Jaromír Blažek

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Jaromír Blažek

| fullname = Jaromír Blažek{{cite web |url=https://www.fifadata.com/document/fwc/2006/PDF/FWC_2006_SquadLists.pdf |title=2006 FIFA World Cup Germany: List of Players |publisher=FIFA |page=8 |date=21 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190610174527/https://www.fifadata.com/document/fwc/2006/PDF/FWC_2006_SquadLists.pdf |archive-date=10 June 2019}}

| image = Jaromír Blažek 2021.jpg

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1972|12|29|df=y}}

| birth_place = Brno, Czechoslovakia

| height = 1.88 m

| currentclub =

| clubnumber =

| position = Goalkeeper

| youthyears1 = 1980–1982

| youthclubs1 = Metra Blansko

| youthyears2 = 1982–1990

| youthclubs2 = Slavia Prague

| years1 = 1990–1992

| clubs1 = Slavia Prague

| caps1 = 9

| goals1 = 0

| years2 = 1992–1993

| clubs2 = Dynamo České Budějovice

| caps2 = 29

| goals2 = 0

| years3 = 1993–1994

| clubs3 = Viktoria Žižkov

| caps3 = 24

| goals3 = 0

| years4 = 1994–2000

| clubs4 = Bohemians Prague

| caps4 = 117

| goals4 = 0

| years5 = 1995–1996

| clubs5 = → Slavia Prague (loan)

| caps5 = 7

| goals5 = 0

| years6 = 2000–2007

| clubs6 = Sparta Prague

| caps6 = 167

| goals6 = 0

| years7 = 2001–2002

| clubs7 = → Marila Příbram (loan)

| caps7 = 22

| goals7 = 0

| years8 = 2007–2008

| clubs8 = 1. FC Nürnberg

| caps8 = 25

| goals8 = 0

| years9 = 2008–2012

| clubs9 = Sparta Prague

| caps9 = 74

| goals9 = 0

| years10 = 2012–2015

| clubs10 = Vysočina Jihlava

| caps10 = 59

| goals10 = 0

| totalcaps = 533

| totalgoals = 0

| nationalyears1 = 1993

| nationalteam1 = Czech Republic U-21

| nationalcaps1 = 3

| nationalgoals1 = 0

| nationalyears2 = 2000–2008

| nationalteam2 = Czech Republic

| nationalcaps2 = 14

| nationalgoals2 = 0

| medaltemplates = {{Medal|Sport|Men's football}}

{{medal|Country|{{fb|CZE}}}}

}}

Jaromír Blažek ({{IPA|cs|ˈjaromiːr ˈblaʒɛk}}; born 29 December 1972) is a Czech former professional football goalkeeper. Apart from one season in Germany, he has spent his entire professional career in the Czech Republic. Blažek has also been called up as a reserve goalkeeper to the Czech Republic national football team at three UEFA European Championships and the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Born in Brno, Blažek started his career in Slavia Prague, where he got to play his first league games. After two years during which he was mainly used as a substitute, he moved to Dynamo České Budějovice to become the number one goalkeeper there. That 1992–93 season was to be the last of the Czechoslovak First League, and he decided to spend his first season in the new Gambrinus liga with Viktoria Žižkov, which turned out to be a good choice since he won his first title, the national cup. He left after only one year though, moving across Prague to FC Bohemians. They were relegated that year and Blažek, who did not want to spend a year in the Second League, was loaned for one year to his first club Slavia Prague, where he won the 1995–96 Czech First League.{{cite book|first=Luboš|last=Jeřábek|title=Český a československý fotbal – lexikon osobností a klubů|publisher=Grada Publishing|language=cs|year=2007|location=Prague, Czech Republic|isbn=978-80-247-1656-5|pages=21–22}} Since Bohemians regained promotion the same year, he returned there and stayed for three and a half years.

However, while his club was not performing very well, Blažek drew the attention of giants Sparta Prague, transferring there in early 2000 and winning back-to-back titles in 2000 and 2001. He went on loan to rivals Marila Příbram in 2001 but returned after one year. After that, he played almost every single game for Sparta Prague, be it league, cup or Champions League games. It was a very successful period for Blažek as he won four more titles and three national cups.

In 2007, he decided to move abroad and was sold to German club 1. FC Nürnberg, who purchased him as a replacement for Raphael Schäfer who had left for VfB Stuttgart over the summer. Blažek was the number one there but fell sick in April and could not play the end of a season that saw Nürnberg being relegated. In June, it was announced that Blažek was returning to Sparta Prague for the following season.{{cite web | url = http://www.fcn.de/index.php?id=17348 | title = Blažek wieder ein Spartaner | date = 17 June 2008 | language= de | publisher = 1. FC Nürnberg | access-date = 22 December 2010}} However, on 16 December 2011, Sparta Prague announced their decision to terminate Blažek's contract early, releasing him as a free agent. This was confirmed by the player's agent Pavel Paska.{{cite web | url = http://fotbal.idnes.cz/blazek-ve-sparte-skoncil-louci-se-golman-jenz-se-vyrovnal-legende-pyq-/fotbal.aspx?c=A111215_165339_fotbal_min | title = Blažek ve Spartě skončil | date = 16 December 2011 | language= cs | publisher = iDNES}}

