The Czech who played for São Paulo in just one match

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·18 June 2026

The Czech who played for São Paulo in just one match

Throughout its history, Tricolor has had 13 players born in Europe. Most of them (nine) immigrated to Brazil at a very young age and also held Brazilian citizenship. In recent years, three other athletes (Juanfran, Jamal Lewis, and Cédric Soares) joined this group in a different way, arriving at São Paulo with careers already established on the old continent.

One professional, however, stands apart from those mentioned above: František Šafránek (whose pronunciation is something like Frantíshequi Chafránequi).

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On June 24, 1964, in the final match of Tricolor’s famous unbeaten tour of Czechoslovakia, Germany, France, Belgium, Germany, and Italy—which would earn the team the nickname Hurricane of Europe and a commemorative Blue Ribbon—São Paulo found itself worn down by the grueling routine of matches and travel (there were 12 matches in a month and a half, not counting transfers) and without several players, such as Benê and De Sordi.

With no one available to field in certain positions for the final clash against Milan, in Milan, São Paulo had to turn to their compatriots from Madureira and the Czechoslovaks from Dukla Praha—who were also touring there—and request the temporary loan of two players: Zezé, a forward; and Šafránek, a defender.

František Šafránek, born in Prague on January 2, 1931, was an ambidextrous full-back who played on both flanks and had been a renowned player for the Czechoslovak national team. He was called up for two World Cups (1954 and 1958, playing in two matches in the first one) and for the 1960 European Championship (in which Czechoslovakia finished third). In total, he played 22 matches and scored one goal.

Šafránek, the third standing player from left to right, with the Czechoslovakia team

At club level, he began his sporting career in the youth ranks of Vršovice and moved up to the senior team with Spartak Sokolovo in 1949. Three years later, he transferred to Dukla Praha, which at the time was called ATK Praha (and would later also be known as ÚDA Dukla).

One of Šafránek’s great sporting strengths was his powerful shot, as shown by the free-kick goal he scored from more than 40 meters away against CDNA Sofia of Bulgaria, which secured the Prague side’s qualification for the 1961/1962 European Cup.

His teammates considered him an excellent long passer, with very precise distribution, something he achieved through a routine of four hours of daily training. Off the field, however, his passion was another: the violin.

“That is why his friends nicknamed him Paganini (the famous composer). Šafránek was a true artist, a musician, one of those you do not see much anymore. He graduated from a conservatory. He carried his violin everywhere and, at the request of listeners, played Mozart folk songs, Beethoven waltzes, and even more recent popular hits, such as Smetana. After training, while his teammates relaxed, he practiced the violin”, summarized the Uda Dukla website in its gallery of great idols.

By 1966, when he left Prague, Šafránek had won eight national titles with Dukla, with 238 league matches and 28 goals. He continued his career at Spartak Vlašim and retired at Strašnice in 1976.

He loved football so much that he died while playing it in a Dukla veterans’ match on June 27, 1987.

Šafránek, in the center (third from left to right after the goalkeeper), in a match at the 1960 European Championship

06/24/1964. International Friendly: Single Match. Milan (Italy), Stadio Giuseppe Meazza – San Siro.MILAN 0 x 1 SÃO PAULO

SPFC: Suly; František Šafránek, Bellini and Virgílio; Leal and Jurandir; Faustino, Marco Antônio (Prado), Del Vecchio, Bazzaninho and Zezé. COACH: Oto Vieira. GOAL: Leal, 10/2.

OPPONENT: Balzarini; David and Pelagalli, Pini (Petrini, halftime), Maldini and Bacchetta; Hamrin, Ferrario (Gallardo), Altafini, Rivera and Amarildo. COACH: Carniglia.

As for the match Šafránek played for Tricolor, which São Paulo won 1–0 with a goal by Leal, it is worth highlighting Orlando Duarte’s account for A Gazeta Esportiva, dated June 26, 1964:

“Life presents curious facts that sometimes could not even be part of our dreams. That is what happened, for example, with defender Šafránek, of Uda Dukla. In São Paulo’s first match on this tour, there in Prague, on May 9, in the second half, two minutes in, Šafránek replaced Pluskal and played against Tricolor. He played well and São Paulo, even so, won 2–0. The day before yesterday, the Brazilian club had to turn to Uda Dukla asking for a defender, and Šafránek came, thus taking part in the final match of the tour. This time, he was lucky, his team won“. “Šafránek immediately created a great atmosphere among the Tricolors. A likeable man, 32 years old, a violin teacher, captain in the Czechoslovak army, very intelligent. Surrounded by the affection of the São Paulo players, within a few minutes he felt perfectly at ease. At the end of the match, São Paulo presented him with the ‘number 2 shirt’ he had worn, as well as the shorts; and Šafránek made a moving gesture. He kissed the shirt with tears in his eyes! He also received a pennant signed by the players, two kilos of Brazilian coffee, 40 dollars, and a few more gifts“. “It was a pleasure to see how Šafránek, through the little English he knew and with mime, tried to make himself understood with the São Paulo players. After the match, until three in the morning, he stayed talking with Marco Antônio, Bazzani, Faustino, Leal, and the others. He felt at ease and spoke freely, showing all his joy at having played for a Brazilian team. He insisted that they send him, from Brazil, a team photo with him included in it. Šafránek’s presence in this final São Paulo match marked a very ‘sui generis’ chapter in the tour”.

Little is known about the specific performance of the Czechoslovak full-back against Milan in 1964—which, incidentally, São Paulo won, securing the tour’s unbeaten record—but, definitively, by the twists of fate, his name is also part of the history of São Paulo Futebol Clube.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.