Josef Masopust

(l-r) Zdeněk Nehoda, Masopust and Ivo Viktor in 1974

Bobby Moore (left) vs. Masopust at the 1963 England v Rest of the World football match

Josef Masopust (9 February 1931 – 29 June 2015) was a Czech football player and coach. He played as midfielder and was a key player for Czechoslovakia, helping them reach the 1962 FIFA World Cup Final.<ref name=marvellous>Template:Cite web</ref> He was capped 63 times, scoring ten goals for his national team.<ref>Template:CMFS player</ref>

He was named European Footballer of the Year in 1962. In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, Masopust was selected as his country's Golden Player by the Football Association of the Czech Republic as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years. He was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004. He is regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time.

Life

Masopust was born on 9 February 1931 in Střimice (today non-existent village in the territory of Most).

Club career

Masopust's first club was lowly ZSJ Uhlomost Most, but ZSJ Technomat Teplice (renamed to ZSJ Vodotechna Teplice in 1951) signed him as a 19-year-old left-half and gave him his top-flight debut. Then, in 1952, he joined a Czechoslovak Armed Forces football club under name of ATK Praha (renamed to ÚDA Praha in 1953 and to Dukla Prague in winter 1956). Masopust won eight league championships and three national cups with Dukla.<ref name = "telegraph"/> They also reached the semi-finals of the 1966–67 European Cup, losing to the eventual winners of the competition (Celtic).<ref name = "telegraph"/>

When he eventually went abroad in 1968, he helped Crossing Molenbeek win promotion to the Belgian first division as player-coach. His coaching career continued at Dukla, however his only Czechoslovak league title as a coach came with Zbrojovka Brno in the 1977–78 season.<ref name=radio/> Later, between 1984 and 1987, he led the Czechoslovakia national team, overseeing a total of 27 matches.<ref name=jerabek>Template:Cite book</ref> He subsequently had a spell in Indonesia where he coached their national Olympic football team with Milan Bokša between 1988 and 1991.<ref name=jerabek/>

International career

Masopust made his international debut in October 1954, in a friendly match against Hungary.<ref name = "rsssf"/> He helped Czechoslovakia qualify for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, but the team were knocked out after a play-off match against Northern Ireland.<ref name = "rsssf"/> He then went on to finish the 1955-60 Central European International Cup as winner in 1960. Czechoslovakia then finished in third place in the new tournament 1960 UEFA European Football Championship, losing to the Soviet Union in the semi-final and defeating France in the third place match.<ref name = "rsssf"/>

In 1962, Masopust led the Czechoslovakia team that reached the 1962 FIFA World Cup Final, losing to Brazil. He scored the opening goal in the Final, but Brazil came back to win 3–1.<ref name=radio>Template:Cite web</ref> Because of his performance at the World Cup Finals, he was named European Footballer of the Year in 1962.

Having represented the Rest of the World team against England in 1963, Masopust was invited to play for a European International XI in the farewell match for Stanley Matthews, when the 50-year-old Matthews retired from football in 1965.<ref name = "telegraph"/> Czechoslovakia failed to qualify for the 1966 World Cup;<ref name="telegraph"/> Masopust had only played in one qualification match, a 1–0 defeat against Romania in May 1965.<ref name = "rsssf"/> His last international appearance was in May 1966, in a friendly match against the Soviet Union.<ref name="telegraph"/><ref name = "rsssf"/> Overall, he was capped 63 times for his national team, scoring ten goals.<ref name="telegraph"/><ref name="rsssf"/>

Style of play

Early in his career, Masopust played as a left half.<ref name = "telegraph"/> By the time of the 1962 World Cup, he had moved to the centre half position.<ref name = "telegraph">Template:Cite news</ref>

Masopust was in a similar mould to that of the Hungarian József Bozsik; a workhorse of his team, who also created attacking opportunities. He had excellent ball control, which he utilised for both recovering the ball in defence and dribbling past opponents.<ref name = "telegraph"/> Like Bozsik, Masopust was also an excellent passer of the ball. He was not great at tackling opponents, but he compensated for this by anticipating his opponents' actions and intercepting their passes.<ref name = "telegraph"/>

Shackled by Czechoslovakia's "no-risk" style philosophy, Masopust's natural inclination for attack was limited, yet he still managed ten goals in 63 caps for his national team. At club level, he scored 79 times in 386 appearances for Dukla Prague. Many of his Dukla teammates also played for the national team, which gave them a greater understanding than some of their opponents.<ref name = "telegraph"/>

Legacy

A statue of Masopust was built outside Dukla's Stadion Juliska and was unveiled in June 2011.<ref name=marvellous/>

Death

Masopust died on 29 June 2015 at his home in Prague at the age of 84. Although no cause of death was given, Czech Television stated that he had been fighting an unspecified long, serious illness.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Career statistics

Club	Season	League			National cupTemplate:Efn		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
ZSJ Technomat Teplice	1950	Czechoslovak First Divison	4	0	—		—		—		4	0
	1951		24	3	—		—		—		24	3
	1952		26	7	—		—		—		26	7
	Total		54	10	—		—		—		54	10
Dukla Prague	1953	Czechoslovak First Divison	14	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	14	3
	1954		12	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	12	0
	1955		19	1	-	-	-	-	6	2	25	3
	1956		17	0	-	-	-	-	2	1	19	2
	1957		21	4	-	-	-	-	3	1	24	5
	1957-58		18	1	-	-	2	-	-	-	20	1
	1958-59		20	4	-	-	4	1	-	-	24	5
	1959-60		21	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	21	9
	1960-61		26	11	2	-	-	-	-	-	28	11
	1961-62		26	3	2	2	6	-	-	-	34	5
	1962-63		25	8	1	-	6	1	-	-	32	9
	1963-64		26	4	1	1	6	1	-	-	33	6
	1964-65		20	1	3	-	5	1	-	-	28	2
	1965-66		19	5	4	2	-	-	4	1	27	8
	1966-67		16	8	4	1	8	1	-	-	28	10
	1967-68		13	1	4	-	-	-	-	-	17	1
	Total		313	63	21	6	37	5	15	5	386	80
Crossing Molenbeek	1968-69	Belgian First Division	27	8	-	-	-	-	3	-	30	8
	1969-70		14	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	14	1
	Total		41	9	-	-	-	-	3	-	44	9
Career total			508	82	21	6	37	5	18	5	483	99

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year<ref name = "rsssf">Template:Cite web</ref>

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Czechoslovakia	1954	1	0
	1955	0	0
	1956	10	2
	1957	6	0
	1958	10	2
	1959	2	0
	1960	6	2
	1961	7	1
	1962	11	3
	1963	4	0
	1964	4	0
	1965	1	0
	1966	1	0
Total		63	10

Scores and results list Czechoslovakia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Masopust goal.<ref name = "rsssf"/>

List of international goals scored by Josef Masopust

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	10 May 1956	Charmilles Stadium, Geneva, Switzerland	Template:Fb	6–1	6–1	1955–60 Central European International Cup
2	8 August 1956	Estádio do Pacaembu, São Paulo, Brazil	Template:Fb	1–3	1–4	Friendly
3	30 August 1958	Strahov Stadium, Prague, Czechoslovakia	Template:Fb	1–0	1–2	Friendly
4	13 December 1958	Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa, Italy	Template:Fb	1–0	1–1	1955–60 Central European International Cup
5	1 May 1960	Strahov Stadium, Prague, Czechoslovakia	Template:Fb	1–0	4–0	Friendly
6	22 May 1960	Stadionul 23 August, Bucharest, Romania	Template:Fb	1–0	2–0	EURO 1960
7	29 October 1961	Strahov Stadium, Prague, Czechoslovakia	Template:Fb	6–1	7–1	1962 FIFA World Cup qualification
8	17 June 1962	Estadio Nacional, Santiago, Chile	Template:Fb	1–0	1–3	1962 FIFA World Cup Final
9	16 September 1962	Praterstadion, Vienna, Austria	Template:Fb	2–0	6–0	Friendly
10				4–0

Honours

Dukla Prague<ref name="FIFA">Template:Cite web</ref>

• Czechoslovak First League: 1953, 1956, 1957–58, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1965–66
• Czechoslovak Cup: 1960–61, 1964–65, 1965–66
• International Soccer League: 1961
• American Challenge Cup: 1962, 1963, 1964

Czechoslovakia<ref name="FIFA"/>

• Central European International Cup: 1955-60
• UEFA European Championship bronze medal: 1960
• FIFA World Cup runner-up: 1962

Individual

• Ballon d'Or: 1962<ref name="FIFA"/>
• UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 1960<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• FIFA World Cup Silver Ball: 1962<ref name="FIFA"/>
• FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1962
• World Soccer World XI: 1962, 1964<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• ADN Eastern European Footballer of the Season: 1962<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Czechoslovak Footballer of the Year: 1966
• UEFA Czech Golden Player: 2003<ref name="FIFA"/>
• FIFA 100
• UEFA President's Award: 2014<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• Short biography Template:In lang
• 1962 – JOSEF MASOPUST – LA PRIME AU COLLECTIF, France Football
• Template:FACR player