Czech FA head Hasek takes over as national coach

New Czech Football Federation (CMFS) head Ivan Hasek announced on Tuesday he was taking over the Czech national team as head coach until the end of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.

“An extraordinary situation requires an extraordinary solution,” said Hasek, pointing out that the Czechs stand just fourth in qualifying Group Three, seven points off the top place finish which guarantees a place in next year’s finals.

Hasek, who was appointed as the CMFS head at the end of June after coaching Emirati club Al Ahly, sacked Frantisek Straka as national coach on June 30.

Straka was appointed a month earlier on a temporary basis to replace Petr Rada, who was dismissed after a series of lacklustre results in the qualifying group.

“This is not a standard approach. I take the responsibility, it’s a short-term solution, but from the next qualification we will start a conceptual solution and I will not be a part of that,” said Hasek.

The 45-year-old former Czech international said he had picked his former Sparta Prague teammate Michal Bilek and Al Ahly’s Czech assistant coach Ludek Klusacek as assistant coaches with the national team.

He added Karel Bruckner, a 69-year-old former national team coach who guided them to the Euro 2004 semi-finals, would act as an adviser.

“He will be with the team all the time, throughout all training sessions and on the bench during matches,” Hasek said about Bruckner, who led the Czechs at the World Cup in 2006 and the European championships in 2004 and 2008.