David Lafata

David Lafata (born 18 September 1981) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a forward.

David Lafata
Lafata in 2009
Personal information
Date of birth (1981-09-18) 18 September 1981
Place of birth České Budějovice, Czechoslovakia
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1989–1992 JZD Olešník
1992–1999 České Budějovice
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2005 České Budějovice 109 (27)
2002 → Jihlava (loan) 5 (1)
2005–2006 Skoda Xanthi 9 (0)
2006–2007 Jablonec 31 (10)
2007–2008 Austria Wien 36 (6)
2008–2012 Jablonec 130 (78)
2013–2018 Sparta Prague 126 (78)
Total 446 (200)
International career
1996–1997 Czech Republic U15 9 (0)
1997 Czech Republic U16 3 (0)
1998–1999 Czech Republic U17 8 (2)
1999–2000 Czech Republic U18 13 (6)
2001–2002 Czech Republic U20 6 (0)
2002–2003 Czech Republic U21 13 (3)
2006–2016 Czech Republic 41 (9)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

From 1992 until 2005 Lafata played for Czech team SK České Budějovice, with a brief spell at FC Vysočina Jihlava in 2002. The striker then moved to Greek club Skoda Xanthi in July 2005, but returned to the Czech Liga in January 2006. After one year at Jablonec, Lafata was transferred to FK Austria Vienna in January 2007 from where he came back to Jablonec in the spring of 2008. For Austria, he scored a goal in a domestic cup final.[1]

In the 2010–11 season, Lafata was top scorer of the Czech First League with 19 goals.[2]

He continued his good run of form into the 2011–12 season, scoring eleven goals in the first seven games, at the end of the autumn half, he scored eighteen goals in sixteen appearances.[3] In April 2012, Lafata broke the Czech First League season scoring record, notching his 23rd goal of the season.[4] He finished season with 25 goals, being top scorer and setting a new record.

In the 2012–13 season, Lafata scored 13 goals in the first 16 games, being top scorer of the league before signing for AC Sparta Prague in the winter break.[5] In March 2014 Lafata scored his 134th goal in the Czech First League, surpassing Horst Siegl as its top all-time scorer.[6] In spring 2013, he scored a goal in the Round of 32 at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea.

At the start of the 2014–15 season, Lafata scored five goals in a 7–0 Champions League qualifying round win over Levadia Tallinn in the home leg in Prague.[7] Continuing his fine form in the Champions League qualifying round, Lafata scored a hat-trick in a 4–2 comeback victory over Malmö FF at home in Prague.[8] In autumn 2015, Lafata was denied at hat-trick (by the Croatian referee) in Europa League match in Greece against Asteras Tripolis. He scored goal in both away and home match against Schalke 04, as Sparta progressed to the knockout stages.

On 30 July 2017, he scored his 200th league goal in a 1–1 draw against city rival Bohemians 1905.[9]

International career

He scored two goals on his debut for the Czech national team in a 2–1 win against Wales on 2 September 2006. He came on as a substitute after 75 mins and scored within a minute of coming on, the second coming in the 89th minute.

