Josef Jelínek, the silver medalist from the 1962 World Championships, died at the age of 83. The five-time champion of the Czechoslovak League is a member of the FAČR Hall of Fame and a recipient of the Dr. Václav Jíra.
“It is sad news for the whole of Czech football, for which I would like to express my sincere condolences to those closest to Josef Jelínek. He was an outstanding striker who will forever remain in our memories not only because of the historic second place at the World Cup.” stated the chairman of FAČR, Petr Fousek.
Josef Jelínek was born on January 9, 1941. He spent most of his career in Dukla Prague, with which he won five league matches and three triumphs in the Czechoslovak Cup. He later played for Chomutov, Dutch Deventer and Bohemians. He played a total of 179 matches in the Czechoslovak league, in which he scored 43 goals.
He achieved his greatest success in 1962, when he was a member of the silver Czechoslovak national team at the World Championship in Chile. At the championship, he played all matches in the starting line-up, including the final against Brazil (1:3). He played in ten matches in the national team and scored two goals.
Josef Jelínek is a member of the FAČR Hall of Fame, where the entire team from Chile was inducted in 2010. Already in 1996, he received the Dr. Václav Jíra for his many years of beneficial and successful activity in Czech and Czechoslovakian football.
