Former Czech national team representative, captain of a team and current head of Czech-Moravian Football Association talks about his relationship with South Moravia in an interview for the Grand Moravia Magazine.

You and South Moravia?
I accepted an invitation from Michaela Cibulková and arrived to take part in a friendly football match in Lednice. I am surprised to see what a beautiful part of the country it is. Like a small Provence or Tuscany. Picturesque Pálava hills and Lednice-Valtice area are destinations with big potential for the future. Sunshine, wine, national folk costumes, festivals, home made sausages and meat. Only there is no olive oil here. But I tasted some home made sunflower oil “Grand Moravia” which was also good.

Lednice is the most visited place in Moravia. It is surprising this is your first visit here.

Such is life of sports people. Football is a continental sport so I have lived and worked in France, Japan and also in the Arab Emirates. Now I have the time and duty, as a head of Czech FA, to advertise this sport in the Czech Republic.

Which team did you arrive with?
We call ourselves Strahov 1830. Strahov because it is where we train with friends and 1830 because we meet at 18:30 every Tuesday. It is an ideal team to advertise football. Mixture of former professional and good amateur players. It shows that football is a sport for everybody.

Are you happy with the result of the match?
Well, we won. The team of Lednice was very diligent though. We had to fight till the end. It was a good game.

Are there good training conditions in Lednice?
The pitch in my opinion is well maintained. Only the slag training ground should be changed. You can’t train on that.

What do you think of Lednice itself?
The chateau and the park are beautiful. It is good that the chateau is being renovated. And there is a great My Hotel here. Good food and good wine. I can put it into prospective with other places I have visited in other countries.

Considering wine, you must be a bit spoilt from France?
When I arrived in France I only knew the difference between white and red wine. I have moved a long way from there. Moravian wines, white wines in particular, are outstanding. I love slightly sweeter Tramín and Pálava varieties. There has been a huge development in rose wines production.

Names and companies such as Mádl, Valtice Wine Cellars, Horák from Vrbice are those who can produce rose wines of a good quality for a reasonable amount of money. With red wine I must say I still prefer French wines. But it is obvious that Moravian wine makers have learnt a lot and don’t make their red wine in the same way like white wine anymore. They give it more time to mature which is the key to success and use new methods of filtration and clarification. Limberger from Moravín, Merlot from Michlovský, St.Laurent, even in a barrique version from Mádl, Zweigeltrebe from Baloun or Pinot Noir from Stapleton-Springer are the wines which can substitute imports from Italy or France in our gastronomy. At the same time we will support our wine makers. We must be patriotic.

What did you taste in My Hotel restaurant?
Fantastic home made smoked eel with creamed horseradish, Hungarian soup Halászle and delicious Svíčková (usually a thinly sliced fillet of beef served with pureed vegetable sauce and flour dumplings). I drank the wine of Lednice, white Riesling with a great fruity flavour. I was satisfied. That’s how it should be. Home cooked, locally sourced products with Austrian and Hungarian influence and Moravian specialities.

And what about people in South Moravia?
I was delighted to meet the hejtman (elected governor of a Czech region), whose name is Michal Hašek. I was surprised to see how fond he is of football. Our joined campaign for “safer goals”, which can’t tip over and injure or even kill people, gives hope for children to abandon their computers and television sets and come back on a football pitch. Michaela Cibulková is another person worth mentioning. Beautiful woman with a great variety of interests: business, charity, sport, the village. It is a pleasure to cooperate with her.

Will you come back?
I definitely will, time permitting. Also, the footballers of Lednice need their chance for revenge. So maybe in September or October to taste some Burčák. I’m looking forward to it.