27 Facts About Vratislav Lokvenc

Vratislav Lokvenc subsequently played abroad, playing club football in Germany, Austria and Switzerland for 1.

Vratislav Lokvenc played at the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup before going on to take part in three major competitions.

Vratislav Lokvenc made three substitute appearances at Euro 2000 and played in one game at Euro 2004.

The Czech Republic did not qualify for the next round of the competition and Lokvenc subsequently retired from international football in 2006.

Lokvenc was born into a football family; his father, named Vratislav Lokvenc, played club football for FK Usti nad Labem in the second football league of Czechoslovakia and later Nachod.

In December 2000 Vratislav Lokvenc scored in the UEFA Cup against Rangers, helping his team qualify for the last 16 of the competition.

Kaiserslautern announced that Vratislav Lokvenc would be sold in April 2004, citing his salary demands as reasons for his sale.

Vratislav Lokvenc joined VfL Bochum of the Bundesliga in the summer of 2004, agreeing the transfer before the European Championships.

Vratislav Lokvenc signed for Red Bull Salzburg in the summer of 2005, rejecting offers from Portsmouth and Hertha Berlin.

Vratislav Lokvenc described his move to Salzburg as "the best transfer of my life", arriving around the same time as Germany national team players Thomas Linke and Alexander Zickler.

Vratislav Lokvenc returned to Germany in the summer of 2008, joining Ingolstadt of the 2.

Vratislav Lokvenc played in 23 games and scored six goals.

Vratislav Lokvenc played football in the amateur Czech Fourth Division for Union Celakovice.

Vratislav Lokvenc continued to be physically active after his football career, taking part in the 2010 Prague Half Marathon in the same field as former international teammate Pavel Nedved.

Vratislav Lokvenc was again involved in the Prague Half Marathon in 2015, taking part in a relay alongside Nedved, fellow footballer Tomas Hubschman and 2014 Miss Czech Republic, Tereza Skoumalova.

Vratislav Lokvenc represented his country at under-21 level, scoring seven goals in 13 matches between 1993 and 1995.

Vratislav Lokvenc first played for the senior Czech national team in 1995.

Vratislav Lokvenc was part of the Czech Republic squad at the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup in Saudi Arabia.

Vratislav Lokvenc took part as a substitute in the group stage match against United Arab Emirates and started the third place play-off game versus Uruguay, which the Czech Republic won to finish third overall in the tournament.

Vratislav Lokvenc appeared in the third group match against Denmark, although due to both teams having lost both of their previous matches, neither team could advance to the next round of the competition.

Vratislav Lokvenc started the group match against Germany among a group of players which was described by the BBC as "very much a Czech second string", but failed to score and was replaced by Milan Baros after 59 minutes.

In March 2005, Vratislav Lokvenc again scored the deciding goal, this time against Finland in Teplice.

At the 2006 World Cup, Vratislav Lokvenc replaced the injured Jan Koller as a substitute in the first group match, against the USA.

Vratislav Lokvenc started the second group match, against Ghana, in the absence of fellow strikers Koller and Baros due to injury.

Vratislav Lokvenc announced his retirement from international football in September 2006, becoming the third player from the World Cup team to retire after Karel Poborsky and Pavel Nedved.

Vratislav Lokvenc finished his international career with figures of 14 goals in 74 matches.

Vratislav Lokvenc's strength was noted as another of his assets.