Ján Pivarník

**JUDr. Ján Pivarník** (born 13 November 1947) is a former Slovak football player and later a football manager. He played 39 matches for Czechoslovakia. He won the 1976 UEFA European Championship against Franz Beckenbauer`s West Germany. He was member of the ALL STAR TEAM of 1976 UEFA European Championship and he was named as the best right defender in Europe. At his time, he was the quickest football player in the World, making 100 m in 10.9 s. He was known for his speed, tackling, man-marking, and having ability to break up the opponents, In his prime, he was widely considered as one of the best right-backs in Europe.

## Club career
Jan Pivarnik was born in the village of Tsejkov. He started playing football only at the age of 16, and started playing football in the lower league team "Slavoj" from Trebišov in 1965. In 1966, Pivarnik moved to the club VSS from Košice, as the club promised to assist the footballer in obtaining a higher legal education at the local university. He played for the Košice club for 6 years, became the main player in the team's defense and its leader. In 1972, Jan Pivarnik became a player of Slovan Bratislava, where he continued to be one of the main players of the team. Together with the Bratislava team, Pivarnik became the champion of Czechoslovakia twice in a row in the 1973-1974 and 1974-1975 seasons, and in 1974 he also won the Czechoslovak Cup. In 1974, he also became the best player in Czechoslovakia.

In 1977, after a successful year in the national team, Jan Pivarnik received a serious injury, due to which he did not play for a long time. In 1978, he moved to Dukla Banská Bystrica, but never played a single match there. From 1979 to 1981, the already experienced defender was a playing coach at Austrian clubs Kittsee and Neusiedl am See. In 1981, Pivarník became a player of the Spanish club Cadiz, but played only 3 matches in it and finished his performances on the football fields.

## International career
In 1968, Jan Pivarnik made his debut for the Czechoslovak national team in a game with the Brazilian national team, was in its squad at the 1970 FIFA World Cup, but did not enter the field. In 1976, he was included in the national team for the 1976 UEFA European Championship. At the tournament, Pivarnik was one of the players in the first team of the Czechoslovak national team, and his reliable play helped his team win the semifinal match against the Netherlands. In the final match with the German national team, the Czechoslovak national team won in a penalty shootout and won the championship title. At this tournament, Pivarník also entered the symbolic team of the championship. Due to numerous injuries, he finished playing for the national team in 1977, playing 39 matches and scoring 1 goal.

## Managerial career
After completing his performances on the football fields, Yaroslav Pollack began his coaching career. From 1982 to 1983 he was assistant coach of Austria Vienna and from 1983 to 1984 he was assistant coach of Sporting Lisbon. In 1985, after his first visit to the Middle East, he took charge of the club for the first time, the Al-Fahaheel team from Kuwait, with whom he won the Emir of Kuwait Cup in 1986. In 1990 he returned to Czechoslovakia, where he worked for two years as a manager in the DAK 1904 team from Dunajská Streda. From 1992 to 1993, he headed the Israeli club Hapoel Petah Tikva. In 1993-1994, Pivarnik headed the Saudi club Al-Qadisiyah (Al-Khobar), with which he won the Saudi Football Federation Cup and the Asian Cup Winners' Cup. In 1995-1996, the former footballer managed the youth national team of Oman. In 1997-1998, Jan Pivarnik headed the Kuwaiti club Al-Salmiya, with which he became the champion of Kuwait, and in 1998-1999 the other Kuwaiti club Al-Arabi, with which he won the Emir of Kuwait Cup, the Al-Kurafi Cup and the Crown Prince Cup of Kuwait. From 1999 to 2000, the former Czechoslovak footballer was in charge of the Emirati club Al Jazeera. In 2000, he returned to Kuwait, where he won the Al-Kurafi Cup in the 2000–2001 season with Al-Arabi, and in 2002–2003 with Al-Kuwait won the Crown Prince Cup of Kuwait. In 2003-2004, Jan Pivarnik again headed the Saudi club Al-Qadisiyah, and in 2008 - the Kuwaiti club Al-Fahaheel, which became the last club in his coaching career, after which Pivarnik returned to Slovakia.

## Honours
### Player
**Slovan Bratislava**
***Slovak Cup (2):** 1973–74, 1975–76
***Czechoslovak First League (2): **1973–74, 1974–75
***Czechoslovak Cup (1):** 1973–74
**Czechoslovakia**
***UEFA Euro 1976:** Winner

### Manager
***Asian Cup Winners Cup (1):**
**1993 - 1994 - Al Qadisiyah Saudi
***Kuwait Emir Cup (2):**
**1986 - 1999
***Kuwaiti Premier League (1):**
**1997–98
***Kuwait Crown Prince Cup (1):**
**1999
***Al-Khurafi Cup (1):**
**1999
***Saudi Federation Cup (1):**
**1993–94

**Individual**
***Czechoslovak Footballer of the Year**: 1974
***UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament**: 1976

## References
## Other websites
*