Libor Kozák

Libor Kozák (born 30 May 1989) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a striker for Fortuna Liga club Sparta Prague and the Czech Republic national team.

Libor Kozák
Kozák playing for the Czech Republic in November 2019
Personal information
Full name Libor Kozák[1]
Date of birth (1989-05-30) 30 May 1989
Place of birth Opava, Czechoslovakia
Height 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)[2]
Position(s) Striker
Club information
Current team
 Sparta Prague
Number 18
Youth career
2001–2006 Opava
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2008 Opava 41 (19)
2008–2013 Lazio 58 (10)
2009–2010 → Brescia (loan) 29 (3)
2013–2017 Aston Villa 20 (4)
2017–2018 Bari 15 (2)
2018–2019 Livorno 9 (0)
2019 Slovan Liberec 10 (7)
2019– Sparta Prague 39 (16)
National team‡
2007–2008 Czech Republic U19 9 (3)
2009–2011 Czech Republic U21 14 (3)
2012– Czech Republic 8 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 31 January 2021
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:55, 4 August 2017 (UTC)

Club career

SFC Opava

Kozák started his career in 2001 with Czech club Slezský FC Opava, first playing with its youth teams before being promoted to the first team in 2007. Considered a promising talent, Kozák was a prolific goalscorer in the Czech Second Division with Opava. In October 2007, he scored his first hat-trick, coming in a 5–1 Opava win against FC Zenit Čáslav in the second division.[3]

In January 2008, Kozák went on trial with English Premier League club Portsmouth, however he did not join Pompey.[4] At the end of the season, Italian giants Lazio came calling and Kozák accepted a move to Rome.

Lazio

Kozák joined Lazio in July 2008, signing a five-year contract, with rumours that Lazio club president Claudio Lotito paid a €1.2 million ($1.8 million) transfer fee.[5]

Kozák made his Serie A debut on 2 May 2009, coming on as a substitute for Mauro Zárate in the 84th minute against Inter at the San Siro. Lazio lost the match 0–2.

After a season at Lazio, the club loaned him to Serie B side Brescia for the 2009–10 season, to gain experience and regular playing time. On 26 September 2009, Kozák scored his first goal in Italy against Grosseto.[6]

At the end of his loan spell, he returned to Lazio. He scored his first goal for the Biancocelesti on 18 September 2010 which turned out to be the winner against Fiorentina. On 16 January 2011, he netted the deciding goal against Sampdoria before registering his third and fourth goals for Lazio two weeks later, against Fiorentina once again. Having achieved four goals in nine starts for Lazio of which four goals came in January, Michal Bílek, manager of the Czech Republic, suggested Kozak would be called up to the national team and announced he would be make a special trip to the Stadio Olimpico to watch his game against A.S. Bari.[7]

In the 2012–13 season Kozák, under coach Vladimir Petković, experienced a two-faced season failing to score in 19 appearances in Serie A, but finishing the season as the leading goal scorer in the Europa League with 8 goals. He scored his first club hat trick against VfB Stuttgart in Rome on 14 March 2013, helping his team reach the last eight by an aggregate score of 5–1.[8]

Aston Villa

On 2 September 2013, Kozák signed a four-year deal with English side Aston Villa for €6.5 million transfer fee,[9] being assigned the number 27 shirt.[10] On 14 September 2013, he made his Aston Villa debut at Villa Park, but couldn't prevent the side from losing 2–1 to Newcastle United. On 21 September 2013, he scored his first goal for Villa, seconds after replacing Christian Benteke, against Norwich City which proved to be the winning goal in a 1–0 victory.[11] On 9 November 2013, he scored his second Villa goal with a header in a 2–0 victory against Cardiff City. On 4 December 2013, he scored the second goal in a 3–2 victory over Southampton. On 21 December 2013, he scored the only goal for Villa in a 2–1 loss to Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium.[12]

On 2 January 2014 Villa announced that Kozak had broken his right leg in a training ground collision with teammate Ciaran Clark, and would miss the rest of the 2013–14 season.[13] Complications and further injuries saw him miss the entire 2014–15 season as well.[14] He eventually made his come back 15 months after the initial leg break in March 2015 in an under-21 match against Wolverhampton Wanderers.[15] He made his first team comeback in July 2015 in a 3–1 pre-season defeat to Fulham, in which he scored for the first time since December 2013.[16] In February 2017, with Kozak's contract running out at the end of season, Aston Villa announced that he would miss the rest of the season undergoing surgery on his ankle.[17]

Kozák was released by Aston Villa at the end of the 2016–17 season.[18]

Bari

On 30 August 2017, Kozak joined Serie B team Bari.[19]

Livorno

On 16 July 2018, Kozák signed with Livorno.[20]

Sparta Prague

On 28 May 2019, Kozák signed with Sparta Prague.[21]

International career

Kozák played for the Czech under-21 team, representing the team at the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.

