Illustrative photo Source: Getty Images
BRATISLAVA – Slovak native Ján Geleta, who will celebrate his eightieth birthday on September 13, was for many years one of the mainstays of Prague’s Dukla, with whom he won two championship titles in 1964 and 1966 and played for the European Champions Cup.
The agile midfielder was also active in the Czechoslovak national team, with which he won the silver Olympic medal in Tokyo in 1964. It is this, along with winning the title of Footballer of the Year in 1967, that Geleta considers to be the pinnacle of his career. In 1964 he won the American Cup, he is also a three-time winner of the Czech-Slovak Cup in 1965, 1966 and 1969.
The football player, who in his time enjoyed life to the fullest and fines for partying often took away most of his salary, is somewhat forgotten today despite his victory in the third year of the prestigious poll. “In front of me was Masopust and after me Viktor, I must have stayed in the shadows somewhere,” he said. But he takes it in stride.
A memorable match that angered Cruyff
A native of Malé Chlievany in Slovakia, he trained as a shoemaker, after starting out in the football club in Partizánske, he enlisted in the war in 1962 and got to Dukla Prague. Here he spent his entire adult football career, only the very last season he played for Motorlet. He has been living in Bohemia since the end of the war.
Czechoslovak football legends, Adolf Scherer – world vice-champion from 1962, and Ján Geleta – silver medalist from the 1964 Olympics, brought an insight into contemporary football. What do they lack in it? pic.twitter.com/b2Q0rNoatC
— Tomáš Kotlárik (@TKotlarik) June 4, 2022
For the senior national team, Geleta played in 19 matches and scored two goals, the friendly meeting against the Netherlands in November 1966 in Amsterdam remains in the memory. Geleta then contributed a goal to the Czechoslovak victory 2:1, which was not saved by the young Johan Cruyff, expelled for insulting the referee.
After his career ended, Geleta remained an official in the army and played for the old guard for many years. He also tried to start a business, but his general merchandise did not last in the competition of supermarkets. Today he lives happily in a cottage in Křivsoudove near Vlašim: “In 2000, I ran away from Prague to the village. I was afraid that I would be hit by a tram,” he laughed in one interview.
Author: © List VIDEO: Twitter/Tomáš Kotlárik Source: CTK
2023-09-13 03:50:50
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