Libor Kozák
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Libor Kozák[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 30 May 1989 | ||
| Place of birth | Opava, Czechoslovakia | ||
| Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 3 1⁄2 in)[2] | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Aston Villa | ||
| 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– | Aston Villa | 20 | (4) |
| 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 8 March 2016. | |||
Libor Kozák (born 30 May 1989) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a striker for Football League Championship club Aston Villa. He is a member of the Czech Republic national football team.
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 euro (1.8 million dollars) 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, Kozák 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, Kozák 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, Kozak 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 team-mate Ciaran Clark, and would miss the rest of the 2013–14 season.[13] Complications and further injuries saw Kozák 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]
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.[17]
Career statistics
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Opava | 2006–07 | Czech 2. Liga | 15 | 8 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 15 | 8 | ||
| 2007–08 | Czech 2. Liga | 26 | 11 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 26 | 11 | |||
| Total | 41 | 19 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 41 | 19 | |||
| Lazio | 2008–09 | Serie A | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2009–10 | Serie A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2010–11 | Serie A | 19 | 6 | 3 | 1 | – | 0 | 0 | 22 | 7 | ||
| 2011–12 | Serie A | 17 | 4 | 0 | 0 | – | 7 | 1 | 24 | 5 | ||
| 2012–13 | Serie A | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 11 | 10 | 31 | 10 | ||
| Total | 58 | 10 | 4 | 1 | – | 18 | 11 | 80 | 22 | |||
| Brescia (loan) | 2009–10 | Serie B | 29 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 29 | 3 | |
| Total | 29 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 29 | 3 | |||
| Aston Villa | 2013–14 | Premier League | 14 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 15 | 4 | |
| 2014–15 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | Premier League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 5 | 0 | ||
| Total | 18 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 4 | ||
| Career total | 146 | 36 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 11 | 170 | 48 | ||
References
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ "Barclays Premier League Player Profile". web page. Premier League. 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ "Kozak happy with Pompey trial". Sky Sports. 1 March 2008. Retrieved 2010-09-17.
- ↑ "Lazio sign Libor Kozak". FIFA.com. 5 July 2008.
- ↑ "Grosseto-Brescia 2–1" (in Italian). Brescia Calcio. 26 September 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-28.
- ↑ "Czech Republic to call up Kozak". Football Italia. 18 February 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
- ↑ "Libor Kozák match log". soccerway.com. 14 March 2013. Retrieved 2013-03-14.
- ↑ "Com._stampa appr. prog. bilancio_30-06-14" (PDF) (in Italian). SS Lazio. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
- ↑ "Villa complete deadline day swoop for striker Kozak". Aston Villa Football Club. 2 September 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
- ↑ "Norwich 0–1 Villa". Aston Villa Football Club. 21 September 2013.
- ↑ "Stoke City 2—1 Aston Villa". BBC Sport. 21 December 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
- ↑ "Aston Villa striker Libor Kozak breaks leg in training". BBC Sport. 2 January 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ "Wolves U21 0-1 Villa U21 report: Kozak back in derby win". Aston Villa Football Club. 8 April 2015.
- ↑ "Report: Villa 1-3 Fulham". Aston Villa Football Club. 10 July 2015.
- ↑ Bilek names squad for Spain, Liechtenstein.
- ↑ "Libor Kozak". Soccerbase. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
- ↑ "Libor Kozak". Soccerway. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
External links
- Libor Kozák career statistics at Soccerbase
- Libor Kozák international stats at the Football Association of the Czech Republic website (Czech)
- Profile on sslazio.it