Kozák received his first call up for the senior Czech national team on 15 March 2011, when coach Michal Bílek selected him in his squad to take on Spain and Liechtenstein, however Kozák did not make his senior international debut.[22]

Career statistics

Club
As of 1 August 2020[23][24]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Opava 2006–07 Czech 2. Liga 15800––158
2007–08 261100––2611
Total 411900––4119
Lazio 2008–09 Serie A 3000––30
2009–10 0000–0000
2010–11 19631–00227
2011–12 17400–71245
2012–13 19010–11103110
Total 581041–18118022
Brescia (loan) 2009–10 Serie B 29300–00293
Aston Villa 2013–14 Premier League 1440010–154
2014–15 000000–00
2015–16 400010–50
2016–17 Championship 20–––20
Total 204002000224
Bari 2017–18 Serie B 15210––162
Livorno 2018–19 Serie B 9020––110
Slovan Liberec 2018–19 Fortuna liga 14710––157
Sparta Prague 2019–20 Fortuna liga 311454–203818
Career total 2175915820201125275

International
As of 10 June 2019[25]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Czech Republic 201210
201372
201910
202000
Total92
Scores and results list the Czech Republic's goal tally first.[26][25]
International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 14 August 2013Puskás Ferenc Stadion, Budapest, Hungary4 Hungary1–01–1Friendly
2 10 September 2013Juventus Stadium, Turin, Italy6 Italy1–02–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Club

Lazio

International

Czech Republic U21

Individual

References
  1. "Player shirt numbers for 20 Barclays Premier League clubs released". Premier League. 8 August 2015. Archived from the original on 9 August 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  2. "Barclays Premier League Player Profile". web page. Premier League. 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  3. "Kozák dal ve druhé lize svůj první hattrick" [Kozák scores his first hat-trick in the second league] (in Czech). idnes.cz. 8 October 2007. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  4. "Kozak happy with Pompey trial". Sky Sports. 1 March 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
  5. "Lazio sign Libor Kozak". FIFA.com. 5 July 2008.
  6. "Grosseto-Brescia 2–1" (in Italian). Brescia Calcio. 26 September 2009. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
  7. "Czech Republic to call up Kozak". Football Italia. 18 February 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  8. "Libor Kozák match log". soccerway.com. 14 March 2013. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  9. "Com._stampa appr. prog. bilancio_30-06-14" (PDF) (in Italian). SS Lazio. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  10. "Villa complete deadline day swoop for striker Kozak". Aston Villa Football Club. 2 September 2013. Archived from the original on 5 September 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  11. "Norwich 0–1 Villa". Aston Villa Football Club. 21 September 2013.
  12. "Stoke City 2–1 Aston Villa". BBC Sport. 21 December 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  13. "Aston Villa striker Libor Kozak breaks leg in training". BBC Sport. 2 January 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  14. "Aston Villa striker Libor Kozak could be out until next year after nightmare injury setback". Aston Villa Football Club. 2 October 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  15. "Wolves U21 0–1 Villa U21 report: Kozak back in derby win". Aston Villa Football Club. 8 April 2015. Archived from the original on 10 April 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  16. "Report: Villa 1–3 Fulham". Aston Villa Football Club. 10 July 2015. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  17. Waddon, Mitch (17 February 2017). "Aston Villa confirm Libor Kozak will miss the rest of the season". Squawka. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  18. Aston Villa FC [@AVFCOfficial] (5 May 2017). "Press Conference: Steve Bruce confirms @Libor_Kozak has been released as his current contract expires. Good luck f…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  19. Dicken, Alex (29 August 2017). "Former Aston Villa striker Libor Kozak has a new club". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  20. Dicken, Alex (16 July 2018). "Transfer news LIVE: Birmingham City dealt double blow; Leeds United snap up starlet; Aston Villa trialist revealed". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  21. Vacek, Jan (28 May 2019). "Druhá letní posila na Letnou! Do Sparty přichází útočník Kozák". isport.blesk.cz. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  22. Bilek names squad for Spain, Liechtenstein.
  23. "Libor Kozak". Soccerbase. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  24. "Libor Kozak". Soccerway. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  25. "Libor Kozák - national football team player". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  26. "Kozák, Libor". National Football Teams. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  27. "Regulations of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  28. https://www.uefa.com/under21/match/2003416--switzerland-vs-czech-republic/lineups/
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