Vratislav Lokvenc

Vratislav Lokvenc (, born 27 September 1973) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a forward.

After playing youth football for Náchod and Hradec Králové, he began his senior club career with the latter team.

Born in 1973, Lokvenc started his professional career during the 1992–93 season with Hradec Králové, joining Sparta Prague in October 1994.

He featured in the 1995–96 UEFA Cup for Sparta, scoring the first goal and providing the pass for the second in a 2–1 win against Danish club Silkeborg IF, whereby Sparta qualified on the away goals rule for the second round.

Lokvenc spent six seasons at Sparta Prague, with whom he won five league titles and the 1995–96 Czech Cup.

He scored a goal shortly after entering the game as a substitute in a first round match of the 1996–97 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup against Austrian side Sturm Graz; the match finished 2–2.

He played at the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup before going on to take part in three major competitions.

After moving to Sparta Prague he won five league titles and one cup, as well as the 1999–2000 league top scorer award.

He subsequently played abroad, playing club football in Germany, Austria and Switzerland for 1. FC Kaiserslautern, VfL Bochum, Red Bull Salzburg, FC Basel and FC Ingolstadt 04.

He was top scorer of the Czech First League in the 1999–2000 season with 22 goals, tying the league record, which stood until David Lafata scored 25 goals during the 2011–12 season.

He made three substitute appearances at Euro 2000 and played in one game at Euro 2004.

In March 2000, in a match against České Budějovice, Lokvenc scored four times for Sparta as the match finished 4–1.

In doing so he became the third player in the Czech era to score four times in the same match, after Josef Obajdin and Robert Vágner.

Lokvenc scored twice in the Prague derby match against Slavia Prague in May 2000, in a 5–1 win which secured the league title for Sparta.

Lokvenc joined 1. FC Kaiserslautern of the German Bundesliga in 2000, agreeing to the move before the 2000 European Championship.

Around the same time, a daughter was born to Lokvenc in May 2000.

He scored six goals in an 11–1 friendly match win against an amateur side before the start of the season.

In December 2000 Lokvenc scored in the UEFA Cup against Rangers, helping his team qualify for the last 16 of the competition.

In the following round Kaiserslautern were paired with Slavia Prague; after the first match had finished goalless, Lokvenc scored the only goal in the second leg of their two-legged tie to eliminate the Czech team.

He scored a hat-trick in the 2002–03 DFB-Pokal quarter-final against Bochum, a game which finished 3–3 but was won by Kaiserslautern after a penalty shoot-out.

Lokvenc played in the final of the competition at the end of May 2003, but his side were beaten 3–1 by league winners Bayern Munich as the latter claimed the double.

Kaiserslautern announced that Lokvenc would be sold in April 2004, citing his salary demands as reasons for his sale.

He joined VfL Bochum of the Bundesliga in the summer of 2004, agreeing the transfer before the European Championships.

Bochum were relegated from the league after 33 games of the 34-game season, with Lokvenc scoring his tenth goal of the season in a 2–0 win at third placed Stuttgart.

Lokvenc signed for Red Bull Salzburg in the summer of 2005, rejecting offers from Portsmouth and Hertha Berlin.

He described his move to Salzburg as "the best transfer of my life", arriving around the same time as Germany national team players Thomas Linke and Alexander Zickler.

Lokvenc only played four league matches in his first season with the club before requiring surgery on an injury to his right knee in November.

His last international tournament was the 2006 World Cup, where he played in two group matches before missing the third through suspension.

The Czech Republic did not qualify for the next round of the competition and Lokvenc subsequently retired from international football in 2006.

Lokvenc was born into a football family; his father, also named Vratislav Lokvenc, played club football for FK Ústí nad Labem in the second football league of Czechoslovakia and later Náchod.

He returned to the team in May 2006, taking part in a match for the first time since July 2005, as he made an appearance as a substitute in a 2–1 home loss against Pasching.

The club finished the season as league runners-up, behind Austria Vienna.

Lokvenc scored his first league goal of the 2006–07 Austrian Football Bundesliga in a December match against Altach, levelling the scores as the game finished 1–1.

The club went on to win the league in April 2007 with five matches of the season remaining.

In October 2007 Lokvenc scored the only goal in Salzburg's 1–0 UEFA Cup first round win against AEK Athens This was not enough for his team to advance, having lost 3–0 in the first leg of their two-legged tie.

Lokvenc featured less for Salzburg in the 2007–08 season, prompting him to join Swiss Super League team Basel on loan in February 2008 for the remainder of the season.

He scored in Basel's 1–0 semi-final Swiss Cup victory against Thun.

The club went on to win the 2008 league championship title and the 2008 Swiss Cup.

He retired in 2009.

Lokvenc played international football for the Czech Republic.