Miroslav Soukup

Miroslav Soukup (born 13 November 1965) is a Czech football manager and former player who formerly managed the Yemen national team.^[1][2] Previously, he was in charge of the Iraq national Olympic team.

Miroslav Soukup

Soukup as Bahrain manager in 2019
Personal information
Date of birth	(1965-11-13) 13 November 1965 (age 59)
Place of birth	Prachatice, Czechoslovakia
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
	Tatran Prachatice
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1983–1985	Tatran Prachatice
1985–1987	RH Žižkov
1987–1990	Tatran Prachatice
1990–1995	TV Freyung
1995–1997	FC Salzweg
1997–2001	TV Freyung
Managerial career
1995–2000	Tatran Prachatice (youth)
1995–1997	FC Salzweg (player-manager)
1997–2001	TV Freyung (player-manager)
2001–2003	Tatran Prachatice
2001–2004	České Budějovice (youth)
2004–2008	Zbrojovka Brno (assistant)
2004–2005	Czech Republic U18
2005–2006	Czech Republic U19
2006–2007	Czech Republic U20
2007–2008	Czech Republic U21
2008–2009	Egypt U20
2010–2012	Slovácko
2012–2013	České Budějovice
2014–2016	Yemen
2016–2019	Bahrain
2021–2022	Iraq U23
2022–2024	Yemen
Medal record Men's football Representing  Czech Republic (as manager) FIFA U-20 World Cup Runner-up 2007
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Managerial career

He was one of the managers leading successful Czech Republic national under-20 football team, runners-up at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup held in Canada and was also manager of bronze medal Czech Republic national under-19 football team at the 2006 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship.^[3] He was manager of Egypt national under-20 football team from early 2008 until late 2009, during which time he led the team as the host nation at the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup, where they advanced from the group stage before losing to Costa Rica in the last 16.^[4]

He became the coach of 1. FC Slovácko, replacing Josef Mazura on 18 April 2010.^[5] After losing the opening three games of the 2012–13 Czech First League, Soukup was relieved of his duties.^[6] Soukup was not out of football for long, as he took over at Czech First League side SK Dynamo České Budějovice in September 2012 following the dismissal of František Cipro.^[7] He didn't last long as he was sacked in the winter break of the 2012–13 season after a 6–1 friendly match loss to Mladá Boleslav in February 2013.^[8] On 13 May 2014 he was confirmed as the head coach of Yemen national football team. On 27 July 2016, Soukup was appointed as the new manager of the Bahrain national football team.^[9] Under his guidance, Bahrain progressed to the knockout stage for the first time since 2004, and it was considered as a success. Despite this, Soukup left the position after the Asian Cup. In 2022 he became Yemen national team manager for the second time, but had to fulfil his duties remotely due to the security situation in the country.^[10]