About Czech Republic

Fatherhood and a new start at AC Sparta Praha appear to have helped Marek Kulič shake off his tag as one of the lost talents of Czech football.

Bílek convinced
The 31-year-old's €300,000 move to leaders Sparta from rivals FK Mladá Boleslav was widely heralded as the biggest transfer of the January window. Sparta coach Mihal Bílek said: "His style will be very useful for us. There is no other player with his experience in the Czech 1. Liga." Nor are you likely to find another player with his reputation as a bad boy, yet since his belated international bow last August, Kulič has been making up for lost time. The forward's goal in the Czech Republic's 2-0 friendly win in Belgium last week was his second in four appearances.

Plastering trade
Kulič's career has been unusual by any standards. The former SK Hradec Králové trainee gave up professional football as a teenager after a row with his coach and worked as a plasterer, before being tempted back at the age of 22 by FK Lázně Bohdaneč in 1997/98. A subsequent spell at FK Drnovice in 1998/99 coincided with him meeting his wife Gabriela, and he created a different kind of stir after switching to FK Marila Príbram, scoring a hat-trick in his first-ever UEFA Cup tie against French side CS Sedan-Ardennes in September 2001. Yet his lifestyle soon became an issue.

Risky signing
After two further seasons at Príbram, he endured two mediocre campaigns with SK Dynamo Ceské Budéjovice before top-flight newcomers Mladá Boleslav took a chance on him in 2005/06. Eleven league goals, including a hat-trick at FC Slovan Liberec on the last day of the season, were their reward. National coach Karel Brückner was duly persuaded to give Kulič his debut in a summer friendly against Serbia. Before that game, Kulič's first daughter was born. It seems to have changed the player's life. His wild years are behind him. He has even reportedly stopped smoking.

Life begins
The initial signs since he arrived at Sparta have been good too. He has registered four goals in winter friendlies and looks set to shine in the spring. Interestingly, he has chosen No30 as his squad number - a sly reference to the fact that his career was finally resurrected at 30.

Posted by Mikes on Tuesday, February 20, 2007 at 1:02 PM | Permalink