Filled Andrův Stadium during the match between Czech Republic and Georgia and the fans’ choreo | Video: Michal Muzikant
Who will replace the carded Tomáš Choré? That was the question before the match of the Czech national team. Coach Ivan Hašek pointed to Olomouc’s Jan Kliment and thus bet on successful matches played here recently for the national team by players associated with Olomouc.
“I definitely found out on Monday that I was going to play. But somehow it led to it, because there were signs already in training,” described the top scorer of the Chance League.
And in the third minute it became clear that the choice was correct. He encouraged Pavel Šulec to score with his heel, who took advantage of his incentive. Kliment’s first assist in the national team.
“I don’t know if I would take it on for Sigma. It was a tough position and I knew I would have to go for two touches, so I tried for myself and Šulcik was exactly where he should have been. I don’t have eyes in the back and I didn’t know for sure it would be there. I rather suspected and hoped,” he described.
He lasted 57 minutes on the field before being replaced by Mojmír Chytil. With Kliment at the helm, the team had to slightly adjust the playing style, because he is a different type than Tomáš Chorý. “Because of its height and weight, it can hold a lot more balloons. We wanted to avoid any help balls that we play when he’s up. We didn’t want to play the balls completely to the body and rather we wanted to run behind the defense and throw the balls behind them, which we did well and it worked out for us,” outlined Kliment.
Paradox: More matches for the national team than for the club
He wore number three in the national team at the last meeting. This time he played with a ten. “They had to make up a bit for the last number,” he laughed. “No, just kidding, she came out on me, I don’t care where I sit or what number I play with. Ten fell on me, I didn’t lobby for it,” added Kliment.
He has a paradoxical situation behind him. In the last month, he played only one match for Sigma, while three for the national team. The stop sign for the red card was to blame. “It was definitely a complication. I couldn’t play some matches, but I focused on the one in Karviná to perform and convince the coaches that they should take me. I somehow managed to do that. I was looking forward to the nomination, so when it came, it was satisfying,” said the ten-goal forward.
He had to miss three games due to a minor injury – elbowing an opponent in a stopped game. “I blamed myself a lot, but I had to switch immediately, because the day after the suspension I reported to the national team meeting. The coaches and teammates helped me a lot, when I arrived, nobody really dealt with it and rather made a little fun of it. No one gave a damn about it, anyway, I ran away instead of matches. I hope it won’t happen again,” he was referring to the incident from the match with Bohemians.
At that time, 4,435 spectators watched the match of the Czech highest league. On Tuesday, 12,221 fans filled Andra’s stadium during the League of Nations. “It was unusual,” he smiled. “The fans were great. It doesn’t happen like this every day, but the atmosphere was great and I’m glad I was able to experience this match,” he added.
Already on Sunday, he will hope that as many people as possible will come to the Chance League match with Liberec and that he will help his Sigma to points.
“We still have the end of autumn behind us and there will be a lot of matches. So far, it’s running great except for that one little bit. The only red one was wrong. However, I am now trying to tame my self-confidence because it has backfired on me a few times in my career. It’s better to keep your feet on the ground, although playing for the national team will of course give you some confidence. I’m glad that I could be at the meeting also because I joined the foundation,” he revealed.
