As a kid, I was always fascinated by towering centre-forwards. The big men. It was the style of an era - a strong striker to dominate the aerial game, often in long-ball systems, wearing down defenders through sheer presence and pressure.
Names like Duncan Ferguson, Nikola Žigić and Andy Carroll come to mind. They weren’t always elegant, but they embodied a raw kind of football. Direct, physical, relentless.
Jan Koller, however, was different.
He stood 2.02 metres tall. Wore his shirt tucked into his shorts like a gym teacher. Moved awkwardly. But he could trap a ball, time a volley, slide in an assist with the finesse of a No. 10.
I remember watching Red Star Belgrade play with Koller in mind - specifically their gigantic strike duo: Nikola Žigić and Milan Purović. Naturally, my club Sporting CP went for the less talented one. Žigić ended up in Spain. Purović struggled in Portugal. But no giant stayed with me like Jan Koller.
Because he wasn’t just tall. He was good.
From Gloves to Goals
Jan Koller was born on 30 March 1973 in the small Czech village of Smetanova Lhota - a place with more cows than cars, where football pitches were often fields and goalposts just imagination. Like most kids in Czechoslovakia, he grew up with a ball at his feet. But unlike most, he started in goal.
At just five years old, he joined local club TJ Smetanova Lhota, where he played for over a decade. Tall, lanky and good with his hands, he looked every inch a goalkeeper. But fate - and height - had other plans.
In 1989, aged 16, he moved to ZVVZ Milevsko, a humble regional team that would unknowingly shape his future. By now well over 2 metres tall, Koller was still in goal when one youth coach - seeing a mismatch no defender could solve - pushed him up front. It was a revelation. He started scoring for fun. The gloves came off. The striker was born.
By 1994, and already 21, Koller was recruited by Sparta Prague, the most prestigious club in the Czech lands. It was his first taste of professional football, and a boyhood dream come true. Over two seasons, he made more than 30 appearances and scored 5 goals - modest numbers, but enough to earn medals: the Czech championship in 1995 and the Czech Cup in 1996.
Yet he remained on the fringes. Sparta had seen his potential, but hadn’t unlocked it. Koller needed minutes, rhythm, and trust. And he would find all three abroad.
In 1996, aged 23, he signed for K.S.C. Lokeren in Belgium.
A new language, a new league, a new life.
The village boy was ready to become a continental giant.
Made in Belgium
When Jan Koller arrived in Belgium in 1996, few expected much. He had cost around €100,000 - a relatively modest fee even then - and joined K.S.C. Lokeren, a club that had just been promoted to the Belgian First Division.
But what Lokeren lacked in pedigree, they made up for with belief. And Koller, finally trusted as a starting striker, repaid that faith with interest.
Over the next three seasons, he would become one of the most feared - and oddly graceful - centre-forwards in the country. He scored 43 goals in 97 matches and helped Lokeren finish a remarkable 6th place in the 1998-99 season, his last at the club. That same year, he claimed the Golden Boot as the league’s top scorer with 24 goals, and was voted the Belgian Golden Shoe winner as the league’s best player.
No longer just a curiosity, Koller was now a phenomenon.
He could bulldoze centre-backs in the air, but also lay off delicate passes and score with both feet. He held up the ball like a veteran, moved into space like a winger, and often dropped deep to link play - a complete striker hiding inside a giant’s body.
The Belgian press called him “de helikopter” - the helicopter - because of the way he hovered above defenders, arms outstretched, commanding the box with quiet authority.
In the summer of 1999, Anderlecht, the country’s most successful club, paid around €3 million to bring him to Brussels. And there, Koller flew even higher.
He formed a brilliant, complementary partnership with the diminutive but electric Tomasz Radzinski - a 1.74m Canadian-Polish forward whose pace and movement perfectly balanced Koller’s strength and hold-up play. One floated; the other grounded. One danced; the other dominated.
Together, they powered Anderlecht to the Belgian league title in 1999-2000 and returned the club to the Champions League group stage, where Koller added goals to his growing European CV. In total, he scored 42 goals in just 65 matches for Anderlecht - an astonishing strike rate for someone still labelled, in some circles, as “just a target man”.
But those circles were shrinking.
Koller had outgrown Belgium. And Europe had noticed.
Euro 2000
By the time Euro 2000 came around, the Czech Republic were no longer dark horses. After reaching the final in 1996, they were seen as one of Europe’s most exciting sides - technically gifted, tactically smart, and with a new generation emerging to join the old guard.
