Rudi Skácel

Czech Republic

Skácel was born in Trutnov and began his career with Czech club FC Hradec Králové, making his senior debut in 1999 and helping his team to gain promotion back to the Czech top flight. In February 2002 he was signed by Slavia Prague, for a fee of 14 million Czech koruna. In May 2002 he won the Czech Cup with Slavia, beating their fierce rivals Sparta Prague in the final. He also won gold with the Czech Republic in the European Under-21 Football Championship. His UEFA Cup and Czech league performances in the 2002–03 season were noticed by French club Olympique de Marseille manager Alain Perrin.

Marseille

In August 2003 Marseille concluded a deal to sign Skácel for a fee of 2.5 million Euros. He made his debut on 13 September 2003, playing the entire match in a 5–0 victory over Le Mans at Stade Vélodrome. His first and only goal for L'OM came in a 3–1 home victory over Bastia on 5 October 2003. After his first season at Marseille, Skácel found himself out of favour after Alain Perrin was sacked. This led to Skácel being loaned out to Greek club Panathinaikos with an option of a permanent deal. He scored twice on his debut in a 3–2 cup victory over Atsalenios. Skácel played in the UEFA Champions League for the first time in his career for Panathinaikos, playing in five of the six group and scoring in a 2–2 away draw with Rosenborg as the Greek club finished third in Group E to earn the consolation of a place in the UEFA Cup. During his time with…

Skácel made his Czech Republic under-21 debut against Bulgaria on 5 October 2001 in Teplice, scoring the third goal in an 8–0 victory. He was part of the Czech Republic under-21 squad at the 2002 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship in Switzerland, along with his future Hearts teammate Michal Pospíšil. Both players converted in a penalty shoot-out as the Czechs emerged victorious in the final against France. Skácel made his Czech Republic national team debut on 12 November 2003 against Canada. He once again got off to a scoring start as he replaced Jan Koller after 73 minutes and scored eight minutes later in a 5–1 victory. He was named in the Czech squad for Euro 2008 as a replacement for the injured Daniel Pudil but did not leave the bench as the Czechs exited at the group stage. Skácel amassed seven caps for his country, scoring once.

Club

International

Hradec Králové

Czech 2. Liga: 2000–01 Slavia Prague

Czech Cup: 2001–02 Heart of Midlothian

Scottish Cup: 2005–06, 2011–12 Czech Republic Under-21

UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship: 2002 Individual

Scottish Premier League Player of the Month: August 2005