The Czech Football Association (FACR) appointed former Slavia Prague defender Jaroslav Silhavy as national team coach on Tuesday, replacing Karel Jarolim who was sacked last week.
“It’s a great honour… and a big commitment to the entire nation,” the 56-year-old Silhavy told reporters.
Jarolim’s two-year stint ended after a 2-1 loss to Ukraine in the Nations League opener and a 5-1 defeat by Russia in a friendly, the worst loss for the team since the Czech Republic emerged as an independent state in 1993.
“We are facing considerable criticism, the public is equally upset, so we have to work hard to persuade the fans it’s not so bad,” said Silhavy.
“The short-term goal is clear — the Nations League, we have to try and succeed in the games to come,” he added.
In their next game, the Czech Republic face Slovakia away in the Nations League on October 13.
As a defender, Silhavy played a record-high 465 games in the Czech top flight for Viktoria Pilsen, Cheb, Slavia Prague, Drnovice and Viktoria Zizkov.
He started coaching in 1999 and worked as an assistant national team coach under Karel Bruckner who led the team to the semi-finals at Euro 2004 and then to the World Cup in 2006, the last appearance at the tournament for the Czechs.
As a top-flight coach, Silhavy won the Czech title with Liberec in 2012 and with Slavia Prague in 2017.
The FACR appointed Jiri Chytry and Tomas Galasek — a midfielder in the 2004 and 2006 teams — as Silhavy’s assistants.
Agence France-Presse
