Karel Rada (born 2 March 1971) is a Czech former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a defender. He played

Dukla Prague Dukla Prague () was a Czech football club from the city of Prague. Established in 1948 as ATK Praha, the club won a total of 11 Czechoslovak league titles and eight Czechoslovak Cups, and in the 1966–67 season, reached the semi-finals of the ...

Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in t ...

Sigma Olomouc SK Sigma Olomouc is a Czech professional football club based in the city of Olomouc. The club currently competes in the Czech First League, the first tier of Czech football. The club played in the first tier league for 30 years between 1984 and 2 ...

, Teplice,

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...

and

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

. At international level, Rada played for the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, for which he played 43 matches and scored four goals.

Career

Rada started his career with

. He played in the

Czechoslovak First League The Czechoslovak First League (, ) was the premier football (soccer), football league in the Czechoslovakia from 1925 to 1993, with the exception of World War II. Czechoslovakia was occupied by German forces who formed Gauliga Sudetenland and Ga ...

from 1990, through its transition into the

Czech First League The Czech First League () also known as the Chance Liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Czech Republic and the highest level of the Czech Republic football league system. Seasons typically run from A ...

in 1993 until 1997, when he moved abroad to play for Turkish club Trabzonspor in the

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

. He finished his professional career in 2008 after Bohemians 1905 were relegated from the Czech First League. Rada was a participant in the

UEFA Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in ...

, where the Czech Republic won the silver medal, and represented the country at the

1997 FIFA Confederations Cup The 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup was the first FIFA Confederations Cup, Confederations Cup to be organized by FIFA. The tournament had previously been played in 1992 King Fahd Cup, 1992 and 1995 King Fahd Cup, 1995 as the King Fahd Cup. This editi ...

. He scored a penalty shootout in a victory against France during the former tournament. Rada was appointed coach of the

Czech Republic women's national football team The Czech Republic women's national football team is the women's association football team of the Czech Republic. Results and fixtures * The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have ...

in February 2017, but resigned on 3 December 2024 after a loss against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. On 7 May 2025, Rada was appointed women's football director of

Viktoria Plzeň Viktoria usually refers to Viktoria, a name which is the same as Victoria (name), but may also refer to: Places * FK Viktoria Stadion, stadium of Viktoria Žižkov * Viktoria-Luise-Platz, building in Berlin * Viktoriastadt, now known as Victor ...

Personal life

Following his football career, Rada returned to West Bohemia, where he ran a

pension A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...

, as well as training youth teams of

FC Viktoria Plzeň Football Club Viktoria Plzeň () is a Czech professional Association football, football club based in Plzeň. It plays in the Czech First League, the top division of football in the country. As runner-up in the 1970–71 Czechoslovak Cup, the c ...

. Rada is married to a woman named Vlaďka, with whom he has twin daughters named Adéla and Eliška.

References

External links

* 1971 births Living people Sportspeople from Karlovy Vary Footballers from the Karlovy Vary Region Czech men's footballers Czech Republic men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Bohemians 1905 players SK Sigma Olomouc players SK Slavia Prague players FK Teplice players Eintracht Frankfurt players Trabzonspor footballers UEFA Euro 1996 players 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup players UEFA Euro 2000 players Czechoslovak First League players Czech First League players Süper Lig players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Czech expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Czech expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Czech expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Czech football managers Czech Republic women's national football team managers {{CzechRepublic-footy-defender-stub