Josef Masopust

Josef Masopust ( born February 9, 1931 in Střimice ) is a former Czechoslovak football player and coach.

Youth

Masopust was born as the eldest of six children in the Czech village Strimice as the son of a miner. Already in his youth he developed a passion to play football. But only after the end of the 2nd World War in 1945 he volunteered as a youth player at SK must.

Playing career

He played as an attacking midfielder from 1945 to 1950 for the SK must, which was Uhlomost Most ZJS since 1948, from 1950 to 1952 for FK Teplice and 1952-1968 for the army club ATK Prague or Prague Uda, 1956 in Dukla Prague has been renamed. With Dukla Prague he was 1953-1966 eight times Czechoslovak champion. The International Soccer League Masopust won the final in 1961 against Everton.

Masopust played 63 times for the Czechoslovakian national soccer team, scoring ten goals. He debuted in the selection on October 24, 1954 in the 1:4 defeat against Hungary in Népstadion in Budapest, where he has played a full 90 minutes. His first goal he scored on May 10, the 1956 6-1 against Switzerland in Geneva in the 88th minute. In 1960 he participated with the team at the European Football Championship 1960. He also was vice-champion in 1962, when Czechoslovakia defeated in the final of the football World Cup in Chile with Brazil 1:3. His last international game he played on 18 May 1966 under the 1-2 defeat against the USSR.

Mainly because of their performance at the World Championships in the same year he was elected in 1962 European Footballer of the Year. The National Association chose him for the Czech football player of the century.

Coaching career

After his return from Belgium Masopust got the opportunity to work as assistant coach Jaroslav Vejvoda in his parent club Dukla Prague in the 1970/71 season.

For the 1972/73 season, he took over as head coach of the B team of Dukla, who played in the third league. With 32 points from 30 games Dukla B was at the end of the season seventh. In the spring of 1972 Masopust won as coach of the team Dukla international junior tournament Torneo di Viareggio. In the game year 1972/73 Dukla finished in 12th place and narrowly escaped relegation.

Nevertheless followed Masopust Vevjoda who went to Legia Warsaw, to the post of head coach of Dukla Prague. Dukla played in 1973/74 long for the title with, finished at the end but only the second place behind Slovan Bratislava. In the UEFA Cup 1974/75 Dukla failed in the third round at FC Twente Enschede. In the league Dukla was only ninth and pointed in a balanced league season with 29 points, just two points more than the first relegated Sparta Prague.

Nevertheless, it went with Masopust as a coach in the season 1975/76. After just five games, however, they separated by mutual consent, and Masopust's predecessor Vejvoda again took over the team lead. Masopust himself took the now relegated to 4th league B team. Once again, the team was able to win the tournament in Viareggio and went also back in the 3rd league.

Masopust had the 1976/77 season there are multiple offers and opted for FC Zbrojovka Brno. In Brno Masopust's methods had fast success. After a fourth place finish in 1977 won Zbrojovka, until then rather the gray mouse in the league, the Czechoslovak Championship, for the first and so far last time in club history. Although Zbrojovka beat in the first round of the European Champions' Cup 1978/79 Újpest Budapest with 2:2 and 2:0, but failed in the second round with 2:2 and 1:1 at Wisła Kraków. Brno 1979 and 1980 third runner were in the Czechoslovak league.

From 1980 to 1984 Masopust coached the Belgian second division club KSC Hasselt, which he failed three times in the promotion round to the 1st league. From 1984 to 1987 he was coach of the Czechoslovakian national team, but the team failed to qualify for either the final round of the World Cup 1986 nor for the final round of the European Championship 1988. Then supervised Masopust to 1991, the Indonesian Olympic team. He took over in 1993 for a few months again as coach in Brno from 1993 to 1995, he worked in Decin.

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