Czech football legend Josef Masopust dies aged 84

PRAGUE, Czech Republic – Legendary Czech midfielder Josef Masopust, the 1962 Ballon d’Or winner, died aged 84 on Monday, following a long illness, Petr Prochazka from the Josef Masopust Friends Club told AFP.

“The knight of sport Josef Masopust died quietly in his flat, surrounded by his family,” Prochazka said.

Dubbed “a knight of football” or “Caballero” for his chivalrous manners on the pitch, Masopust was the playmaker of the Czechoslovak team that made it to the World Cup final in Chile in 1962.

On June 17, 1962, in Santiago, Masopust opened the score in the final, but Brazil came back to win 3-1.

He also played for the Czechoslovak team that won bronze at the 1960 Euro in France.

In total, Masopust made 63 international appearances and scored 10 goals for the Czechoslovak national team from 1954-1966.

Brazilian icon Pele, who played against Masopust in Chile, once said the Czech midfielder was “one of the greatest icons football has ever known.”

“Without any doubt, he was one of the best players in Europe for me. He and (Franz) Beckenbauer.”

Vaclav Masek, a striker on the 1962 team, told the website of the DNES broadsheet on Monday that Masopust was one of the best footballers he had played with.

“He had the skill, the pass, the shot, he knew how to get past a player and create scoring chances.”

“He had great intelligence – on the pitch, he came up with things that require a genius.”

“We played cards, had a beer, he was nice to talk to. A real friend.” 

Miroslav Pelta, head of the Czech Football Association, said Masopust was “a unique personality both on and off the pitch.” 

Born on February 9, 1931 in the northern Czech village of Strimice, Masopust spent 16 years at the army club Dukla Prague, with which he won eight Czechoslovak titles.

In 1968 he moved on to Molenbeek in Belgium where he finished his playing career at age 39.

On the club level, Masopust played 386 games and scored 79 goals.

Masopust took over as Dukla Prague coach in 1973 and won the Czechoslovak league title with Zbrojovka Brno 5 years later.

He also coached the Czechoslovak national team in 1984-1988, before taking the helm at the Indonesian under-21 team in 1988-1991.

Czechoslovakia split peacefully into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993, 4 years after shedding its totalitarian Communist rule of 4 decades.

In 2000, Masopust was honoured as the top Czech footballer of the 20th century, and five years later he received the FIFA Order of Merit, the top award of the international football association.

His statue was unveiled outside the Dukla Prague stadium in 2012, 50 years after the Chile final. – Rappler.com