Michal Kadlec (born 13 December 1984) is a Czech 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 ...

who plays as a defender for Czech club

1. FC Slovácko 1. FC Slovácko is a Czech football club based in Uherské Hradiště. The team was established in 1927 as SK Staré Město and on 1 July 2000 as 1. FC Synot, which was a merger of the original club with ''FC Slovácká Slavia Uherské Hradiště ...

. He previously played for

Sparta Prague ) but refer to Spartans as "''Rudí''" ( en, The Dark Reds/The Maroons).'' Letenští'' , ground = Generali Česká pojišťovna Arena , capacity = 19,416 , clubname = Sparta Prague , image = Sparta Praha logo.png , image_size = 160px , fu ...

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, th ...

and Fenerbahçe. Kadlec made his senior debut in 2007. He has scored 8 goals in 69 caps for the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

, representing them at two (2012 and 2016)

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...

Early life

Kadlec was born in 1984 in

Vyškov Vyškov (; german: Wischau) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 20,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Administrative parts Vyškov ...

. After his father, Miroslav Kadlec, joined

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern () or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to football, the club also operates in severa ...

in 1990, the family moved to Germany in the Kaiserslautern area. Kadlec learned German in kindergarten before he went to school a year later. After his time in

Grundschule Education in Germany is primarily the responsibility of individual German states (), with the federal government playing a minor role. Optional Kindergarden (nursery school) education is provided for all children between one and six years o ...

, he went to the Gymnasium. In 1998, Kadlec's father signed for FK Drnovice and so he returned to the Czech Republic.

Club career

Kadlec started his professional career in Slovácko and made his debut in a match against

Baník Ostrava ''Baník'' is a Slovak language, Slovak word meaning "miner". Since the 1950s it has been part of the name of various sports clubs in Czechoslovakia associated mostly with coal mining regions. In Poland, the same practice was conducted with the name ...

. In 2005, he joined Sparta Prague. On 14 June 2013 he joined Fenerbahçe for a €4.5 million transfer fee, signing a three-year contract worth €2.1 million per season.

International career

On 17 November 2007, Kadlec was called up to the Czech national team for a game against

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

, and made his debut in a 3–1 victory (scoring an own goal). He scored his first goal in a win over

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

on 30 May 2008 (also 3–1). On 16 June 2012, against Poland in the European Championship, Kadlec headed a ball off the line in the dying seconds, preserving the Czechs' spot in the quarter-finals of the tournament. The strike had beaten goalkeeper

Petr Čech Petr Čech (; born 20 May 1982) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He also plays semi-professional ice hockey as a goaltender for Chelmsford Chieftains. Described by numerous players, pundits and managers as ...

and appeared to be headed to the inside of the far post; had it been scored then Poland would have ensured a draw, and the Czech Republic would have been eliminated from the tournament.

Sponsorship

On 11 July 2013,

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network ...

announced that Kadlec would feature on the Czech cover of ''

FIFA 14 ''FIFA 14'' is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts worldwide under the EA Sports label. It was released in September 2013 for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, PlayStati ...

'', alongside global cover star

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

Career statistics

Club

International goals

Honours

Club

Sparta Prague *

Gambrinus liga The Czech First League, known as the Fortuna liga for sponsorship reasons, is a Czech professional league for football clubs. At the top of the Czech football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Seasons typically ...

: 2004–05, 2006–07 *

Czech Cup The Czech Cup ( cs, Pohár FAČR), officially known as the MOL Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the major men's football cup competition in the Czech Republic. It is organised by the Czech Football Association. The Czech Cup was first held in 1 ...

: 2005–06, 2006–07 Fenerbahçe *

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

: 2013–14 *

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup (Turkish: ''TFF Süper Kupa''), as it is currently known, is the annual super cup football match contested between the previous season's Süper Lig champions and the Turkish Cup winners in Turkey. It was originally known as ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Slovácko *

: 2021–22 Michal Kadlec 2009

References

External links

*
Sparta Prague profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kadlec, Michal Living people 1984 births People from Vyškov Association football defenders Czech footballers Czech Republic youth international footballers Czech Republic under-21 international footballers Czech Republic international footballers 1. FC Slovácko players AC Sparta Prague players Bayer 04 Leverkusen players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Turkey Bundesliga players UEFA Euro 2008 players UEFA Euro 2012 players UEFA Euro 2016 players Czech First League players Süper Lig players Czech expatriate sportspeople in Germany Czech expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Czech expatriate footballers SV Alsenborn players Sportspeople from the South Moravian Region