Miroslav Koubek became the new coach of the Czech national football team. He was unanimously elected to the position by the executive committee, representatives of the Football Association of the Czech Republic announced at a special press conference in Prague.
The 74-year-old coach, who finished at Viktoria Plzeň in September, agreed on a contract with the FAČR for two and a half years, i.e. until June 2028. Koubek’s first assistant will be Jan Suchopárek, followed by Jaroslav Plašil and Jan Rezek, who remain in the implementation team.
The national team was without a head coach after the unexpected October 1:2 loss in the World Cup qualifiers in the Faroe Islands, after which Ivan Hašek and his colleague Jaroslav Veselý were dismissed. The second of the assistants, Jaroslav Köstl, remained as a temporary coach and was in charge of the team during the November clash.
Koubek already worked with the national team as an assistant to Karel Jarolím between 2016 and 2018. He will lead the national team for the first time at the end of March in the play-offs for the World Cup.
The Czech team will welcome Ireland in Prague in the semi-finals of the play-off, and in the event of promotion, they would again host Denmark or North Macedonia at home in the final. The national team will be aiming for only the second appearance at the World Cup since the split of the federation and the first since 2006.
“I greatly appreciate the opportunity to lead the national team. I consider it a great honor and the highlight of my coaching career, while fully aware of the responsibility that comes with this position.
Challenging challenges await us, but I am looking forward to them. I can promise that we will all do our best for success already in the March tie,” said Koubek.
The experienced coach last managed Plzeň, where he quit after an agreement with the club in September after a series of poor results. In the past two seasons, he was the most successful Czech coach in European cups, when he and Viktoria first advanced to the quarterfinals of the Conference League and in the spring to the round of 16 of the European League.
Koubek coached several domestic clubs, in 2015 he won his only league title with Pilsen. FAČR wanted to temporarily get Jindřich Trpišovský from Slavia for the March tie. However, the Prague club refused to allow the successful coach to lead the national team in the spring in addition to the red and whites.
Already after Hašek’s dismissal, the association announced that it would like to bring a foreign coach to the national team in the future. There was speculation about interest in the German legend Jürgen Klinsmann or the Turk Fatih Terim.
Later, there was talk about Slaven Bilic, but the Croatian coach stated in the local press a few days ago that the Czech team does not want to train.
