Czech Republic The Czech Republic has qualified for four European Championships in four attempts and has only lost two qualifying games along the way.
How they qualified They topped Group D beating out Germany by two points and finished a mammoth twelve points ahead of third place the Republic of Ireland. Jan Koller led the scoring with six goals.
The Coach Karel Bruckner took over the full national team in 2001 after a successful spell in charge of the under-21 side. Since then Bruckner has integrated many of the players from the under 21s that finished second in the 2000 European Championship with remnants from the 1996 European Championship side that finished as runners-up to Germany.
A failure to qualify from the group stages at the 2006 World Cup nearly cost the veteran coach his job but he managed to ride out the criticism. Nonetheless the 67-year-old has decided to retire at the conclusion of the 2008 Euros.
Key Players Tomas Rosicky is injured and he will be badly missed by a side that many consider to be in decline. Goalkeeper Petr Cech will be a key to Czech hopes and confidence as will a back four that has depth with the likes of Grygera, Jankulovski, Rozehnal, Ujfalusi and Kovac to choose from.
Milan Baros was the top scorer at Euro 2004 and is an enigma. The striker has consistently failed to deliver the goods at club level with Liverpool, Aston Villa, Lyon and Portsmouth but put a Czech top on him and another player appears. A scoring rate of almost a goal every two international games places his striking rate among the best in the world.
Great Euro Memory It took a golden goal by Germany’s Oliver Bierhoff in the 1996 final to kill off Czech hopes of becoming European Champion at the first attempt. The Czechs battled Germany all the way and with a break at the right time they could well have won the 1996 tournament.
Synopsis Their finish ahead of Germany while scoring twenty-seven goals and conceding only five flatters to deceive. There is a fine line between experience and old age when it comes to a soccer team and it may just be that the balance has tilted too far in a squad in which nine players the wrong side of 30. Martin Fenin who moved to Eintracht Frankfurt last summer after impressive performances at the under-20 World Cup is the only player under the age of 23 in the squad.
Coming Up in World Cup Qualifying Drawn in Group 3 with Poland, Northern Ireland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and San Marino.
Portugal Portugal has now made it to the last four European Championship Finals and qualified for the knock stages in 1996, 2000 and 2004.
How they qualified Portugal finished a point behind Poland in Group A and three points above Serbia and Finland while drawing six of their fourteen games. Ronaldowas the top scorer with eight goals.
The Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari’s relationship with the Portuguese media has plummeted to depths so low that the Brazilian coach might even be regretting turning down the England job in 2006!!
Scolari has proven time and time again that he can create teams that are difficult to beat and in a number of cases his teams have been incredibly successful. Conversely the Scolari-approach more often than not sacrifices players natural flair at the twin alters of the isms – pragmatism and cynicism.
Key Players Cristiano Ronaldo’s importance almost goes without saying (but I thought it should be mentioned anyway) but if you look through the squad of players available to Scolari you cannot fail to be impressed.
The likes of Alves, Bosingwa, Carvalho, Meira, and Miguel are all excellent defenders, while the midfield has a mixture of creativity, strength, experience and pace with Deco, Petit, Nani, Moutinho, Veloso and and Raul Meireles all pushing for spots.
If you look past Ronaldo perhaps the key forward for Portugal might be Werder Bremen’s Hugo Almeida. Almeida’s abilities might be best described as rugged and willing but he might be given the chance to complete a Portuguese puzzle that has repeatedly been missing a piece up top.
Great Euro Memory It was 3-2 loss but the 1984 semi-final against France was an extra time epic in Marseille.
Synopsis Finished as runners up to Greece when they hosted four years ago and a lack of goals from their recognized strikers (or striker) has cost Portugal silverware at past European Championships and World Cups. Portugal looks solid defensively and Cristiano Ronaldo could carry his country deep into the tournament once more.
However, all the other teams are more than aware of Ronaldo’s capabilities and no doubt they will set out to try and nullify him. Deco has been an important part of Scolari’s plans but his form has been generally disappointing over the last year. No goals and only three helpers for Deco during the qualifying stage carries a warning that his most effective days at the top level may be on the wane.
Coming Up in World Cup Qualifying Drawn in Group A with Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Albania and Malta.
Argentina made it yet another FIFA under-20 World Cup win after coming back from a goal down to beat a battling Czech Republic. These two sides are played to a scoreless draw in the group stage and after an hour of play in this match we had gone one hundred and fifty minutes without a goal – and then we got two inside two minutes.
Fenin opened the scoring with a goal good enough to win any final when he swiveled in the penalty area and hooked an unstoppable shot past Romero in the Argentina goal. It was just what the Czechs needed and wanted – to get their noses in front.
But the lead would disappear in a matter of seconds as Banega threaded a ball through to an unmarked Aguero who bore down on goal and rolled the ball past Petr. It was a bad lapse in concentration and a costly one. From then on there was only going to be one winner as the Czechs heads visibly dropped.
A Moralez shot demanded a save from Petr as Banega started to totally dominate the midfield and orchestrate attack after attack. Just as extra time seemed to be a good bet Zarate became the man of the moment. It started with substitute Acosta darting into the Czech box and he clipped shot was deflected over the crossbar.
The resultant corner kick was played short to Zarate who cut back into the penalty and let go what appeared to be a routine shot. It was nothing the kind as Czech keeper Radek Petr misplayed the ball as it skipped into the corner of the net for the winner.
The last few minutes were played out with no threat to Argentina’s goal.
Tournament Notes The final possession statistic was Argentina 63% to the Czech Republic’s 37%. Ten yellow cards were handed out by referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco of Spain – six to the Czech Republic and four to Argentina. It was a game that he kept well under control throughout. Sergio Aguero finished as the tournament’s top scorer with six goals. Giovanni Dos Santos received the Bronze Ball, Maximiliano Moralez the Silver and Sergio Aguero the Golden Ball. My votes went to Gold – Moralez, Silver – Banega and Bronze to Vidangoosy. Japan won the FIFA Fair Play trophy. The first half had been tense affair but one that was not without incident. The game needed a goal and once it came the match really sparked to life. Matias Sanchez who deputized for Claudio Yacob played like a young Diego Simeone complete with the same running style. Just before the match I ran into Peter Montopoli the Exective Director for the tournament – a man who deserves great credit for the success of the event. He looked as if he was looking forward to a drink or four tonight.
Two goals in the opening fifteen minutes of this game killed any remote chance there might have been that this semi final could have turned out to be a memorable match for the neutrals.
Missing two of their normal starting defenders (Madl suspended, Panny injured) and their defensive midfielder Michael Stanislaw (suspended) Austria had a mountain to climb before the players had even caught their second wind.
Micola scored for the Czech Republic with less than five minutes gone and Fenin had the easiest of tap-ins to put the game beyond Austria’s reach. Two goals down Austria seemed unable to change their tactics as the midfield stayed deep isolating lone striker Erwin Hoffer.
Austrian coach Paul Gludovatz tried to shuffle his hand in the second forty five minutes but the Czechs were just too well organized and resolute to give-away a two goal lead. At the end of ninety minutes the Austrians had only achieved one shot on target.
The Czech Republic now awaits the winner of the other semi final between Chile and Argentina set for Thursday night in Toronto.
I am the soccer analyst for the Fox Soccer Report and appear twice a week - every Monday and Friday at 10:00 EST. I have also been a regular contributor to the Fox Soccer Channel website since the summer of 2004. Over the last twenty years I have contributed to various radio and television programs throughout North America as well writing about the game for newspapers, magazines and websites.
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