Captain Bzenc’s grandfather died during the match. He sent him a hat trick to heaven

The fact that the match between the fourth Bzenc against the first Strání for the top of the division E table will be a big hit has been talked about since the winter, when coach Vladimír Beker left Bzenc to join the rival unexpectedly and amid general bitterness. However, his return to familiar places over the weekend was overtaken by another, significantly more serious event.

Spectators at the stadium were welcomed by Jaroslav Kasala, a lifelong fan of Bzenice football and the grandfather of team captain Petr Kasala. In his honor, a minute’s silence was observed before the match and the home players started with black armbands.

“My grandfather came to support me at every home game. I always watched him ride his bike here during the warm-up. It was hard for me today not to see him coming here,” said Kasala after the match.

He left the lawn with two children in his arms and immediately fell into the arms of his family at the railing on the way to the changing rooms. Even the people around had tears in their eyes. Kasala managed the challenging match as best as he could – he sent his grandfather to heaven with a hat trick, which helped Bzenec beat the leader of the table overwhelmingly 4:0.

“I wanted to dedicate at least one goal to my grandfather. I never dreamed that I would give three. I am satisfied with the match,” said the top scorer of Division E.

When he made his first breakthrough and sent Bzenec into the lead in the 22nd minute, even his opponents congratulated him. Kasala shook hands with the players he subdued, and even before playing from the center circle, the visitors’ striker Luboš Miklovič pressed his shoulder to calm him down.

Although they are competing for the crown of the top scorers of the current season, in which both have already scored over twenty goals, football went by the wayside for a while.

“The guys from Strání surprised me with how they approached it. I thank them very much for the way they treated me. It was a surprise to me how they, the referees, everyone, approached it. Miklovič told me that he congratulated me, what more can I say?” recounted the moved captain Bzence. He admitted that after the first hit a big weight fell off him. “Incredible weight. I have accomplished what I set out to do. At that time, I started thinking mainly about the match,” he said.

After the second goal at the beginning of the second half, he took off his shirt and waved it in front of the stands, for which he saw a yellow card. He accepted her without any problems. He also planned to take off his jersey in celebration. “If I knew I was going to score a hat-trick, I’d leave it to him. But no one could have expected that. Too bad,” he smiled.

Grandpa’s last goal and Páník’s emotions

Symbolically, the last goal that his grandfather saw in his life was scored by the Bzenec captain. In Holešov, he was the only scorer in the first half, after which the match was ended prematurely due to the death of a spectator.

“I definitely thought that it was the last goal in front of his eyes. I would never have believed that I would give it to him. I loved my grandfather,” said the attacker.

Bzeneck coach Bohumil Páník gave him a well-deserved standing ovation in the home game against Strání and replaced him in the 77th minute so that Kasala could enjoy it himself. The thirty-four-year-old veteran enjoyed this moment to the fullest and jumped in euphoria at the official who was holding a sign with his number behind the line during the substitution. With clenched fists and a victorious gesture, the master ran up to the couple, who almost fell to the ground.

“I don’t have a problem with showing emotion,” the judicious trainer bard said another time. “I monitored the situation during the week. That he scored three goals for ‘Kasy’ is proof of how perfect a player and boy he is,” he added.

Coach Beker, originally the central character of the game, applauded from the opponent’s bench. Although he certainly didn’t leave the winter on good terms, he was in good spirits on his former home ground – at least before the referee blew the whistle for the first time.

After the final whistle, however, the debacle bit hard. He called the players into a circle, as Spartan coach Brian Priske does.

Execution? That’s not happening, the coach said The tension before the arrival of Vladimír Beker and his Strání in Bzenek was also exacerbated by a media skirmish in the regional press. The chairman of the guests, Antonín Popelka, expressed his fear that the Strání faces execution by the referees, with whom his Bzenice counterpart Luboš Drozdy has a good relationship. “It was just media noise… that doesn’t happen in football anymore,” Beker said after the game. “The referee was in control, what he whistled, he whistled,” he praised.

“We were ready for Bzenec, unfortunately he punished our mistakes. This is indicative of his attacking power. We will not make a science out of one match, we will prepare for the next one. We said to ourselves that even if things get heated here, we don’t want anyone to get a red card to miss us. That worked. Unfortunately, the result was not successful,” Beker summed up the heavy slap.

He expressed his respect to Kasal for how he handled a difficult match. “I wrote to him right after I learned about the event in his family. He answered me, for which I appreciate him. I also expressed my sincere condolences to him on the lawn. I love football, I do everything to succeed in it, but here everything else went by the wayside,” emphasized the coach who angered Bzenec a few months ago.

His former charge made it clear that he had come to terms with the “football betrayal” on Beker’s part. “We had an above-standard relationship. Not that I feel a grudge against him now, but I was sad to see him leave, it hurt us. Such things happen in football, I have nothing against him. Good luck to him. For all of us, the motivation was to win, we gave probably the best performance of the season, we motivated ourselves for the Strání and the coach,” Kasala told the opponent’s coach.

He denied that he would go into a head-to-head battle with the aim of defeating the Side in order to prevent the rival from losing points and not being promoted from Division E to the MSFL. “Honestly? We have no ambition to advance. Let whoever is interested fight for it. Kozlovice won it last year and they didn’t want to go up, so if Strání wants it and wins the division, then let Strání advance, I don’t care,” he assured.