Langbahn Team – Weltmeisterschaft

David Lafata

David Lafata
Lafata in 2009
Personal information
Date of birth (1981-09-18) 18 September 1981 (age 43)
Place of birth České Budějovice, Czechoslovakia
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1989–1992 JZD Olešník
1992–1999 České Budějovice
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2005 České Budějovice 109 (27)
2002Jihlava (loan) 5 (1)
2005–2006 Skoda Xanthi 9 (0)
2006–2007 Jablonec 31 (10)
2007–2008 Austria Wien 36 (6)
2008–2012 Jablonec 130 (78)
2013–2018 Sparta Prague 148 (83)
Total 468 (205)
International career
1996–1997 Czech Republic U15 9 (0)
1997 Czech Republic U16 3 (0)
1998–1999 Czech Republic U17 8 (2)
1999–2000 Czech Republic U18 13 (6)
2001–2002 Czech Republic U20 6 (0)
2002–2003 Czech Republic U21 13 (3)
2006–2016 Czech Republic 41 (9)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

David Lafata (born 18 September 1981) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was the Czech First League's top scorer in six seasons and with 198 league goals, he is by far the top scorer of the Czech First League of all time. He also scored nine goals for the Czech Republic national team.

Club career

From 1992 until 2005, Lafata played for Czech team SK České Budějovice, with a brief spell at FC Vysočina Jihlava in 2002. The striker then moved to Greek club Skoda Xanthi in July 2005, but returned to the Czech Liga in January 2006. After one year at Jablonec, Lafata was transferred to FK Austria Vienna in January 2007 from where he came back to Jablonec in the spring of 2008. For Austria, he scored a goal in a domestic cup final.[1]

In the 2010–11 season, Lafata was top scorer of the Czech First League with 19 goals.[2]

He continued his good run of form into the 2011–12 season, scoring eleven goals in the first seven games, at the end of the autumn half, he scored eighteen goals in sixteen appearances.[3] In April 2012, Lafata broke the Czech First League season scoring record, notching his 23rd goal of the season.[4] He finished season with 25 goals, being top scorer and setting a new record.[citation needed]

In the 2012–13 season, Lafata scored 13 goals in the first 16 games, being top scorer of the league before signing for AC Sparta Prague in the winter break.[5] In February 2013, he scored a goal in the Europa League round of 32, in a 2–1 aggregate loss to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.[6] In March 2014 Lafata scored his 134th goal in the Czech First League, surpassing Horst Siegl as its top all-time scorer.[7]

At the start of the 2014–15 season, Lafata scored five goals in a 7–0 Champions League qualifying round win over Levadia Tallinn in the home leg in Prague.[8] Continuing his fine form in the Champions League qualifying round, Lafata scored a hat-trick in a 4–2 comeback victory over Malmö FF at home in Prague.[9] In autumn 2015, Lafata was denied at hat-trick (by the Croatian referee) in Europa League match in Greece against Asteras Tripolis.[citation needed] He scored goal in both away and home match against Schalke 04, as Sparta progressed to the knockout stages.[citation needed]

In May 2016, Lafata became the first player to score five goals in a Czech First League match, netting all of the goals in a 5–0 win against Jihlava.[10] On 30 July 2017, he scored his 200th league goal in a 1–1 draw against city rival Bohemians 1905.[11]

International career

He scored two goals on his debut for the Czech national team in a 2–1 win against Wales on 2 September 2006. He came on as a substitute after 75 mins and scored within a minute of coming on, the second coming in the 89th minute.

Career statistics

Club

Source: League matches[12] European club matches[13] League matches for Austria[citation needed]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
SK České Budějovice 2000–01 Czech First League 11 0 11 0
2001–02 Czech 2. Liga
2002–03 Czech First League 26 8 26 8
2003–04 Czech First League 29 14 29 14
2004–05 Czech First League 25 5 25 5
Total 91 27 91 27
Skoda Xanthi 2005–06 Super League Greece 9 0 2 1 11 1
FK Jablonec 2005–06 Czech First League 14 3 14 3
2006–07 Czech First League 17 7 17 7
Total 31 10 31 10
Austria Wien 2006–07 Austrian Bundesliga 13 1 0 0 13 1
2007–08 Austrian Bundesliga 22 5 3 1 7[a] 0 32 6
Total 35 6 3 1 7 0 45 7
FK Jablonec 2008–09 Czech First League 30 10 30 10
2009–10 Czech First League 27 11 5 3 32 14
2010–11 Czech First League 29 19 4 3 2[a] 0 35 22
2011–12 Czech First League 28 25 6 3 4[a] 3 38 31
2012–13 Czech First League 16 13 1 2 17 15
Total 130 78 16 11 6 3 152 92
Sparta Prague 2012–13 Czech First League 12 7 2 0 2[a] 1 16 8
2013–14 Czech First League 30 16 6 2 2[a] 2 38 20
2014–15 Czech First League 30 20 3[b] 1 11[c] 13 44 34
2015–16 Czech First League 26 20 3 2 12[d] 5 41 27
2016–17 Czech First League 28 15 2 0 10[e] 2 40 17
2017–18 Czech First League 22 5 1 0 2[a] 0 25 5
Total 148 83 17 5 39 23 204 111
Career total 444 204 38 18 52 26 534 248
  1. ^ a b c d e f Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  2. ^ Two appearances in Czech Cup, one appearance and one goal in Czech Supercup
  3. ^ Four appearances and eight goals in UEFA Champions League, seven appearances and five goals in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ One appearance in UEFA Champions League, eleven appearances and five goals in UEFA Europa League
  5. ^ Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, eight appearances and two goals in UEFA Europa League

