David Limberský
David Limberský (born 6 October 1983) is a Czech professional footballer who plays for Czech club FC Viktoria Plzeň. He has previously played for Modena, Tottenham Hotspur, and AC Sparta Prague. He was a member of the Czech Republic national football team.
 Limberský with the Czech Republic at UEFA Euro 2012 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 6 October 1983 | ||
| Place of birth | Plzeň, Czechoslovakia | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Playing position(s) | Left back | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Viktoria Plzeň | ||
| Number | 8 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1989–1990 | Tatran Třemošná | ||
| 1990–2002 | Viktoria Plzeň | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2003–2007 | Viktoria Plzeň | 56 | (7) |
| 2004 | → Modena (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2005 | → Tottenham Hotspur (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2007–2008 | Sparta Prague | 13 | (0) |
| 2008– | Viktoria Plzeň | 310 | (14) |
| National team | |||
| 2003 | Czech Republic U-20 | 9 | (4) |
| 2004–2005 | Czech Republic U-21 | 11 | (1) |
| 2009–2016 | Czech Republic | 40 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2020-03-07 | |||
Club career
Born in Plzeň, Limberský played for hometown team Viktoria Plzeň and spent time at Italian side Modena on loan in the 2003–04 season. He joined Tottenham Hotspur in December 2004 on a six-month loan.[1] Upon signing for Tottenham, Limberský was compared to Czech legend Pavel Nedvěd by Spurs coach Martin Jol.[2] Despite this, Limberský did not feature in any of Tottenham's matches during his time in England.
Limberský played in the final of the 2009–10 Czech Cup in a 2–1 victory against Jablonec.[3]
He played in the first Czech Supercup against Sparta Prague in 2010. He started at left-back and played the entire game in which Sparta triumphed 1–0.[4]
In the third qualifying round of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League, Limberský scored a memorable goal from outside the box in the first leg against Besiktas in the 28th minute. Plzen went on to lose 4–1 on aggregate after a 1–1 draw in the first leg.
Limberský played in all of Plzeň's matches in the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League. In the group stages of the following season's Europa League, he was headbutted by Diego Costa, an incident which brought the Atlético Madrid forward a four-match UEFA ban.[5][6]
International career
Limberský played for the Czech Republic at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship. He scored both of the Czech Republic's goals against Australia[7] and Brazil respectively.
On 5 June 2009, at the age of 25, Limberský made his debut for the Czech Republic national football team with a 1–0 victory against Malta in a friendly.
He was chosen as part of the Czech Republic's squad for the 2011 Kirin Cup.[8] However, Limberský did not feature in any of their games in the tournament.
Euro 2012
Limberský was called up for UEFA Euro 2012, despite not playing in any of the qualifiers for the tournament and having never previously played a competitive game for his national side. He was left out of the Czechs' first game against Russia, where his side were heavily beaten 4–1. Limberský was brought in for the Czech Republic's second game against Greece in his first ever competitive game for the national side, playing at left back. The Czech Republic won that game 2–1, with Limberský doing enough to be retained for the Czech Republic's must-win game against co-hosts Poland. His side defeated Poland 1–0 and ended up as group leaders, meaning that they would face Portugal in the quarter finals. Limberský again played left back for the game against Portugal where the Czech Republic were knocked out courtesy of a 1–0 loss.
Euro 2016
Controversy
Limberský gained media attention after crashing his Bentley car in September 2015 and subsequently behaving abusively towards several police officers and testing with a high blood alcohol content, offences which carry a maximum three-year prison sentence.[9] He was subsequently stripped of the captaincy of Viktoria Plzeň and fined for "an absolutely unacceptable violation of the professional contract".[10] Limberský apologised,[11] but four days after the incident, celebrated his first of two goals in a 4–0 win against Příbram by pretending to drive a car.[12][13] The club moved to distance itself from Limberský's gestures.[14]
Career statistics
Club
- As of 7 March 2020
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Viktoria Plzeň | 2003–04 | Fortuna liga | 12 | 0 | — | — | — | 12 | 0 | |||
| 2005–06 | 23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 23 | 3 | ||||
| 2006–07 | 21 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 21 | 4 | ||||
| Total | 56 | 7 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 56 | 7 | ||||
| Modena (loan) | 2003–04 | Serie A | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | |||
| Tottenham Hotspur (loan) | 2004–05 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Sparta Prague | 2007–08 | Fortuna liga | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | 18 | 0 | |
| Viktoria Plzeň | 2008–09 | 27 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 27 | 3 | |||
| 2009–10 | 26 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 27 | 1 | ||||
| 2010–11 | 29 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 3 | ||
| 2011–12 | 29 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 1 | ||
| 2012–13 | 28 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 0 | — | 45 | 0 | |||
| 2013–14 | 27 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 1 | ||
| 2014–15 | 26 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 2 | ||
| 2015–16 | 27 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 2 | ||
| 2016–17 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | — | 33 | 0 | |||
| 2017–18 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | — | 30 | 1 | |||
| 2018–19 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | 39 | 0 | |||
| 2019–20 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 19 | 1 | |||
| Total | 310 | 14 | 17 | 0 | 82 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 413 | 15 | ||
| Career total | 382 | 21 | 17 | 0 | 88 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 491 | 22 | ||
International goals
Scores and results list Czech Republic's goal tally first.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 6 September 2015 | Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia |  |
1–0 | 2–1 | UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying |
Honours
Club
Viktoria Plzeň
- Czech First League: 2010–11, 2012–13, 2014–15
- Czech 2. Liga: 2002–03
- Czech Cup: 2009-10
- Czech Supercup: 2011
References
- "Tottenham clinch double transfer". BBC. 20 December 2004. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
- Limberský to join Spurs SportingLife.com
- "Finále domácího poháru vyhrála Plzeň a zajistila si účast v Evropské lize". lidovky.cz. 18 May 2010. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
- Finále - Superpohár FAČR 2010/2011 Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Match report
- "La UEFA castiga con cuatro partidos a Diego Costa" [UEFA punishes Diego Costa with four games]. Marca (in Spanish). 19 December 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
- "Plzeň pip Atlético to take top spot". UEFA.com. 6 December 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
- "Limbersky limbers up for Brazil with stunner". FIFA.com. 1 December 2003. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
- Czechs to play Kirin Cup in Japan without Rosicky vcstar.com
- "Opilý fotbalista Limberský naboural s bentleyem, pak hrozil policistům". Mladá fronta DNES (in Czech). 10 September 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
- "Czech Republic defender Limbersky loses club captaincy after car crash". The Associated Press. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
- "Limberský poprvé o nehodě: Mrzí mě, že jsem zklamal tolik lidí". isport.blesk.cz (in Czech). 11 September 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
- "Limberský oslavil gól čtyři dny po autonehodě napodobováním řízení". idnes.cz (in Czech). 13 September 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
- "Příbram - Plzeň 0:4, snadné vítězství orámovaly dva góly Limberského". idnes.cz (in Czech). 13 September 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
- "Pochopení nenašel Limberský ani doma, Plzeň se od gesta distancovala". idnes.cz (in Czech). 14 September 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
External links
- David Limberský at FAČR (in Czech)
- David Limberský – Czech First League statistics at Fotbal DNES (in Czech)
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