Czech National Football Team Hires First-Ever Foreign Coach — Spaniard Santi Denia

Spanish coach Santi Denia has taken charge of the Czech national football team for a minimum of two years, after the football association's executive committee approved his contract, which includes an extension option, by majority vote. This marks the first time in Czech football history that the national team has been led by a foreign coach.

The new manager will make his debut in the Nations League on September 26, with the opening match in Prague against Croatia, winners of two medals in the last three World Cups. Three days later, on September 29, the Czechs will face England, recent bronze medalists, before travelling to take on reigning world champions Spain on October 3.

The appointment of a Spanish coach comes as a direct response to the team's disastrous World Cup campaign, in which the Czech Republic was the only one of 16 European teams to collect just a single point. By comparison, even Turkey, eliminated after two rounds, managed to beat the United States in their final group match — while the Czechs, who had waited 20 years to reach the tournament, failed to win a single game.

According to the association, 49-year-old Santi Denia was born in Albacete, Spain, played for Atlético Madrid, and made two appearances for the Spanish national team. He began his coaching career as an assistant at Atlético before spending more than a decade working with Spain's youth national teams across various age groups. Among his top achievements are gold at the 2024 Olympic Games, victories at the 2017 and 2019 European U-19/U-21 Championships, as well as silver at the 2017 U-17 World Cup and the 2023 U-21 European Championship. His most recent post was with the Qatari club Al Shahania.

Denia's assistant will be 48-year-old Spaniard Pablo Amo, who previously worked with Spain's youth national team and served from 2022 to 2025 as an assistant to Luis de la Fuente — the coach under whom Spain won Euro 2024 and the Nations League. According to Czech national teams' general manager Pavel Nedvěd, the coaching staff is expected to be a mix of Spanish and Czech specialists, with the remaining assistants' names to be announced in the coming hours.

The new manager faces a long list of challenges: teaching the team not to fear stronger opponents, eliminating nervous, fussy play on the pitch, building a unified playing philosophy across all of the country's national age-group teams, and restoring fans' trust after a string of failures — the national team has gone through three coaches in the last ten months alone: Ivan Hašek, Jaroslav Köstl, and Miroslav Koubek.

A separate issue is the possible return of star players who had announced their departure from the national team. Bayer Leverkusen forward Patrik Schick, at 30, declared he was stepping away from the national side, feeling underappreciated and overly criticised; 28-year-old Václav Černý of Beşiktaş made a similar move. "Good question, but the team matters more to us. I don't want to talk about one specific name just yet, but of course we want him back," Denia said at a press conference when asked about a possible Schick comeback.

Another point of intrigue concerns the captaincy and starting spot for midfielder Tomáš Souček, who suffered ankle ligament damage at the World Cup and is set to return to London this weekend to join West Ham, who were relegated from the Premier League this past spring. A goalkeeper change is also possible: should Denia opt for Tottenham's Antonín Kinský, known for his strong footwork, over current first-choice Matěj Kovář, it would send the first clear signal of change under the new coach.

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz