Matúš Kozáčik

Matúš Kozáčik
Personal information
Full name	Matúš Kozáčik
Date of birth	27 December 1983 (age 40)
Place of birth	Dolný Kubín, Czechoslovakia
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	Viktoria Plzeň
Number	1
Youth career
1994–1998	Dolný Kubín
1998–2000	Košice
Senior career*
Years	Team
2000–2002	Košice
2002–2007	Slavia Prague
2007–2010	Sparta Prague
2010–2012	Anorthosis Famagusta
2012–	Viktoria Plzeň
International career‡
2006–	Slovakia
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 2 October 2018; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10 September 2018

Matúš Kozáčik (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈmatuːʃ ˈkɔzaːtʃik]; born 27 December 1983) is a Slovak football goalkeeper who plays for Czech club Viktoria Plzeň.

Club career

While Kozáčik was playing for SK Slavia Prague, Leeds United took him on trial in December 2006.^[1]

Anorthosis Famagusta

2010–2011 season

In June 2010 he agreed a two-year contract with the Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta until the summer of 2012. He took the Number 1 shirt from the previous Anorthosis goalkeeper Arjan Beqaj. Kozáčik made his debut for Anorthosis Famagusta in the First qualifying round of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League against Banants. He kept two clean sheets.

Kozáčik lost his place into the starting eleven to the second goalkeeper of the team Marcos Argüello a 0-2 loss against HNK Šibenik at Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium. After the January transfer period Argüello moved to Club Bolivar and Kozáčik returned to the starting line-up for the rest of the season.

2011–2012 season

Kozáčik started as first-choice goalkeeper for the club's European matches. Then, Kozáčik lost his position to other club goalkeeper Dimitar Ivankov for the next two matches. After two matches Ivankov left the club and from this point Kozáčik continued as first-choice goalkeeper.^[2]

FC Viktoria Plzeň

In June 2012, Kozáčik signed a three-year deal with Viktoria Plzeň.^[3] He quickly established himself as the starting goalkeeper for the club, with which he won the Czech league title in the 2012–2013 season. In February 2014, Kozáčik extended his contract with Plzeň until June 2017.^[4]

International career

On 10 December 2006, Kozáčik made his debut for Slovakia when he played in the first half of a friendly against the United Arab Emirates. However, his next game for the national team came almost seven years later when he started in a 2014 World Cup qualifier against Latvia.

Kozáčik had been Slovakia's number one goalkeeper in the successful qualification campaign for UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying and was the primary choice of coach Ján Kozák. He continued to be preferred in the first half of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, however an injury suspended him from the remainder of the group matches. He only returned on 14 November to a friendly match against Norway.

Honours

Club

Career statistics

As of 1 June 2017

Club	Season	Appearances
Club	Season	League	Europe	Cup
1. FC Košice	2000–01	0	0	0
1. FC Košice	2001–02	0	0	0
Slavia Prague	2002–03	0	0	0
	2003–04	1	3	0
	2004–05	14	0	0
	2005–06	16	8	0
	2006–07	16	2	0
Sparta Prague	2007–08	0	0	0
	2008–09	9	6	0
	2009–10	7	1	2
Anorthosis F.C.	2010–11	20	5	5
Anorthosis F.C.	2011–12	30	2	2
Viktoria Plzeň	2012–13	27	12	1
	2013–14	27	13	3
	2014–15	29	2	1
	2015–16	27	8	1
	2016–17	26	9	0
2017–18	24	0	0
2018–19	10	2	0
Career totals		274	58	15

External links

Statistics on SK Slavia Praha website
Matúš Kozáčik – Czech First League statistics at Fotbal DNES (in Czech)
Matúš Kozáčik at National-Football-Teams.com

References

^ "TRIALIST UPDATE". leedsunited.com. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
^ "Termination of agreement with Dimitar Ivankov". anorthosis.com. Archived from the original on 15 August 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ "Kozáčik bude v Plzni súperiť s Bolekom o post jednotky" (in Slovak). Profutbal. 29 June 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
^ "Čišovský aj Kozáčik predĺžili zmluvy s Viktoriou Plzeň" (in Slovak). Futbal SFZ. 7 February 2014. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[1] "TRIALIST UPDATE". leedsunited.com. Retrieved 2 February 2012.

[2] "Termination of agreement with Dimitar Ivankov". anorthosis.com. Archived from the original on 15 August 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[3] "Kozáčik bude v Plzni súperiť s Bolekom o post jednotky" (in Slovak). Profutbal. 29 June 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2014.

[4] "Čišovský aj Kozáčik predĺžili zmluvy s Viktoriou Plzeň" (in Slovak). Futbal SFZ. 7 February 2014. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

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