International goals

Scores and results list Czech Republic's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lafata goal.[14]
List of international goals scored by David Lafata
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 2 September 2006 Na Stínadlech, Teplice, Czech Republic 1  Wales 1–0 2–1 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
2 2–1
3 26 May 2012 UPC-Arena, Graz, Austria 17  Israel 2–1 2–1 Friendly
4 14 November 2012 Andrův stadion, Olomouc, Czech Republic 24  Slovakia 1–0 3–0 Friendly
5 2–0
6 6 February 2013 Manisa 19 Mayıs Stadium, Manisa, Turkey 25  Turkey 2–0 2–0 Friendly
7 11 October 2013 Ta' Qali National Stadium, Mdina, Malta 28  Malta 2–0 4–1 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
8 13 October 2014 Astana Arena, Astana, Kazakhstan 33  Kazakhstan 2–0 4–2 UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
9 27 May 2016 Kufstein Arena, Kufstein, Austria 38  Malta 4–0 6–0 Friendly

Honours

Austria Wien

Sparta Prague

Individual

Records

References

  1. ^ "Austria Wien Archiv - die Online Statistik". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  2. ^ "Lafata musí vyhrát, zněl příkaz. Díky, spoluhráči, řekl střelec ligy" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 29 May 2011. Archived from the original on 1 June 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  3. ^ "Jak že se ta paní jmenuje? Jo, Damková, zlobil se po prohře Lafata" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 18 September 2011. Archived from the original on 23 September 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  4. ^ "Příbram – Jablonec 4:3, Lafata má rekord, k bodům ale nepomohl" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 7 April 2012. Archived from the original on 11 April 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  5. ^ "Sparta Prague signs Lafata". Miami Herald. 11 January 2013. Archived from the original on 17 January 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  6. ^ Oscroft, Tim (21 February 2013). "Chelsea 1-1 Sp Prague (agg 2-1)". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  7. ^ "Nejvíc gólů v historii ligy. Může Lafatův rekord ještě někdo překonat?". Lidové noviny (in Czech). 31 March 2014. Archived from the original on 3 April 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  8. ^ "Lafata scores five for rampant Sparta". UEFA.com. 15 July 2014. Archived from the original on 9 August 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  9. ^ Sparta - Malmö 4:2, český mistr prohrával, pak začal opět řádit Lafata Archived 2 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine, iDNES.cz, Retrieved 26. 7. 2014 (in Czech)
  10. ^ "Jistota. Lafata je nejlepším střelcem, na závěr dal rekordních pět gólů" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 14 May 2016. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  11. ^ "Sparťanskými srdci cloumá nápor: Vztek na vymyšlenou penaltu Slavie, návrat legendy i další selhání". Archived from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  12. ^ "David Lafata league profile". www.idnes.cz. Archived from the original on 21 July 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  13. ^ "David Lafata UEFA profile". www.uefa.com. Archived from the original on 9 August 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  14. ^ David Lafata at Soccerway
  15. ^ "Po sezoně ukončím fotbalovou kariéru, potvrdil kapitán Sparty Lafata". aktualne.cz (in Czech). 9 May 2018. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  16. ^ "Že mám rekord? Aha, divil se Lafata. Skóroval v osmém zápase za sebou" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 14 September 2015. Archived from the original on 18 September 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  17. ^ "Jistota. Lafata je nejlepším střelcem, na závěr dal rekordních pět gólů" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 14 May 2016. Archived from the original on 17 May 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  18. ^ "Vdenik.cz". Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  19. ^ "Vdenik.cz". Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  20. ^ "Jsme tady proto, abychom postoupili, říká před odvetou Lafata" (in Czech). ceskatelevize.cz. 5 August 2014. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  21. ^ "Lafata's once-in-a-lifetime Sparta bonanza". uefa.com. 16 July 2014. Archived from the original on 14 August 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.