This will be the first time in history that two coaches in their seventies face off at a championship. Working retirees, for whom the Czech language has a cute abbreviation: "prduch." But don't bring up this topic with Koubek—he doesn't like it. On the contrary, he tries to present himself as youthful.
In fact, the environment he works in helps him a lot with that. Ten years ago, when he was fired from Plzeň, he got a taste of what retirement is like. He didn't last even a year. "For me, retirement isn't something I urgently need at sixty-five. I spent ten months trying out what that life is like, only to realize I simply have to come back," he said at the time in an interview for sport.cz.
Listen to the article in audio version
After a while, the lack of excitement started to get to him. And even though his wife tried to persuade him not to get back on the football carousel, he insisted. Since then, he has promised her every year that it would be his last. Especially after he had heart problems three years ago. Due to arrhythmia, he missed the end of the season on the Hradec Králové bench on doctors' advice and left the team after the season.
Video preview of the match
It was all the more surprising when it turned out not long after that it wasn't so much about his health as it was about an offer from Plzeň. Koubek's star kept shining brighter and brighter. Only after turning seventy is he experiencing the best period of his career. Fantastic cup runs through Europe all the way to the spring playoffs, then an offer from the national team, and leading Česko to the world elite after 20 years.
In a few days, he will face the Mexican cauldron at the Azteca Stadium in front of nearly 90,000 people. At that moment, at 74 years and 290 days old, he will be the second-oldest coach ever to lead his team in a World Cup match. The record is held, for just a few days, by Dutchman Dick Advocaat, coach of Curaçao, who was born four years earlier!
Hardly any other record in the tournament's history has changed as dynamically as this one. Last Fridayhe set it against Korea just a few hours after Broos, who is about seven and a half months younger, claimed it. Yet Broos perhaps looks even more like an old-timer than the booming and robust Czech coach. A slender, gray-haired gentleman with a warm smile, a former Belgian national team defender.
By his own admission, he feels less vital than Koubek. "In recent years, I've often thought about quitting. I don't want to dedicate every day to football anymore. I just don't have the energy for it. Sometimes I have to force myself to sit at the computer and rewatch a match," the Belgian coach said a few days ago, adding, "After the World Cup, I'll call it quits and enjoy another 20 years with my grandchildren."
Forty years ago, at the last championship held in Mexico, he was there as a player. He helped Belgium reach the final four by converting a penalty in the shootout against Spain in the quarterfinals. Koubek was already coaching in 1986, having just finished his third season on the bench of third-division Poldi Kladno.
While Broos went straight from his playing career to being an elite coach, his Czech counterpart worked his way up gradually, only reaching the top at this advanced age. In recent months, he keeps repeating that he is now at the peak of his career. "And the championship is the challenge of my life," he added about the event the whole world is watching.
The Czech veteran held the record-holder position for just two days; he probably won't catch up with Advocaat in the history books. He would have to stay on the national team bench until the next World Cup. "And for me, this is definitely the last job of my life," he said last December after taking the position.
His three grandchildren will thus have a unique chance on Thursday evening, thanks to the favorable match time against JAR, to see their grandpa in action at the biggest football event on the planet.
Česko – JAR (Thursday 18:00 + audio commentary)
You can watch all World Cup matches on Oneplay. Register HERE.