Career statistics

Club

Source: League matches[10] European club matches[11] League matches for Austria

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
SK České Budějovice 2000–01 Czech First League 110–110
2001–02 Czech 2. Liga –
2002–03 Czech First League 268–268
2003–04 Czech First League 2914–2914
2004–05 Czech First League 255–255
Total 9127–9127
Skoda Xanthi 2005–06 Super League Greece 9021–111
FK Jablonec 2005–06 Czech First League 143–143
2006–07 Czech First League 177–177
Total 3110–3110
Austria Wien 2006–07 Austrian Bundesliga 131–00131
2007–08 Austrian Bundesliga 225317[lower-alpha 1]0326
Total 3563170457
FK Jablonec 2008–09 Czech First League 3010–3010
2009–10 Czech First League 271153–3214
2010–11 Czech First League 2919432[lower-alpha 1]03522
2011–12 Czech First League 2825634[lower-alpha 1]33831
2012–13 Czech First League 161312–1715
Total 1307816116315292
Sparta Prague 2012–13 Czech First League 127202[lower-alpha 1]1168
2013–14 Czech First League 3016622[lower-alpha 1]23820
2014–15 Czech First League 30203[lower-alpha 2]111[lower-alpha 3]134434
2015–16 Czech First League 26203212[lower-alpha 4]54127
2016–17 Czech First League 28152010[lower-alpha 5]24017
2017–18 Czech First League 225102[lower-alpha 1]0255
Total 148831753923204111
Career total 44420438185226534248
  1. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  2. Two appearances in Czech Cup, one appearance and one goal in Czech Supercup
  3. Four appearances and eight goals in UEFA Champions League, seven appearances and five goals in UEFA Europa League
  4. One appearance in UEFA Champions League, eleven appearances and five goals in UEFA Europa League
  5. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, eight appearances and two goals in UEFA Europa League

International goals
Scores and results list Czech Republic's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lafata goal.[12]
List of international goals scored by David Lafata
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 2 September 2006Na Stínadlech, Teplice, Czech Republic1 Wales1–02–1UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
2 2–1
3 26 May 2012UPC-Arena, Graz, Austria17 Israel2–12–1Friendly
4 14 November 2012Andrův stadion, Olomouc, Czech Republic24 Slovakia1–03–0Friendly
5 2–0
6 6 February 2013Manisa 19 Mayıs Stadium, Manisa, Turkey25 Turkey2–02–0Friendly
7 11 October 2013Ta' Qali National Stadium, Mdina, Malta28 Malta2–04–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification
8 13 October 2014Astana Arena, Astana, Kazakhstan33 Kazakhstan2–04–2UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
9 27 May 2016Kufstein Arena, Kufstein, Austria38 Malta4–06–0Friendly

Honours

Austria Wien

Sparta Prague

Individual

Records

References
  1. "Austria Wien Archiv - die Online Statistik".
  2. "Lafata musí vyhrát, zněl příkaz. Díky, spoluhráči, řekl střelec ligy" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 29 May 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  3. "Jak že se ta paní jmenuje? Jo, Damková, zlobil se po prohře Lafata" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 18 September 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  4. "Příbram – Jablonec 4:3, Lafata má rekord, k bodům ale nepomohl" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 7 April 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  5. "Sparta Prague signs Lafata". Miami Herald. 11 January 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  6. "Nejvíc gólů v historii ligy. Může Lafatův rekord ještě někdo překonat?". Lidové noviny (in Czech). 31 March 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  7. "Lafata scores five for rampant Sparta". UEFA.com. 15 July 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  8. Sparta - Malmö 4:2, český mistr prohrával, pak začal opět řádit Lafata, iDNES.cz, Retrieved 26. 7. 2014 (in Czech)
  9. Sparťanskými srdci cloumá nápor: Vztek na vymyšlenou penaltu Slavie, návrat legendy i další selhání
  10. "David Lafata league profile". www.idnes.cz. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  11. "David Lafata UEFA profile". www.uefa.com. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  12. David Lafata at Soccerway
  13. "Po sezoně ukončím fotbalovou kariéru, potvrdil kapitán Sparty Lafata". aktualne.cz (in Czech). 9 May 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  14. "Že mám rekord? Aha, divil se Lafata. Skóroval v osmém zápase za sebou" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  15. "Jistota. Lafata je nejlepším střelcem, na závěr dal rekordních pět gólů" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 14 May 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  16. "Vdenik.cz".
  17. "Vdenik.cz".
  18. "Jsme tady proto, abychom postoupili, říká před odvetou Lafata" (in Czech). ceskatelevize.cz. 5 August 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  19. "Lafata's once-in-a-lifetime Sparta bonanza". uefa.com. 16 July 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
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