PRAGUE (AP) — Veteran coach Miroslav Koubek will take charge of the Czech national team for the final stage of World Cup qualifying, the country’s soccer federation announced Friday.
Koubek, 74, will replace Ivan Hašek. fired in october After a humiliating 2-1 loss to the Faroe Islands in World Cup qualifying.
Jaroslav Koestl, who was Hašek’s assistant, was interim manager during the team’s 1-0 win over San Marino in a friendly and 6-0 win over Gibraltar in the final. world cup modifier.
Czech Football Association president David Tranda said Koubek had been given a two-and-a-half year contract.
His immediate challenge is the European qualifying play-offs in March.
Mr. Corbeck called his appointment a “huge honor” and the biggest challenge of his career.
“I, and the players too, will do our best to qualify for the World Cup,” he said.
The Czech Republic finished second in the qualifying group behind Croatia and qualified for the play-offs.
They will face Ireland for the first time in a single-elimination game at home on March 26, who qualified for the play-offs with a last-minute win over Hungary. The winner will host Denmark or North Macedonia for a spot in the tournament co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The teams participating in the tournament will be in Group A along with Mexico, South Africa and South Korea.
Koubek, a former goalkeeper, has mainly coached Czech clubs throughout his career. From 2016 to 2018, he served as an assistant to national team coach Karel Jarolim.
In his previous job, he managed Viktoria Plzen from 2023 until he was fired in September of this year, and the team reached the quarter-finals of the Conference League and the last 16 of the Europa League.
The last time the Czech Republic qualified for the World Cup was in 2006.
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