David Rozehnal

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David Rozehnal

Rozehnal with Newcastle United in 2007
Personal information
Full name	David Rozehnal[1]
Date of birth	(1980-07-05) 5 July 1980 (age 44)
Place of birth	Šternberk, Czechoslovakia
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s)	Centre-back
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1999–2003	Sigma Olomouc	72	(2)
2003–2005	Club Brugge	50	(1)
2005–2007	Paris Saint-Germain	75	(1)
2007–2008	Newcastle United	21	(0)
2008	→ Lazio (loan)	10	(0)
2008–2009	Lazio	28	(0)
2009–2011	Hamburger SV	23	(1)
2010–2011	→ Lille (loan)	13	(1)
2011–2015	Lille	62	(1)
2015–2018	K.V. Oostende	50	(1)
2018–?	Sokol Kožušany		(0)
Total		405	(8)
International career
2001–2002	Czech Republic U21	8	(1)
2004–2009	Czech Republic	60	(1)
Medal record Men's football Representing  Czech Republic UEFA European Championship 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Winner 2002
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

David Rozehnal (born 5 July 1980) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He played for a host of European clubs, making over 400 appearances in a career spanning almost two decades, and retired from the professional game in April 2018. Internationally Rozehnal made 60 appearances for the Czech Republic, appearing in three major tournaments: Euro 2004, the 2006 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2008.

Rozehnal was born in Šternberk and raised in Kožušany. He comes from a sports family, his father was a second-league football player, his mother played competitive handball. His father then trained amateur club Sokol Kožušany, where Rozehnal started with football.^[2]

In 2003, Rozehnal joined Belgian club Club Brugge. Shortly after joining the club he was part of the side which defeated AC Milan at the San Siro in the UEFA Champions League.^[3] He won the Belgian Cup in his first season with Brugge and the Belgian League in the 2004–05 season.^[4]

Rozehnal signed for Paris Saint-Germain in June 2005.^[5] His form resulted in reported interest from Borussia Dortmund, Newcastle United and Sevilla.^[6] Sources close to the defender confirmed that he would prefer a move to Newcastle.^[7]

On 22 June 2007, Rozehnal's agent confirmed that a "definite agreement" had been reached for the player to join Newcastle United. Rozehnal underwent a medical check on 25 June and Newcastle confirmed the transfer had been completed on 29 June for a fee of £2.9 million, with the player signing a four-year contract.^[6] He made his league debut against Bolton Wanderers the same year on 11 August.^[8]

On 31 January 2008, Rozehnal left Newcastle for Lazio on loan until the end of the 2007–08 Serie A despite having only signed in June 2007.^[9] After only playing seven times for Lazio during his loan spell, it remained unclear if they wanted to sign him permanently. On 9 June 2008, Lazio officially announced they had signed Rozehnal on a permanent basis,^[10] with Newcastle recouping the full £2.9 million which they initially paid for the defender.^[11]

After only one year in Italy, Rozehnal left Lazio on 29 July 2009 for German club Hamburger SV, signing a contract until 30 June 2012. Due to a poor season with several costly errors by Rozehnal, he was removed from the first team and asked to find a new club.^[12]

On 31 August 2010, Hamburg confirmed that Rozehnal had left for French side Lille on loan, with the German club still paying part of his salary.^[13] He made a permanent move to Lille in June 2011, signing a contract until 2014.^[14]

Rozehnal retired from professional football on 4 April 2018 and joined Sokol Kožušany alongside his brother, Marek.^[15] He made his debut for the club the following weekend.^[16]

Rozehnal was part of the Czech Republic national youth football team which won the UEFA U-21 Championships in 2002.^[17] In 2004, Rozehnal made his debut for the Czech Republic in a 2–2 friendly draw against Italy on 18 February 2004.^[18]. He went on to play for his country at Euro 2004,^[4] where the team made it to the semi-finals before being knocked out by Greece. He also played in the group stage at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, although his nation did not advance to the knockout stages.^[4] Rozehnal played in his third major tournament at Euro 2008.^[19] He scored his only international goal in his 57th appearance for his country, finding the net in a 3–1 friendly win against Belgium.^[20]

Rozehnal is married to Petra and their first child, Luka, was born on 3 October 2007.^[21]

Club Brugge

• Belgian Pro League: 2004–05^[4]
• Belgian Cup: 2003–04^[4]
• Belgian Super Cup: 2003, 2004^[22][23]

Paris Saint-Germain

• Coupe de France: 2005–06

Lazio

• Coppa Italia: 2008–09

Lille

• Coupe de France: 2010–11
• Ligue 1: 2010–11

• David Rozehnal at FAČR (also at old FAČR website) (in Czech)
• David Rozehnal at fussballdaten.de (in German)
• David Rozehnal at Soccerway
• David Rozehnal at Soccerbase