Publications
Partners
Prague - Karel Jarolim will replace Pavel Vrba as the Czech Republic national team coach, the Czech Football Association (FACR) said on Friday.
"Jarolim will start his national team job as of August 1, he will sign a two-year contract with a two-year option," the FACR said in a statement on its website.
The 59-year-old Jarolim is currently the coach of Czech top-flight side Mlada Boleslav, who are due to face Neftci of Azerbaijan or Macedonia's Shkendija in the Europa League third qualifying round later this month.
Under the deal with the FACR, he can carry on with the club until August 25, the date of the second leg of the Europa League play-offs.
Before taking over Mlada Boleslav in 2014, Jarolim had a three-year stint in the Middle East where he led Al-Ahli in the Saudi Professional League and Al-Wahda in the United Arab Emirates.
He was also an assistant coach at Strasbourg in the French league from 2001-03 and head coach at Slovak side Slovan Bratislava from 2010-11.
The peak of Jarolim's coaching career so far came when he won back-to-back Czech league titles with Slavia Prague in 2008 and 2009, having also led the club into the 2007/08 Champions League group stage.
As a player, Jarolim scored two goals in 13 games for Czechoslovakia between 1982 and 1987.
He spent most of his playing career with Slavia Prague, before moving to France in 1987 to play for Rouen and Amiens.
Jarolim is taking over from Vrba, who joined Russian Premier League side Anzhi Makhachkala following a poor showing at Euro 2016 where the Czechs bowed out after the group stage with just a single point.
