Masopust voted Czech player of century

Legendary midfielder Josef Masopust, who led his country to the runners-up spot in the 1962 World Cup, has been named the Czech Player of the Century.

Masopust finished at the top of the list in the poll conducted by Gol magazine. He was ahead of famous pre-war "bomber" Pepi Bican, who scored more than 5,000 goals in his career and was widely considered the brightest star of pre-war European football.

Ivo Viktor, the best player of the 1976 European Championships which the Czechs won, finished in third place.

The World Cup year of 1962 was a good one for Masopust, as he was also named European Footballer of the Year - the only Czech winner of the prestigious France Football magazine trophy.

And Masopust, now 69, admitted that being named Czech Player of the Century meant more than winning the Ballon d'Or.

He said: "There were always so many great players in Czechoslovakia and in the Czech Republic - it's a great honour."

Standings:

1 Josef Masopust 2 Pepi Bican 3 Ivo Viktor 4 Frantisek Planicka 5 Pavel Nedved 6 Antonin Panenka 7 Ladislav Novak 8 Karol Dobias 9 Andrej Kvasnak 10 Zdenek Nehoda