Jan Koller was now 27 and coming off a superb season at Anderlecht. He had scored five goals in the qualifiers, helping the Czechs top their group unbeaten. For the first time, he would start a major tournament as the team’s central striker - no longer an experiment, but a pillar. He was wearing the number 10.
But fate had placed them in the Group of Death.
Alongside them were hosts the Netherlands, world champions France, and a declining but proud Denmark. It was the most competitive group of the tournament - featuring the reigning world champions and one of the hosts, both favourites to win the whole thing. And the Czechs would come agonisingly close to disrupting everything.
Against the Dutch in Amsterdam, they matched the hosts in intensity and spirit. Koller hit the post in the second half and forced Jaap Stam off after a bruising clash. But in stoppage time, Pierluigi Collina awarded a soft penalty, and Frank de Boer scored from the spot. A cruel 1-0 defeat.
Three days later, they gifted France an early opener - Thierry Henry capitalised on a poor back pass in the 7th minute. Karel Poborský equalised from the penalty spot, but Youri Djorkaeff restored the French lead in the second half. Final score: 2-1 to France.
Already eliminated, the Czechs finished with pride in Bruges, beating Denmark 2-0. Vladimír Šmicer scored both goals - the second assisted by Koller, who had led the line tirelessly all tournament.
They were out - but not outclassed. This was no decline. It was a warning.
The Czech Republic would be back.
And so would Jan Koller.
Yellow Wall, Golden Years
In the summer of 2001, Jan Koller, then 28 and at the peak of his powers, signed for Borussia Dortmund. It would become the defining move of his career - and the club where his legend would truly take shape.
He joined a team with ambition and a rising star at its heart: Tomáš Rosický, his Czech compatriot and creative partner-in-crime. The duo clicked instantly - brains and brawn, flair and force. Together, they led Dortmund to the Bundesliga title in 2001-02, edging Bayer Leverkusen by a single point and ending Bayern Munich’s three-year reign as champions.
Leverkusen, that season, would suffer one of football’s cruelest collapses - they would finish as runnper-up in the Bundesliga, in the DFB-Pokal, and in the Champions League. Dortmund, meanwhile, soared.
Koller scored 11 goals in the league, leading the line with intelligence, power and relentless work rate. In Europe, they went all the way to the UEFA Cup final, where they faced a dangerous Feyenoord side playing in front of a home crowd in Rotterdam.
It was a wild, open final. Dortmund fell 3-2, despite a spirited fightback. Koller scored one, but Pierre van Hooijdonk netted twice, and Jon Dahl Tomasson added a third. The Dutch side also featured a young Robin van Persie, Salomon Kalou, and all the momentum of playing the final in front of their fans at De Kuip.
Despite the heartbreak, Dortmund fans fell in love with Koller. Not just for the goals - though he scored all kinds, from towering headers to sliding tap-ins - but for his humility, consistency, and silent leadership. He even stepped in as goalkeeper twice, covering for injuries and making genuine saves. The gloves, it seemed, were never far.
Over five seasons in yellow and black, Koller made 138 appearances and scored 59 goals, despite recurring injuries. He became a cult hero at the Westfalenstadion, helping stabilise a club that often lived on the edge - financially, emotionally, structurally.
For many, those years were Dortmund’s last golden spell before financial turmoil. And for Koller, they were the apex of a unique career - where he was not just a tall striker, but a towering figure in every sense.
And next, he would reach his finest moment in a Czech shirt.
Euro 2004
The Czech Republic arrived at Euro 2004 with a golden generation - and Jan Koller at its apex. Grouped again with the Netherlands and Germany, it was another brutal draw. But this time, they were ready.
In the opener against Latvia, the Czechs stumbled early, conceding just before half-time. But they turned it around with goals from Milan Baroš (73’) and Marek Heinz (85’) to win 2-1.
Then came the revenge match - Netherlands, who had stolen Euro 2000 with a soft penalty. After going 2-0 down inside 20 minutes, the Czechs roared back. Koller pulled one back on 23 minutes after a clever assist from Baroš. In the second half, the roles reversed: Baroš equalised (71’) from a Koller flick, before Vladimír Šmicer smashed home the winner in the 88th minute. It finished 3-2 - one of the greatest matches in tournament history.
