Jan Koller (Czech pronunciation:[ˈjanˈkolɛr]; born 30 March 1973) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was noted for his height, strong physique and heading ability.
He began his career at Sparta Prague, then moved to Belgium, where he became the Belgian First Division top scorer with Lokeren. He won the league championship twice with Anderlecht and the Belgian Golden Shoe. In 2001, he joined Borussia Dortmund, where he won the Bundesliga title in his first season and scored 73 goals in 167 official games over five campaigns. He moved frequently in his later career, with stops in France, Germany and Russia.
Koller started his football training as a goalkeeper,[3] but was converted to striker by the time he started his professional career with Czech club Sparta Prague. He made his début for Sparta in the spring of 1995 in a match against Benešov, coming on as a substitute with 20 minutes of the game remaining.[4] In 1996, Koller caught the eye of Belgian football and signed with the club Lokeren for a fee equivalent to €102,000.[3]
Anderlecht
After a successful three-year stint, in which he managed to finish as Belgian First Division top-scorer in his last season at Lokeren, Koller was signed by Belgian club Anderlecht. He quickly built up a successful partnership with Canadian striker Tomasz Radzinski, excelling in his debut season and earning him the Belgian Golden Shoe in 2000. At the end of the season, he was bought by German side Borussia Dortmund after turning down English side Fulham.[5]
While Koller was at Dortmund, the club won the 2001–02 Bundesliga, thanks in part to Koller's 11 league goals. Besides the Bundesliga title his biggest success whilst at Dortmund was helping them to the 2002 UEFA Cup Final, where his goal could not prevent them losing 3–2 to Feyenoord.
His training as a goalkeeper saw some use in the 2002–03 season. In a Bundesliga match against Bayern Munich, Dortmund's goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was sent off in the second half for a second yellow card,[6] and Dortmund had already used their three substitutions. Koller, who had already opened the scoring in the 8th minute, moved from striker to goalkeeper after 67 minutes of the match. He prevented any more goals for the rest of the match, despite Dortmund having been reduced to nine players due to the earlier expulsion of Torsten Frings.[7] Koller was named by kicker as the Bundesliga's top goalkeeper of the week for his performance.[8][9]
Monaco and Nürnberg
In a surprising move, Koller signed with French side Monaco in 2006 but a two-season disappointing campaign, despite a decent scoring record, forced him to move back to Germany to play with Nürnberg.[10] Unfortunately for Koller, who wasn't the only Czech in the team as he was partnered with Tomáš Galásek and Jaromír Blazek, the Nürnberg-based club had performed poorly throughout the season and were relegated to 2. Bundesliga at the end of the 2007–08 season. In 14 matches Bundesliga matches he netted twice for Nürnberg.[11]
On 23 June 2008, Koller was transferred to Russian club Krylia Sovetov Samara in a deal worth €1 million.[12] On 5 December 2009, Koller returned to France, joining Championnat National team Cannes, with a contract until June 2011.[13] Koller announced his retirement from football in August 2011 after a series of injuries.[3]
Koller became the all-time top scorer for the Czech Republic on 8 June 2005 following a match against Macedonia, in which he scored four goals in just 11 minutes of a 6–1 win, taking his international total to 39.[15]
In his third month with Nürnberg, Koller announced that he would retire from the Czech national team after Euro 2008.[16] However, after losing a Euro 2008 Group A match against Turkey 3–2, Koller eventually retired from international football.[17]
In July 2009, Koller announced that he would rejoin the national team because of poor results in the 2010 World Cup qualification.[18] He played in the match against Slovakia, but announced his retirement from international football again on 6 September.[19]
Style of play
Koller was particularly noted for his height, strong physique and heading ability, being referred to as a "towering forward"[20][21] and a "human lighthouse".[22] Due to his stature, he was often nicknamed Dino throughout his career.[23]
Career statistics
Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
^"Czech lose two towers". UEFA.com. 29 September 2005. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
^Sergio Di Cesare; Marco Porro; Fabio Bianchi (13 June 2000). "Sua altezza Koller sa farsi valere" [His highness Koller knows how to make himself count] (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. Archived from the original on 17 July 2024. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
