Starstruck and Useless: I Froze in Front of Slavia Legends

In April, I travelled to Olomouc to support my favorite football team, Slavia Praha. They had an important league match there. If they won this game, they would become champions, even though there were still four more matches left in the season.

I booked a room at the NH Collection Olomouc Congress Hotel. This hotel is located right in front of Andrův Stadion, which is the home stadium of Sigma Olomouc. I thought it would be a perfect place to stay because it was so close to the match.

I arrived at the hotel around 3 PM. As I got there, I saw the Slavia Praha team bus parked in front of the hotel. I was surprised and excited. I didn’t know that the Slavia team was also staying at the same hotel. It felt like a lucky coincidence.

The match was scheduled to start at 7 PM. About 90 minutes before the game, I went down to the hotel lobby. I wanted to take some photos of the players as they got on the bus to go to the stadium.

But something unexpected happened before that.

While I was walking to the lift lobby on the third floor, I saw Zdeněk Houštecký, one of the coaches. I greeted him and said, “We must win tonight.” He smiled, and I felt happy to have spoken to someone from the team.

Then, the lift doors opened. Inside the lift were three people: a hotel staff member, Jan Bořil (the captain of Slavia Praha), and David Douděra (the right wing-back). I was shocked. I froze for a few seconds. I couldn’t believe I was standing so close to them, in the same lift!

I didn’t say anything at first. I just stood there, feeling nervous. Then Jan Bořil looked at me and said, “Dobrý den”. I quickly replied, but I didn’t dare to look at them directly.

They got off the lift on the first floor, probably for a team meeting. I continued down to the ground floor, still thinking about what had just happened.

Later, I felt a bit silly. I kept asking myself, “Why didn’t I ask for a photo?” Maybe I didn’t want to interrupt their focus before the game, the most important game of the season. Or maybe I was just starstruck. I’m still not sure.

In the end, Slavia Praha won the match 5–0. They became champions that night. It was an amazing day, and now I truly believe that being starstruck is real.