Euro 2008 Czech Republic Team Guide
Welcome to the euro2008betting.com Czech Republic Team Guide for Euro 2008. Here we preview the chances of the Czech Republic for Euro 2008 plus take a look back at their Euro 2008 qualifiying performance and previous appearances at the European Championships.
Coach: Karel Brückner
Brückner has been the head coach of the Czech Republic since December 2001. His sides are
known for playing attractive, fast-paced and technical football. In the Czech League he was the
coach for SK Sigma Olomouc before becoming the national side's coach. He has announced his intention
to leave his current position and retire from football at the end of Euro 2008.
Euro 2008 Qualifying:
With Group D settling quickly into a two-horse race between Germany and the Czech Republic, Karel Brückner's side never looked unlikely to qualify, but finished the job in some style. The two frontrunners met for the first time in Prague on 24 March 2007, when two goals from Kevin Kuranyi rendered Milan Baroš's 77th-minute effort redundant and sent Joachim Löw's side three points clear at the top of the section. The Czechs held their nerve in subsequent games, however, and spoiled Germany's qualification celebrations by overcoming their neighbours 3-0 in Munich on 17 October 2007 to seal their place in the finals with two games to spare. Victory was all the sweeter for having been achieved without a number of top players. Libor Sionko, Marek Matějovský and Jaroslav Plašil scored the goals that silenced the Bavarian crowd and centre-back David Rozehnal said: "Qualifying is nice but the way we did it is even better." They went on to win the group with a 2-0 triumph in Cyprus in their final qualifier.
Past Euro Performance:
The golden goal made its debut in senior international competition at UEFA EURO '96 and accounted for the Czech Republic in the final of the tournament when Oliver Bierhoff scored the winning goal five minutes into extra time after the sides remained deadlocked at 1-1 after 90 minutes. The Czechs had earlier defeated France and Portugal in the knockout phase of the competition after finishing second to Germany in the group stage at the expense of Italy and Russia. As part of the former state of Czechoslovakia, Czech players were involved in winning the 1976 UEFA European Championship against the Federal Republic of Germany. The final ended in a 2-2 stalemate in Belgrade before the Czechoslovak side won 5-3 on penalties with Antonín Panenka cheekily chipping in the final spot-kick for Václav Ježek's side.
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