On 22 February 2014, in a league match for Jihlava against Znojmo, Blažek kept his 139th clean sheet, setting a new goalkeeper record for the Czech league.{{cite web|last=Folk|first=Čestmír|title=Hrubý zachránil Znojmu bod, Blažek vychytal 139. nulu|url=http://www.sport.cz/fotbal/gambrinus-liga/clanek/552067-hruby-zachranil-znojmu-bod-blazek-vychytal-139-nulu.html|work=Sport.cz|access-date=25 February 2014|language=cs|date=23 February 2014}}

International career

Blažek made his debut for the national team on 29 March 2000 in a friendly match against Australia that ended up in a 3–1 win. Due to the dominance of Petr Čech as the first-choice national team goalkeeper, Blažek was unable to make regular appearances for his nation. He was part of the Czech squad at Euro 2000, Euro 2004, and the 2006 World Cup, but the only tournament he played at was Euro 2004.

Personal life

He is married and has two children – Jakub and Aneta. Blažek is the cousin of tennis player Radek Štěpánek.{{cite news |first=Tomáš|last=Macek|url=http://sport.idnes.cz/stepanek-diky-fotbalistum-vyhral-veceri-ffn-/tenis.aspx?c=A060628_100851_tenis_rou|title=Štěpánek díky fotbalistům vyhrál večeři|language=cs|work=Mladá fronta DNES|location=Czech Republic|date=28 June 2006|access-date=19 November 2012}}

Career statistics

=Club=

=International=

Source:{{NFT}}

Year	Apps	Goals
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" \|colspan="3"\|Czech Republic national team
2000	2	0
2003	1	0
2004	2	0
2005	2	0
2006	2	0
2007	1	0
2008	1	0
Total\|\|11\|\|0

Honours

=Club=

Viktoria Žižkov

Czech Cup: 1994

Slavia Prague

Czech First League: 1995–96

Bohemians 1905

Czech Second League: 3rd Place 1997–98
Czech Second League: 1998–99

Sparta Prague

Czech First League: 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2006–07
Czech First League: Runner-up 2003–04, 2008–09, 2010–11
Czech Cup: 2004, 2006, 2007
Czech Cup: Runner-up 2001

Vysočina Jihlava

Czech Second League: Runner-up 2011–12

=International=

Czech Republic

UEFA European Championship: Semi-finalist 2004

=Individual=

Czech First League

Team of the Year 1999–2000, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2008–09{{cite web | url = http://isport.blesk.cz/clanek/fotbal-souteze-sportu/74759/blazek-poctvrte-mezi-hvezdami.html | title = Blažek počtvrté mezi hvězdami | language = cs | website = isport.cz | date = 2 June 2009 | access-date = 14 March 2017}}
Most clean sheets 2002–03, 2006–07, 2009–10, 2010–11
Best goalkeeper 2012–13{{cite web | url = https://www.sport.cz/fotbal/synot-liga/clanek/484512-tyhle-ceny-by-uz-snad-meli-sbirat-mladsi-kluci-rika-nejlepsi-golman-gambrinus-ligy-blazek.html | title = Tyhle ceny by už snad měli sbírat mladší kluci, říká nejlepší gólman Gambrinus ligy Blažek | language = cs | website = sport.cz | date = 4 June 2013 | access-date = 14 March 2017}}
Second best goalkeeper between the years 1993–2013 by the fans' poll{{cite web | url = http://fotbal.idnes.cz/anketa-k-vyroci-20-let-samostatne-ligy-dss-/fotbal.aspx?c=A130603_200311_fotbal_ot | title = Nejlepším fotbalistou v historii české ligy zvolili čtenáři Nedvěda | language = cs | website = idnes.cz | date = 3 June 2013 | access-date = 14 March 2017}}
Player of the Month: October 2013{{cite web | url = http://www.epojisteniliga.cz/hrac-a-trener-mesice-vitezove-ankety?season=2014 | title = Hráč a trenér měsíce | language = cs | website = epojisteniliga.cz | access-date = 5 April 2017}}

Czech Footballer of the Year

Personality of the League 2005–06

Records

Czech First League: Oldest player in history of the Czech First League (42 years, 4 months){{cite web | url = http://www.epojisteniliga.cz/clanek/8159-blazek-lamal-rekordy-stal-se-nejstarsim-hracem-ligove-historie-a-pripsal-si-dalsi-nulu | title = Blažek lámal rekordy! Stal se nejstarším hráčem ligové historie a připsal si další nulu | language = cs | website = epojisteniliga.cz | date = 21 February 2015 | access-date = 10 March 2017}}
Czech First League: Most clean sheets in history of the Czech First League (157){{cite web | url = http://www.epojisteniliga.cz/hrac/2015/uspechy/14-jaromir-blazek#tab | title = Jaromír Blažek | language = cs | website = epojisteniliga.cz | access-date = 14 March 2017}}
Czech First League: Most played seasons (19){{cite web | url = http://www.epojisteniliga.cz/statistiky-rekordy | title = Rekordy | language = cs | website = epojisteniliga.cz | access-date = 14 March 2017}}