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Czech Republic Euro 2008 Squad

The Czech Republic pipped Germany to top spot in Group D thanks largely to a stunning 3-0 victory in Munich. Having suffered a home defeat to the Germans earlier in the qualifying campaign, Karel Brückner’s side produced a sensational performance at the Allianz Arena with Libor Sionko, Marek Matejovsky and Jaroslav Plasil scoring the goals. That result was the highlight of a campaign which also included the 7-0 thrashing of San Marino, in addition to comfortable victories over neighbours Slovakia.

This European Championship is the country’s fourth consecutive tournament, while they regularly qualified and enjoyed success as Czechoslovakia. In 1976, Antonin Panenka fired home the winning penalty in a dramatic shoot-out as they defeated West Germany in the final after the match had ended in a 2-2 draw. But the Germans would have their revenge 20 years later as Oliver Bierhoff’s golden goal inflicted a painful 2-1 defeat on the Czechs at Wembley, allowing Germany to clinch Euro ’96 in dramatic fashion.

With an exciting and talented squad, the Czech Republic will be hoping to make a major impact at this summer’s finals, especially after losing out in the semi-finals four years ago. On that occasion, Greece prevailed thanks to a ‘silver goal’ which left Bruckner’s side with little time to respond. This time, the likes of Petr Cech and Jan Koller will be looking to build on their impressive qualification campaign. Cech is one of the world’s leading goalkeepers and was voted into the Euro 2004 all-star team after helping his country reach the semi-finals. He has again struggled with injuries this season, missing key games in Chelsea’s pursuit of the title and the Champions League, but he returned to action in April against Wigan and will be a key man for the Czechs this summer.

Ahead of him stands the giant figure of Koller, a nightmare for defenders and one of the most experienced target men in European football. With six goals in the qualification campaign, the Nürnberg forward will provide the main goal threat for his side and will be hoping to continue his promising partnership with Euro 2004 Golden Boot winner Milan BaroÅ¡.

Czech Republic Euro 08 Squad

Head coach: Karel Brückner

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Petr ÄŒech 20 May 1982 (26) 56 0 Chelsea 2 DF ZdenÄ›k Grygera 14 May 1980 (28) 50 1 Juventus 3 MF Jan Polák 14 March 1981 (27) 33 6 Anderlecht 4 MF TomáÅ¡ Galásek 15 January 1973 (35) 57 1 Nuremberg 5 DF Radoslav Kováč 27 November 1979 (28) 19 1 Spartak Moscow 6 DF Marek Jankulovski 9 May 1977 (31) 62 10 Milan 7 MF Libor Sionko 1 February 1977 (31) 28 4 Copenhagen 8 FW Martin Fenin 16 April 1987 (21) 5 0 Eintracht Frankfurt 9 FW Jan Koller 30 March 1973 (35) 85 52 Nuremberg 10 FW Václav SvÄ›rkoÅ¡ 1 November 1983 (24) 0 0 Baník Ostrava 11 FW Stanislav Vlček 26 February 1976 (32) 8 0 Anderlecht 12 DF ZdenÄ›k PospÄ›ch 14 December 1978 (29) 6 0 Copenhagen 13 DF Michal Kadlec 13 December 1984 (23) 4 0 Sparta Prague 14 MF David Jarolím 17 May 1979 (29) 13 1 Hamburg 15 FW Milan BaroÅ¡ 28 October 1981 (26) 59 31 Portsmouth 16 GK Jaromír Blažek 29 December 1972 (35) 12 0 Nuremberg 17 MF Marek MatÄ›jovský 20 December 1981 (26) 6 1 Reading 18 MF TomáÅ¡ Sivok 15 September 1983 (24) 2 0 Sparta Prague 19 MF Rudolf Skácel 17 July 1979 (28) 3 1 Southampton 20 MF Jaroslav PlaÅ¡il 5 January 1982 (26) 31 2 Osasuna 21 DF TomáÅ¡ UjfaluÅ¡i 24 March 1978 (30) 64 2 Fiorentina 22 DF David Rozehnal 5 July 1980 (27) 40 0 Newcastle United 23 GK Daniel Zítka 20 June 1975 (32) 1 0 Anderlecht

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Topics: Czech Republic, European Championships