Plánička was a courageous player, to the extent that in Czechoslovakia's 1938 World Cup match against Brazil, he remained on the field despite having suffered a serious injury.

[7][8] In 2003, he was cataloged as the greatest pre-war goalkeeper in Europe[6][9] along with other notable keepers such as Ricardo Zamora and Gianpiero Combi.

In 1919, the 15-year-old Plánička signed an application for the football club Slovan Praha VII, because he thought that other friends would also go there, but in the meantime, they had become members of SK Bubeneč, so he joined as a goalkeeper two years later, in 1921.

[1][2][12] However, he perfectly compensated for his small stature for a goalkeeper with cat-like agility and excellent observation, hence earning the nickname "Master of Robinsonades".

[2] However, they failed to keep this a secret and SK Bubeneč sent the whole case to the Commission on Crime Prevention, which resulted in Slavia being fined for the offense, but Plánička could stay with them, an agreement that was officialized in October 1923.

[2][14] Despite being of below-average height for a goalkeeper, at 1.72m (5 ft 8 in),[15] he was an effective shot stopper, and his acrobatic style earned him the nickname The Cat of Prague.

Despite not being able to keep a single clean-sheet throughout the tournament, he led his nation to victories over Romania in the first round, Switzerland in the quarterfinals, and Germany in the semifinals to advance to the final.

[28] On 10 June 1934, Czechoslovakia played the final against hosts Italy, who also had one of the great goalkeepers of the time, Gianpiero Combi, as its captain.

[note 1] Plánička did not leave the pitch, however, and instead played through the pain until the end of regulation and through the subsequent extra time, which had no change in the score.

After moving to Slavia, Plánička, who had previously worked as a laborer in various factories, completed basic military service with an anti-aircraft regiment in Prague.

After his retirement, Plánička continued to play football in Slavia old boys' hobby team,[2] maintaining a healthy lifestyle and physical condition.

Czech national team midfielder Karel Poborský attended his burial, postponing his contract signing with Manchester United, which was scheduled to happen the same day.