Pavel Nedvěd (Czech pronunciation: [ˈpavɛl ˈnɛdvjɛt] ; born 30 August 1972) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Czech players of all time.
Nedvěd won numerous trophies with Italian clubs Lazio and Juventus, including the last ever Cup Winners' Cup with Lazio. He also led Juventus to the 2003 UEFA Champions League final.
Nedvěd was a vital player in the Czech team that reached the final of Euro 1996, after which he attracted the attention of big European clubs. He also captained the team at UEFA Euro 2004, where they were defeated in the semi-final by eventual champions Greece, and where Nedvěd was named in the Team of the Tournament. He helped his team qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup for the first time since the breakup of Czechoslovakia. Due to his quick and energetic runs during matches, Nedvěd was nicknamed "Furia Ceca" (lit. 'Czech Fury') by Italian football fans. His nickname in Czech is Méďa (lit. 'Little Bear'), stemming from the similarity between his surname and the Czech word for bear, medvěd.
Nedvěd won the Ballon d'Or in 2003, becoming the second Czech player to win the award after Josef Masopust, and the first since the breakup of Czechoslovakia. During his career, Nedvěd received many other individual awards, including the second Golden Foot award for best footballer worldwide in 2004; the Czech Football Association's Czech Footballer of the Year four times; and the Czech Sports Journalists' Golden Ball for best Czech footballer six times. He was also named by Pelé as one of the FIFA 100 and was named in the UEFA Team of the Year in 2003, 2004, and 2005. Nedvěd retired from professional football after the 2008–09 season. Nedvěd played 501 league matches at club level, scoring 110 goals, and was capped 91 times for the Czech Republic, scoring 18 goals.
Škoda Plzeň and Dukla Prague loan spell
Born on 30 August 1972 in Cheb and raised in nearby Skalná, Nedvěd began his football career in his native Czechoslovakia. A football fan from an early age, he began playing for his hometown club Tatran Skalná in 1977 at the age of five. Nedvěd moved on to Rudá Hvězda Cheb in 1985, playing one season before spending five years with Škoda Plzeň. In 1990, Nedvěd was loaned to Dukla Prague, a club run by the Army, as part of his military service. During his first year at Dukla Prague, he played for VTJ Dukla Tábor, a lower division club also operated by the Army. On 28 October 1991, Nedvěd played his first match for Dukla Prague. He played one season for Dukla in 1991 before finishing his military service, thus ending his loan from Plzeň. He later transferred to Sparta Prague in 1992. Plzeň was about to receive 30% of the transfer fee if Nedvěd transferred to a foreign club.
Early in his career at Sparta, Nedvěd was sent off three times in just six matches. With Sparta, Nedvěd won one Czechoslovak First League title, two Gambrinus liga titles and a Czech Cup. In 1994, he received his first call up to the Czech Republic national team. His performance at UEFA Euro 1996, including a goal in the group stage against Italy, attracted attention; despite a verbal agreement with PSV, Nedvěd moved from Sparta Prague to Italian Serie A club Lazio. Sparta first sold Nedvěd to Slovak club 1. FC Košice, which had the same owner as Sparta, for a 1.5 million CZK transfer fee. Immediately, Košice sold Nedvěd to Lazio. Thus Sparta paid only a small fraction of the transfer fee to Plzeň. After Plzeň's protest, the Czech football association ordered Sparta to pay Plzeň 35 million CZK in compensation.
Nedvěd signed a four-year contract for a fee of ₤1.2 million.