Already qualified, the Czechs rotated heavily against Germany. Koller sat out. Even so, they came from behind - Ballack (21’) gave Germany hope, but goals from Heinz (30’) and Baroš (77’) sealed a dramatic 2-1 win.
In the quarter-finals, Koller returned. Against Denmark, the Czechs were unstoppable. Koller opened the scoring (49’), and Baroš added two more (63’, 65’) in a second-half masterclass. Final score: 3-0.
But the dream died in the semis. Like France before them and Portugal after, they couldn’t untangle Otto Rehhagel’s tactical trap. Greece held them scoreless, then struck in extra time - Traianos Dellas, silver goal. Game over.
Koller left the pitch devastated - but respected.
One of the players of the tournament, and part of a team still remembered as one of the best never to win it.
World Cup Veteran
At Germany 2006, Jan Koller finally played in a World Cup - and fittingly, it was held in “his” Germany, where he had become a cult hero over five seasons with Borussia Dortmund.
The group seemed manageable: USA, Ghana, and Italy. And the start was perfect. Against the USA, Koller needed just five minutes to score - a towering header to open the scoring in a 3-0 win.
But minutes later, disaster struck. He pulled up with a thigh injury and was stretchered off in tears before half-time. His World Cup lasted 44 minutes.
Without him, the team unravelled.
Against Ghana, they fell 0-2. Koller’s replacement, Vratislav Lokvenc, had the height but not the presence. At the back, Tomáš Ujfaluši - usually a pillar of the defence and a respected figure at Fiorentina - had a night to forget. A failed interception gifted Asamoah Gyan the opener after just 2 minutes, and Ujfaluši was later sent off in the second half. Sulley Muntari sealed the result in the 82nd minute.
In the decider against Italy, the Czechs needed a win. But Marco Materazzi headed the Azzurri in front after 26 minutes, and just before the break, Jan Polák saw red. Filippo Inzaghi added a second near the end.
The Czechs were out. Italy would go on to lift the trophy, defeating France with that iconic Fabio Grosso overtime goal.
That summer, Koller left Germany and signed for AS Monaco. In his first season, he made a solid impact - scoring 8 goals in Ligue 1, leading the line with his usual professionalism. But the team struggled for consistency, and midway through the second campaign, he returned to Germany for a short spell with 1. FC Nürnberg.
It was a brief reunion with the Bundesliga, and by 2008, Koller had moved again - this time to Krylia Sovetov in the Russian Premier League. Even at 35, he remained effective, scoring regularly and playing with the same commitment that had defined his career.
And it was in Russia that he received the final call-up of his international journey.
One last tournament was waiting.
Euro 2008
At Euro 2008, a 35-year-old Jan Koller wore the number 9 shirt and led the Czech attack one last time.
He started the opening match against hosts Switzerland, helping the team to a hard-fought 1-0 win. In the second game, a 3-1 defeat to Portugal, he came off the bench deep into the second half, but couldn’t change the course of the match. The Czech goal that day came from Libor Sionko.
That set up a decisive final clash with Turkey - a straight knockout disguised as a group game. Koller returned to the starting XI and, once again, delivered: he opened the scoring with a classic finish, before Jaroslav Plašil made it 2-0.
With just 15 minutes left, the Czechs had one foot in the quarter-finals.
But then came the collapse.
Arda Turan pulled one back on 75 minutes. Then, in a dizzying finale, Nihat Kahveci scored twice - in the 87th and 89th - to complete one of the most dramatic comebacks in European Championship history.
3-2 to Turkey.
Euro 2008 marked the emotional end of his tournament career - not with a celebration, but with disbelief.
He would play once more for his country before retiring from international football as the Czech Republic’s all-time leading scorer, with 91 caps and 55 goals.
Not bad for a former goalkeeper.
Not Just a Target Man
It’s tempting to define Jan Koller by his height. But he was far more than a physical presence.
He held up the ball with intelligence, laid off passes with care, and found space with clever movement. He wasn’t elegant, but he was efficient. Calm. Effective. His size may have got him noticed - but it was his touch, timing and temperament that earned respect.
He completely changed the way I thought about towering strikers.
He proved that being big didn’t mean being technically limited.
I even had the chance to see him live - briefly - at Euro 2008 in Geneva, when Portugal beat the Czech Republic. Just twenty minutes. But enough to feel the presence. To feel the weight of a career carried with quiet greatness.
Because Jan Koller didn’t just play like a giant.
He played like a great.