Czech Republic coach Jaroslav Silhavy announced Monday evening that he was resigning from his post, just minutes after the national team qualified for Euro 2024 by beating Moldova 3-0.
“Even though we are happy now, we had already decided before the match that we would not continue,” the 62-year-old coach told Czech public television in a post-match interview.
Silhavy, who led the team to the quarter-finals of the last Euro before securing a place in next year's tournament in Germany, came under fire for the team's poor performance in Group E, where they finished second behind Albania after winning only four matches out of eight.
The Czech team was also hit by a scandal less than 48 hours before the decisive match against Moldova, when three internationals - Vladimir Coufal (West Ham), Jakub Brabec (Aris Salonika) and Jan Kuchta (Sparta Prague) - been excluded from the group after spending the night from Saturday to Sunday in a nightclub.