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In the 36th minute of the match against the famous AC Milan at the iconic San Siro stadium in the Round of 16 of the Europa League, he fired a ball deflected from a corner kick just outside the penalty area and leveled the score at 1:1 with the help of the stick.
The opponent’s fans also appreciated the beautiful goal. “I immediately decided to shoot,” he admitted after the game. “Of course everyone knows that I love these shots. To score this goal at San Siro probably beats any experience in life. It will remain in my memory for the rest of my life,” said the happy scorer, whose shot is competing for the honor of goal of the week in the Europa League.
And everyone knew that it was no accident that he honestly practiced and sought out these volleys. However, he added another value to the match – he tore through the opponent’s defense by constantly running up in a sprint, and got into two more shooting opportunities.
He combines two rare football skills – speed and effective shooting from the first touch.
Innate speed
He receives the ball deep in his own half, and in a moment he is rushing to finish. The Slavist midfielder excels with extraordinary speed. “He has it innately, it cannot be trained to such an extent,” points out Pavel Hoftych, who guided Douděra during his engagement in Mladá Boleslav.
“She got it from her father,” reveals Miroslav Držmíšek, the current sports director of Bohemians Prague, who has been through several clubs in this capacity. He met Douděr’s father František while playing together in the second division Xaverov. “He was even faster than the son,” she reveals. “But a big stick. He blocked five of the four chances,” he exaggerates with a smile.
Speed is therefore in the genes of the Czech representative. “However, he also added an endurance component to it,” Hoftych reveals another value. When teammates and opponents are already dragging their feet with fatigue, he sets off at a murderous pace.
This is hard to face. It is unstoppable, inexhaustible.
He can also finish
However, football is not measured in seconds, but in goals. You can also give. “There are players, many of them of African origin, who are extremely fast, but cannot finish,” explains recognized expert Hoftych. “Doudera scores goals,” he points out.
He played a part in his rise, he led him in Mladá Boleslav, where he transferred from Dukla Prague in the summer of 2019. “He came as a full-back, we moved him up, to a midfielder, because we saw tremendous attacking potential in him,” Hoftych returns to the Central Bohemian club.
The young man liked his new place. “The spring of 2022 was great for him, when he scored eight goals and actually secured a transfer to Slavia,” says Hoftych.
According to the well-known transfermarkt portal, the Prague club paid a severance fee of 530,000 euros (about thirteen and a quarter million crowns) for the new signing, but it is paying off.
Also a combination
The new face soon won a strong position in Eden, as is customary in the Slavist collective, handling multiple roles. However, he is always willing to join the offensive action, sprinting towards the opponent’s goal and trying to finish.
However, he can also fulfill the other requirements of the demanding coach Jindřich Trpišovský. “I was a little surprised at how quickly and without difficulty he was able to get involved in the classic Slavic combination,” Hoftych says again. “Jindra wants this from his charges, his pushers, tappers, David can handle it,” he praises his former charge.
And he also scores wonderful goals. At San Siro, he scored for the third time in European cups.
Proud father
Father František, otherwise a youth coach and manager of several clubs from lower competitions, is understandably proud of his son, relishing his every hit. However, it is difficult to name the best one. “Everyone has some value, they are important,” he explains diplomatically.
In terms of good looks, he considered the goal in Milan to be a golden goal, which actually decided the final of the Mol Cup in the spring of last year in the derby with Sparta on its soil. Goalkeeper Matěj Kovář was short on the call. “However, Slavia plays Sparta several times a year, and AC Milan played for the first time in history,” he says, highlighting the unique opportunity to face a team of world renown.
The son already has a national team shot on his score sheet, in autumn, in the qualification for this year’s European Championship in Germany, he started in the decisive duel against Moldova, when he scored after a quick run-up.
It wasn’t a spectacular goal, so it doesn’t appear on the front page of the family album. “It was about the method of execution,” explains Douděra Sr., why representative intervention is not in the first place.
Diligence, toil, passion
The volley is considered one of the most difficult kicks, and whoever can do it is a master of their craft. It takes years of diligent practice. “But we didn’t particularly polish him, we didn’t stay on the field after training and send him one cross after another,” the father refutes this assumption.
Although not really. “Whenever there was an opportunity, he tried for it,” Hoftych points out. So art came by accident. “He kept trying,” confirms the father. “So once, twice, ten times, again during the next training, in the end there are dozens, hundreds of attempts,” he calculates.
That would be so that something doesn’t work out with such diligence. Even if the kick often fails and the author is almost full of laughter. He must find courage. “Like last year against Bohemka,” recalls the father. “He took it left-handed, many people discouraged him from it and what a piece it was,” he recalls the show in the Vršovice derby.
Staying on the field has done its job. “It is above all a passion for football, a willingness to sacrifice everything for him and he will give it back,” the father believes in justice and honesty.
A fierce fighter
To all these virtues he adds perhaps the most important one – combativeness and stubbornness. He refuses to accept defeat, fights for the result until the last breath. It’s innate too.
Several times as a pupil, whether in the jersey of Viktoria Žižkov or Dukla Praha, he presented himself at the prestigious All Stars Cup youth tournament with strong international participation (Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Palmeiras Sao Paolo, etc.). “He has not yet excelled in kicking technique, but he has in terms of speed and combativeness,” noted tournament director Jaroslav Novák.
He is just as combative in post-match interviews. This was also proven after the match in Milan. “I’m very proud of the team, how they behaved like that in ten. It’s unreal, you just don’t see a bite like that. To put on a performance like that at San Siro at ten takes balls. I think we’ve shown them,” he sneered.
And he incites others to retaliate. “In the group we lost 0-2 in Rome and then won 2-0 at home. Now it’s two goals again, it’s open. I wouldn’t be afraid at all,” he says determinedly.
He promises for himself and the others that he will fight as hard as he can for registration in Eden in the form of elimination of such a famous club.
Brother and cousin
At the same time, David may not be the only bearer of the Douděra name who will make his mark on the top football scene. His brother Martin, who is four years younger, is already growing up in Dukla, following a similar path. “He’s a bit smaller in stature, so he’ll have to rely on other skills,” the father compares to his little one.
Another interesting first league football player – Lukáš Červ – also has family genes. “He is the son of my sister Klára, so he and David are cousins,” reveals František.
The nephew grew up in Slavia, which sent him on loan, he earned a decent reputation in Slovan Liberec. In January, he became part of the settlement for national team goalkeeper Jindřich Staňek and moved to Viktoria Plzeň, where he holds a firm place in the starting line-up.
Blood really isn’t water.
