Stanislav Tecl: I've Never Had This Much Free Time Away from Football

Published: 26. 7. 2020
Author: Karel Černý
Photo: SK Slavia Praha

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In the autumn of 2018, Slavia striker Stanislav Tecl had to undergo anterior cruciate ligament surgery. After that, he hadn't really played for nine months. Last autumn, however, he again fully signed up to the Slavia cadre and was preparing to win his fifth title. But everything has changed with covid-19, the stadiums are empty...

What did your days look like at the time of the strictest measures? Did the coach give you an individual plan, or let you know how to keep fit?

I must say that those days were quite repetitive, because there aren't many options for what you can do. I wake up in the morning; I go to do the run I have in my individual plan. The coaches gave me tasks, and then I was off. I usually spend it with my family in the garden, which is where you move a bit at least. I mainly try to enjoy the time with my son, because so far I haven't experienced this much free time during the football season. For now, I can say that I am still enjoying it.

Is it a big issue to not train with the team for your shape, synchronizing, etc.?

It's a problem, but on the other hand it's the same for all teams. It will be more about how long it’ll take to restart the season, which we all hope will happen. We'll see how much space we get. If it’s a month, I wouldn't see any problem.

When the situation relaxes, will it be possible to jump into matches immediately, or will you perhaps need at least a short stay away training?

I think that will be pretty important, because if we were to meet on Monday and play a week after, it would be quite an issue. Maybe it would take us three weeks to get back together into shape, to make our football look decent.

Trainings and matches are not just about your shape, and such but also about being all-together. Do you miss that a lot, let's say the social side of it? What is it like to suddenly in full season basically from one day to another cut off workouts, gym, matches ...
Of course, it's very complicated, because you are with quite a few guys in the team and we are quite used to each other. It's not just that we're teammates, but we're mainly friends. I don’t miss just the daily contact in the team, but also the banter and funny stuff, and also that you can discuss everyday and talk unusual things with someone. On the other hand, it is nothing that you can’t get over. But it was nice when we could start going to the pitch in pairs and from 20th April onwards train in groups, albeit under certain conditions.

Last July, you jumped into the game again after many months of injury breaks. As a result, are you now more resistant to the cabin fever that many people feel?

That's a good question, but I don't think I'm at risk of cabin fever. I can definitely say that it has not manifested itself in our country yet and we are all doing well. Compared to my injury, this is much better, I can do practically anything, go for a run, play with my son, ride a bike. It makes no difference. The possibilities are limited, but there is still something to do and I can have fun. I can think of different activities where you can relax your mind, so being at home is all chill.

Do you have a 3.5-year-old son, are you already teaching him to kick the ball?

I don’t spend enough time with him. I've never really had so much time off until now. I think he's super happy now; also because we're all home and we're not going anywhere, I don't have to go to training. As I said, we spend our days in the garden, where we play in the sand, we kick together, we take hockey sticks here and there, we even try to play tennis, in short, we do it all. We fool around together and thanks to him, those days are much more varied than if we were just two grown ups.

Stanislav Tecl (born on 1st September, 1990 in Jindřichův Hradec) is the striker of the SK Slavia Praha football.

He started playing football in the village of Herálec, halfway between Žďár nad Sázavou and Hlinsko, and later worked in Humpolec and Havlíčkův Brod.

He started professional football in 2008 in the Jihlava Highlands. Two years later he briefly guested in Prague Slavia, but then returned to Jihlava. In 2013, he transferred to Viktoria Plzeň and with them he won two master titles. In 2015 he left for Jablonec and after two years he went to Slavia Prague, where he celebrated the title of league champion right after half a year of being there. He celebrated another title with the team in the 2018/2019 season.

He played in U18, U19 and U21 national teams. He made his senior debut in February 2013 in a match against Turkey.

Stanislav Tecl is connected with the Prague Slavia, which is know for its two successes this year. Jindřich Trpišovský got the title of Coach of the Year 2019 (followed by A team coaches Jaroslav Šilhavý and Petr Rada from FK Jablonec). And what is more, Tomáš Souček (currently a West Ham United player) was once again awarded the title of Footballer of the Year 2019 (followed by Tomáš Vaclík from FC Sevilla and Vladimír Darida from Hertha Berlin).