Sports Nicknames - Furia Ceca

Pavel Nedved is one of the most successful players of his generation as well as one of the best Czech Republic players of all time. Along the way, he picked up plenty of nicknames from the fans. Among these were Furia Ceca (Czech Fury) from Italian fans, Meda (Little Bear) from Czech fans and the "Czech Cannon" from the English.



Nedved began his career playing with various clubs in the newly formed Czech Republic. These included Skoda Plzen, Dukla Prague and Sparta Prague in that order. With this last team, he won a league title and got called up to the national team. He also got a transfer to Lazio in 1996.

That transfer turned out to be a good one, as during Nedved's time in Rome, he helped the club win a multitude of trophies. He captured Serie A, 2 Coppa Italias, the UEFA Super Cup, and were runners up in the UEFA Cup. In 2001 Nedved switched the blue of Lazio for the black and white of Juventus.

Signed to replace Zinedane Zidane, Nedved made his impact immediately. He helped Juventus to Serie A titles in 2001 and 2002, as well as leading them to a UEFA Champions League final (although they were beaten by AC Milan). After the Calciopoli scandal and subsequent relegation, Nedved stayed with the club and helped them back into the first division. Nedved made his impact on the international side as well, helping the Czech Republic to be runners up at the 1996 European Championships and semi-finalists in 2004.

Nedved is undoubtedly one of the greatest players to come out of the Czech Republic, yet he's also been a great footballer regardless of nationality. Meda has had a long and successful career, now involved with Juventus on board of directors.

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