Nedvěd made his league debut for Lazio on 7 September 1996 in a 1–0 away defeat against Bologna. He scored his first league goal for the club against Cagliari on 20 October 1996, finishing the 1996–97 season with seven goals. Nedvěd became an integral part of the side, scoring four goals in three matches early in the 1997–98 season. The club had a 24-match unbeaten streak from November 1997 to April 1998, ending with a league match against Juventus in which Nedvěd was sent off. That season, Lazio won the 1997–98 Coppa Italia and reached the final of the 1997–98 UEFA Cup. Nedvěd and Lazio began the 1998–99 season with a victory in the Supercoppa Italiana, Nedvěd scoring as the club defeated Juventus 2–1. He played a role in Lazio's road to the last-ever Cup Winners' Cup, scoring against Lausanne in the first round and in both legs of Lazio's 7–0 aggregate quarter-final victory over Panionios. In the 1999 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final, Nedvěd scored the decisive goal against Mallorca for Lazio's 2–1 victory. This proved to be the last goal of the tournament, which was later discontinued.
Nedvěd was one of the ten highest-paid footballers in the Italian league in 1999. at a time when the players of the Italian league were the highest paid players in Europe. He played in the 1999 UEFA Super Cup against Manchester United at the beginning of the season, where Lazio won the match by a single goal. The club went on to win the Serie A title and Coppa Italia, completing a domestic double in 2000 with Nedvěd's help. In 2000, he won the Supercoppa Italiana with Lazio for a second time. With Siniša Mihajlović, Nedvěd was one of two Lazio players sent off in the quarter-final of the 2000 Coppa Italia held in December, where the defending champions lost 5–3 on aggregate to Udinese.
Nedvěd played UEFA Champions League football with Lazio, scoring against Real Madrid in a 2–2 draw in the second group stage before the Italian side was eliminated. In Lazio's final Champions League match of the season, Nedvěd was criticised by Leeds United manager David O'Leary for a challenge on Alan Maybury (although the referee did not call a foul), and he received a three-match suspension from European competitions from UEFA.
Despite Nedvěd's signing a new four-year contract with Lazio in April 2001, the club tried to sell him and teammate Juan Sebastián Verón that summer, triggering fan protests against club chairman Sergio Cragnotti. The players were ultimately sold to Juventus and Manchester United respectively.
After five seasons with Lazio, Nedvěd was speculatively linked to several clubs (including Manchester United and Chelsea) before moving to Juventus in July 2001 for 75 billion lire (€38.7 million by fixed exchange rate). At Juventus, he replaced Zinedine Zidane, who had transferred to Real Madrid that summer. Nedvěd was a regular on Juventus' 2001–02 and 2002–03 Scudetto-winning teams. Although he was a substantial part of the club's championship season in 2003, he was also the subject of controversy. Nedvěd quit the Italian Footballers' Association in protest of the union's limit on non-European Union (EU) players; his native Czech Republic did not become an EU member until 2004. Nedvěd perfectly led Juventus to the 2003 UEFA Champions League final against Milan, but had to sit out the final due to an accumulation of yellow cards after his semi-final booking for a foul on Real Madrid midfielder Steve McManaman.
In December 2003, Nedvěd was named World Footballer of the Year by World Soccer magazine. Later that month, he won the European Footballer of the Year award over Thierry Henry and Paolo Maldini, the second Czech to win the award after Josef Masopust in 1962. Nedvěd received further recognition in his home country when he won the 2004 Golden Ball, awarded by Czech sportswriters, for the fifth time in seven years.
The 2004–05 season was frustrating for Nedvěd, who was sidelined for two months by knee and head injuries and first considered retirement in April 2005. Although Juventus won Serie A titles that year and in 2006, the titles were revoked after the Calciopoli match fixing scandal. After the 2005–06 season, which ended with Juventus' relegation from Serie A despite its first-place finish, many stars (such as Fabio Cannavaro and Lilian Thuram) left the club and the remaining players' future was uncertain. After the 2006 World Cup, Nedvěd dispelled rumours about his departure by reiterating his desire to help Juventus regain promotion to Serie A, citing his family and his commitment to the club as reasons for his decision. He received a five-match ban after a red card against Genoa in December 2006, and repeated his threat to retire. However, he remained with the club until the end of the season and scored 11 league goals in the 2006–07 Serie B.