Smicer given Czech role

Smicer: New role

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Vladimir Smicer has been appointed as Czech Republic team manager just a day after retiring as a player.

The former Liverpool midfielder, 36, decided to hang up his boots earlier this week following a two-year spell with homeland club Slavia Prague.

He has now been given a role with the national team and will start his new job in a four-team tournament in United Arab Emirates this week.

Smicer will work closely with manager Michal Bilek, who only took charge of Czech Republic last month.

Bilek came to the helm after Ivan Hasek and Frantisek Straka had brief spells in the position, with Petr Rada sacked in April after a disappointing start to the World Cup qualifying campaign.

Czech Republic were unable to recover and failed to make it through to next summer's tournament in South Africa, so Bilek and Smicer will have plenty of time to prepare for their next taste of competitive action.

Torture

Reflecting on his move into management, Smicer admits he could not continue playing due to a number of injury concerns.

"My mind and heart would love to carry on, but my body is against it," he told sport.cz.

"I still feel some pain in the knee and cannot play at 100 per cent, so it makes no sense to torture myself and my team-mates.

"The best moment of my career? That has to be the Champions League triumph with Liverpool.

"But even the transfer to Liverpool alone or my first professional contract with Slavia have been my childhood dreams come true."

Smicer played a key role in helping Liverpool secure European glory in 2005, while he scored 27 goals in 81 appearances for Czech Republic.