Timidity, Low Self-Confidence, or Alibis. Legendary Jan Koller Also on Weiss's Statement

He's a former footballer whose Czech national team goal-scoring record will be tough to beat.

Jan Koller found the net for the "Lions" an impressive 55 times. More importantly, he was part of the golden generation of Czech football, reaching the semi-finals of EURO 2004 in Portugal. He was a crucial component of legendary coach Karel Brückner's squad, which was rightly considered the tournament's "dark horse." Their run was ultimately halted by the surprising eventual winners, Greece.

However, this success is something the Czech Republic hasn't been able to replicate or even come close to in subsequent years. This trend continued at the ongoing 2026 World Cup in Canada, USA, and Mexico, where the national team from across the Morava River became one of the most heavily criticized.

Former formidable Czech striker Jan Koller was also far from satisfied. He's calling for an in-depth analysis of the team's failure and the identification of solutions that would lead to much-needed change. "I don't think we're so bad that we should be playing this kind of football," the 53-year-old Koller stated in an exclusive interview with ŠPORT.sk.

What's your overall impression of the Czech Republic's performance at the World Cup? We know they finished the group stage without a single win, with only one point and a goal difference of 2:6. Even the statistics weren't what everyone had hoped for. Do you see it similarly?

"Well, of course, like for everyone here in the Czech Republic, it's a huge disappointment. Not just in terms of results, but especially the performance. It's been a long-term issue. We were lucky just to qualify for the championship. We considered it a great success, especially since we made it through penalties. I expected us to play better football in this tournament."

In one interview, you mentioned that the style of play was more or less boring for you. Did the football the Czech Republic displayed truly not excite you at all?

"No, it didn't excite me. There were moments, for example, at the start of the match against South Africa (1-1), where it met certain standards, but overall, it was very little. To be successful, players need to deliver much more. I think they realize that themselves, and at the same time, I don't think we're so bad at football that we can't play better and more daring football."

What do you think was most lacking? Was there too much sterility or passivity?

"Above all, I missed courage. Perhaps, paradoxically, it hurt us that we took the lead in both matches – against Korea (1-2) and South Africa (1-1). After that, we started to worry about the result, played terribly passively, and ceded the initiative to our opponents, who then capitalized. Korea turned the game around, and South Africa exploited our passivity, earned a penalty, and equalized. It was precisely that timidity and lack of self-confidence in the players that bothered me the most."

However, you had truly quality players in the squad, such as Patrik Schick, Tomáš Souček, Adam Hložek, and Pavel Šulc, among others. Why, perhaps with the exception of captain Ladislav Krejčí, do you think the Czech leaders couldn't stand out more? Did you expect more from them?

"Everyone did, I think. That was another critical moment why we didn't succeed. The key players, on whom everything was supposed to be built, unfortunately, weren't in optimal form. For example, Pavel Šulc had a fantastic season, but he got injured towards the end, and that probably affected him the most. After the injury, unfortunately, he wasn't in ideal form for this tournament."

Since he's a key player, it also affected Patrik Schick, who received almost no service from his teammates and was isolated up front. He couldn't get into his rhythm. While there was effort, as you mentioned with Láďa Krejčí, who is a fighter and put his heart into it, overall it was very little. The others didn't join him."

In one interview, you also pointed out several Czech "excuses" that bothered you, such as difficult travel, altitude, and so on. You also mentioned that you felt the Czech team lacked a greater degree of self-criticism. Do you still feel that way, even after the elimination is definitive?

"It's certainly unpleasant, but other teams also have travel problems and have to deal with them just the same. Perhaps with the exception of host Mexico. It's unpleasant, but for me, it's a bit of an alibi, and I really don't like that they're hiding behind it. Players should be prepared for such conditions and should be able to handle them."

Slovak national team coach Vladimír Weiss Sr. noted after the Czech Republic's match against South Africa (1-1) that while the Czech league has its quality, it still lags behind the top European leagues. Your squad included 17 players from the domestic competition. Could the aforementioned quality have contributed to the overall result?

"Of course, the Czech league doesn't reach the level of the best European competitions. Our World Cup squad predominantly featured players from our league, but on the other hand, there were players from Sparta Prague, Slavia Prague, and Plzeň who have extensive experience in European cups, including the Champions League, so they should be able to handle it."

In our era, sometimes there wasn't even a single player from the Czech league. Our league is certainly weaker (than top European leagues, editor's note), but again, I don't think our players are so much weaker than others. For example, when I look at how Canada or the USA perform, I don't think we're so much weaker that we couldn't play similar football."

Coach Miroslav Koubek is facing significant criticism after the championship. According to several reports, he is reportedly prepared to continue despite the World Cup failure. How do you view his position? Does this veteran coach still have something to offer the Czech team?

"We'll see. I'm not a proponent of changing coaches every six months. Mr. Koubek came after Ivan Hašek, and I'm really not in favor of changing coaches so frequently. Now, it's necessary to conduct an analysis, learn from mistakes, and start completely fresh."

If Mr. Koubek is capable of that, then why shouldn't he continue? He has a valid contract for the next cycle, but now we also face a certain generational change. Even though we don't have such strong competition, new players could certainly be found. On the other hand, there were new lads like Denis Višinský, Alexandr Sojka, whose performances weren't entirely bad, and we could build on that.

If Pavel Šulc regains his form and more youngsters emerge, then I'm optimistic. However, we mustn't hide behind alibis and comfort ourselves that everything is great. We must admit that it's not great and learn from it to play better football."

Speaking of young players, the overall youth development and the suppression of their individuality seem to be a long-standing problem. Coach Miroslav Soukup spoke about this, and Vladimír Coufal also hinted at it after the tournament. How do you perceive this issue?

"This is a topic that has been discussed for ten or fifteen years. I'm involved in youth football as an ambassador for the Planeo Cup tournament, where I observe boys from eight to thirteen years old, and I wouldn't see it as quite so bleak."

I see how coaches work with them, and I think things are already changing. They are trying to develop elements of modern football in them, so I wouldn't see it as so dire. Although the membership base isn't as wide as in the past, because there are also more sports and other interests, which means there are fewer players and less quality is being produced."

Finally, a question about the tournament itself. Who has impressed you the most "across the pond" at the championship so far, and who do you think will win it all?

"There are several favorites, or teams that are playing good football, so it will be interesting. France is definitely among the hot contenders, as is Argentina. Brazil is also slowly getting into gear. My personal pick was Brazil, although I don't even know why (laughs)."

Then there's a 'dark horse' for me, which is Norway. I've been following them since the qualifiers, which they won absolutely convincingly, even ahead of Italy. They play really great football; you can feel a huge drive and an excellent team atmosphere from them. I believe they will go far."

As I said, my pick for the winner is Brazil, although I don't entirely know why, but they are certainly among the biggest favorites, which I think are mainly the French. It will be an interesting championship where surprises can happen, because the knockout stage can also be tricky. It could easily go to penalties there, which is always a lottery, so we'll see how it turns out (smiles)."