Vaclav Pilar
Vaclav Pilar may only be 170 centimetres (5ft 6in) tall but he is fast building a reputation of being one of the most promising attacking midfielders in European football.
- Agence France-Presse
- Updated: May 25, 2012 04:15 PM IST
Full name: Vaclav Pilar
Date of birth: 13 October 1988 (age 23)
Place of birth: Chlumec nad Cidlinou, Czechoslovakia
Playing position: Winger
Current club: Wolfsburg (Germany)
Vaclav Pilar may only be 170 centimetres (5ft 6in) tall but he is fast building a reputation of being one of the most promising attacking midfielders in European football.
The 23-year-old -- due after a unwholesome wrangle to play for Bundesliga side Vfl Wolfsburg next season -- has already earned high praise from former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, which should be warning enough for the Czechs Group A rivals.
To the wider public he is probably best known for now for his goal in the Euro 2012 play-off with Montenegro.
The short, sturdy winger took the ball on the left of midfield, then slammed it across the box and into the net from 20 metres in what commentators described as the "Vaclav Pilar classic".
This goal played a large role in sending the Czechs to their fifth straight Euro tournament, as Montenegro failed to score in the two games, losing 3-0 on aggregate.
"It was a beautiful goal. Really important, too," Pilar beamed as his team clinched a place at the tournament.
The winger will swap Czech top-flight side Viktoria Plzen in the summer for Wolfsburg to join his former Plzen teammate Petr Jiracek who moved in the winter.
Pilar's first and only goal in seven games for the national team rounded off a perfect autumn in which Plzen, the 2011 Czech title-winners, clashed with Barcelona and AC Milan in the Champions League.
It was the home game against Barcelona that Pilar will remember best, despite a 4-0 loss following an attacking performance from Plzen cut short by a disputed red card in the first half.
"On the whole, Plzen really impressed me. I'd like to highlight Pilar and the way he played," Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said after the game.
"Of course it means a lot when the Barcelona coach says it. I just wanted to do my best for the team," said Pilar, likened by some Czech media to Barcelona star Lionel Messi.
But the player has recently made the headlines with more than his performances for the national team and Plzen.
Pilar, on loan at Plzen from the eastern Czech city of Hradec Kralove, got an offer from Wolfsburg last autumn, which sparked a tug-of-war between the two Czech clubs as Hradec was entitled to rake in the money.
Fearing it might end up empty-handed, Plzen offered Pilar a deal which he refused to sign.
In the end, Plzen and Hradec agreed to go halves on the transfer sum as Wolfsburg said they would only need Pilar in the summer -- an option that suited the national team which wanted Pilar to at least "play somewhere" in the spring.
Plzen, who have five players in the preliminary Euro squad, were also contenders for the title this year but finished third after being held to a goalless draw by champions Slovan Liberec on May 12.
For Pilar, this was the last game for Plzen.
Before the move to Wolfsburg, Pilar said he would "pursue success rather than money" when he moved abroad.
"If I had a chance, I would work hard and I'd want to succeed... I'd be happy in a foreign team playing European cups, the Champions League."
"Barcelona is a different class, I'd love to play for them, but I'd also go to another team in the Spanish league," said Pilar.