháněl.
He doesn’t talk about health by chance, right now he is in an injured state. “In the round of 16 of the cup against Plzeň in November, I got hit in the thigh and had to miss two league matches,” he describes. “We are doing everything for me to be back as soon as possible. Hopefully I’ll be ready for the last fall round at worst.”
As a teenager, he had other concerns. When it was not yet clear that he would make a living from football, he worked as a trained toolmaker in the tool room of the Boleslav automobile company. This stint lasted eight months. “When I came from the night and we had training from eleven in the morning, I was not completely fresh. But somehow I survived it and it brought me here,” he smiles as he tells the story at Olomouc’s Andro Stadium. “I’m glad I went through with it. I found out how hard it is to make money.’
While polishing sheet metal and pressing frames, he would hardly have thought that one day he would go on an internship in Dortmund. “I went there from the second division Vlašimi, which seemed like science fiction to me,” he recounts with amusement. “There were five of us there and only one remained in Borussia. A wonderful experience: in Dortmund, nothing is missing for a footballer to improve. It gave me plenty of work to do.”
He could also play in America, in the winter of 2020 the Philadelphia Union wanted him. But Bohemians, where he played at the time, said no. “I wanted to try it in Major League Soccer, but there’s no point in regretting it now. What is not now can be another time,” he says calmly.
During his three years at Bohemians, he established himself in the league and was also seen during a short stop in Austrian Admira Mödling, where he opened with a goal in the very first sharp match. “My best six months in my career, just a shame about the relegation. Maybe I’ll look abroad again sometime,” hopes Vodháněl.
Now, however, he has a split job in Olomouc, which is his fifth so far. “The team settled down, there were not so many changes in the summer. We know what we can expect from each other, and we are doing well,” he explains. “The season will still be long, but if we continue like this, cup ambitions will come.”
How did he experience the controversial match with Slovácko at the weekend, which was played during a snow disaster? Why is it that he has already received six yellow cards in the autumn? And why does he have the unusual number 77 on his jersey? You will find out about that in the new episode of Bodl.
A look behind the scenes of football with legionnaires, former players and experts.
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