Jan Koller

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Born
1973 (52 years old)
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Prague, Czech Republic

Position
Forward

Status

Ethnicity
White

Team Number

Height
202 cm

Weight
106 kg (234 lb)

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Kit
Wage Year

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Sport

Soccer

Team
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2nd Team

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Description

Jan Koller (Czech pronunciation: ; born 30 March 1973) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was noted for his height, strong physique, and heading ability.

He began his career at Sparta Prague, then moved to Belgium, where he became the Belgian First Division top scorer with Lokeren. He won the league championship twice with Anderlecht and the Belgian Golden Shoe. In 2001, he joined Borussia Dortmund, where he won the Bundesliga title in his first season and scored 73 goals in 167 official games over five campaigns. He moved frequently in his later career, with stops in France, Germany and Russia.

Koller is the all-time top scorer for the Czech Republic national team, with 55 goals in 91 appearances in a decade-long career starting in 1999. He represented the nation at three UEFA European Championships and the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Koller made his debut for the Czech Republic in a friendly away to Belgium at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels on 9 February 1999, and netted the only goal of the game in the 73rd minute. He scored six goals in six games in UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying as the Czechs topped their group; this included two in a 4–0 win in Lithuania. At the finals in Belgium and the Netherlands, he started each game as his team exited in the group stage. In 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification, Koller only scored twice in eight games, both in a 4–0 win over Iceland in Teplice.

His best performance in a major tournament was in Euro 2004, when his side reached the semi-finals and he scored two goals, forming a pivotal partnership with fellow striker Milan Baroš. He became the all-time leading scorer for the Czech Republic on 8 June 2005, following a match against Macedonia in which he scored four goals in just 11 minutes of a 6–1 win, taking his international total to 39. In the 2006 World Cup, Koller scored the opening goal of a 3–0 win against the United States in their first game, but later suffered a minor thigh injury; the Czech Republic lost their next two matches without him and were eliminated.

Into his third month with Nürnberg, Koller announced that he would retire from the Czech national team after Euro 2008. He finished his international career with 55 goals, including a crucial headed goal in their deciding Euro 2008 Group A match against Turkey; However, his goal was not enough as the Czechs conceded three goals in the last 15 minutes, losing the match 3–2, and failing to progress to the knock-out stage, prompting Koller to announce his retirement from the national team.

In July 2009, he announced that he would rejoin the national team because of poor results in the 2010 World Cup qualification. He played in the match against Slovakia, but on 6 September 2009, he again announced his retirement from international football.

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