DOWNING a fan’s beer, running for his life from a bear and singing Sweet Caroline on live TV – Finland captain Lukas Hradecky ticks all the boxes for a typically madcap goalkeeper.
But the player England must try to score past tomorrow at Wembley is also a history maker.
Hradecky led Finland to their first and only major tournament at Euro 2020.
And earlier this year he became the first Finnish footballer to win a title in any of the big five European leagues when he skippered Bayer Leverkusen’s Invincibles to glory.
No wonder Slovak-born Hradecky, 34, is one of Finland’s most beloved athletes.
He moved to the country from Bratislava before he was two because dad Vladimir had a contract to play semi-pro volleyball in the city of Turku.
Hradecky came through the academy of eight-time Finnish champions Turun Palloseura but never played a league game before moving to second-tier Danish side Esbjerg.
He earned a week’s trial at Manchester United and was offered the chance to stay on and fight for a permanent deal.
But he explained: “I didn’t like the way British clubs worked with their academy teams. And I didn’t really like that atmosphere there.
“I don’t mean it in any bad way, but I just didn’t see myself playing at United. So I ended up rejecting the offer.”
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After an impressive spell at Danish giants Brondby, Hradecky joined Eintracht Frankfurt in 2015.
He was named Bundesliga goalkeeper of the year in 2017/8 and was the hero of Eintracht’s German cup triumph, saving four penalties across three shootouts on the way to a 3-1 win over Bayern Munich in the final.
Leverkusen snapped Hradecky up on a free transfer and a few weeks later he enjoyed a cheeky drink while on international duty.
As he thanked fans after a friendly win over Belarus, he noticed a supporter had a pint, grabbed it – and downed it.
But Hradecky tracked down the man he had left thirsty and gave him a full crate of beer, commenting on social media: “The debt is paid.”
Finland certainly owe him and his team-mates a lot.
For the best part of a 100 years, the country had tried and failed to reach the finals of a major tournament.
But a 3-0 win over Liechtenstein in Helsinki in November 2019 broke the curse – and captain Hradecky made good on his vow to sing Sweet Caroline, his go-to karaoke song, in celebration.
Ahead of Finland’s opening Euro 2020 game, Hradecky said it would be the most emotional match of his career, especially because he knew the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen so well after making his name in Denmark.
But in the first half those emotions changed when Denmark’s Christian Eriksen collapsed after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Hradecky managed to keep his composure and saved a penalty after the game resumed as Finland won 1-0.
But his greatest achievement is surely last season’s Double with Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen.
Although if Hradecky had not been quick on his feet during pre-season in the summer of 2019, he might not have been around to lead the club to glory.
The keeper was back in Slovakia visiting relatives and went for a jog wearing a heart monitor provided by Leverkusen – only to run into a bear.
He told leading German tabloid Bild: “I saw a movement in the distance. I didn’t stay there to see if it was a bear or a big dog.
“I wouldn’t try to play dead if a bear was chasing me. I trusted my feet and, thank God, everything ended happily – it was actually a bear.
“Our physical department can confirm that I had the highest pulse in all runs this summer.”
After escaping a grisly fate, Bundesliga strikers hold a little fear for Hradecky.
He kept 15 clean sheets in 33 appearances in Leverkusen’s unbeaten league campaign, but just as important was his leadership on and off the field that made him so popular in the dressing room and in the stands.
After a 3-0 home win in February over Bayern, who had won 11 titles in a row, Hradecky climbed into the north end of the BayArena to conduct the ultras in celebration chants.
And after lifting the Bundesliga trophy a few months later, Hradecky repeated the stunt and let the fans touch the precious metal.
Leverkusen also won the German Cup and completed a 2024 Treble by claiming the Super Cup last month.
Phillip Arens, who covers Leverkusen for Bild, describes Hradecky as “normal but special”, a thoroughly down-to-earth bloke with a sparkling personality as well as a great sporting talent.
Arens added: “Lukas always says what he thinks, he’s open-minded, he can be funny and he can be serious.
“He is a true original, one of a dying breed like Thomas Muller.”
Goalkeepers are renowned for being characters. But Hradecky is a class apart.
