Vratislav Lokvenc

Early success

Lokvenc was born into a football family; his father, also named Vratislav Lokvenc, played club football for FK Ústí nad Labem in the second football league of Czechoslovakia and later Náchod. Born in 1973, Lokvenc started his professional career during the 1992–93 season with Hradec Králové, joining Sparta Prague in October 1994. He featured in the 1995–96 UEFA Cup for Sparta, scoring the first goal and providing the pass for the second in a 2–1 win against Danish club Silkeborg IF, whereby Sparta qualified on the away goals rule for the second round. He scored a goal shortly after entering the game as a substitute in a first round match of the 1996–97 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup against Austrian side Sturm Graz; the match finished 2–2. Lokvenc spent six seasons at Sparta Prague, with whom he won five league titles and the 1995–96 Czech Cup. In March 2000, in a match against České Budějovice, Lokvenc scored four times for Sparta as the match finished 4–1. In doing so he became the third player in the Czech era to score four times in the same match, after Josef Obajdin and Robert Vágner. Lokvenc scored twice in the Prague derby match against Slavia Prague in May 2000, in a 5–1 win which secured the league title for Sparta. He was top scorer of the Czech First League in the 1999–2000 season with 22 goals, tying the league record, which stood until David Lafata scored 25 goals during the 2011–12 season.

Germany

Lokvenc joined 1. FC Kaiserslautern of…

Lokvenc represented his country at under-21 level, scoring seven goals in 13 matches between 1993 and 1995. He first played for the senior Czech national team in 1995. Lokvenc was part of the Czech Republic squad at the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup in Saudi Arabia. He 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.

Euro 2000

At Euro 2000, Lokvenc made a substitute appearance in the Czech Republic's opening game against the Netherlands, replacing Pavel Nedvěd after 89 minutes as the match resulted in a 1–0 win for the Dutch. He replaced Radek Bejbl in the second group match, against France, coming on after 49 minutes in the 2–1 loss. 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. He came on after 79 minutes, replacing Vladimír Šmicer in a 2–0 win for his nation.

Euro 2004

Lokvenc scored twice as a substitute in a June 2003 qualification match against Moldova, scoring both goals with his head in a 5–0 win for his country. He played in one match at Euro 2004. He 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 Baroš after 59…

Lokvenc was particularly noted for his height, being referred to as a "towering forward", and having "a similar aerial threat" to international teammate Jan Koller. His strength was noted as another of his assets.

Club

International

Scores and results list the Czech Republic's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lokvenc goal.