- Czech Republic national football team
-
Czech Republic
Nickname(s) Národní tým Association Fotbalová asociace České republiky Confederation UEFA (Europe) Head coach Michal Bílek Captain Tomáš Rosický Most caps Karel Poborský (118) Top scorer Jan Koller (55) Home stadium Various FIFA code CZE FIFA ranking 47 Highest FIFA ranking 2 (Sept 1999; Jan-May 2000; Apr-May 2005; Jan-May 2006) Lowest FIFA ranking 67 (March 1994) Elo ranking 35 Highest Elo ranking 1 (June 2004, June 2005) Lowest Elo ranking 37 (September 2010) 
Home colours
Away coloursFirst international 
Turkey 1–4 Czech Republic
(Istanbul, Turkey; 23 February 1994)Biggest win Czech Republic 8–1 Andorra 
(Liberec, Czech Republic; 4 June 2005)
Czech Republic 7–0 San Marino 
(Liberec, Czech Republic; 7 October 2006)
Czech Republic 7–0 San Marino
(Uherské Hradiště, Czech Rep.; 9 Sep. 2009)Biggest defeat 
Switzerland 3–0 Czech Republic
(Zürich, Switzerland; 20 April 1994)
Norway 3–0 Czech Republic
(Oslo, Norway; 10 August 2011)World Cup Appearances 1 (First in 2006) Best result Round 1, 2006 as Czech Republic; Runners-up, 1934 and 1962 as Czechoslovakia European Championship Appearances 4 (First in 1996) Best result Runners-up, 1996 as Czech Republic;
Winners in 1976 as CzechoslovakiaConfederations Cup Appearances 1 (First in 1997) Best result 3rd, 1997 The Czech Republic national football team (Czech: Česká fotbalová reprezentace) represents the Czech Republic in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of the Czech Republic, the governing body for football in the Czech Republic. Their current head coach is Michal Bílek. Before its separation in 1992, the team participated in FIFA and UEFA competitions as Bohemia, Austria-Hungary, and the majority as Czechoslovakia.
The national team was founded in 1901, existing under the previously mentioned names before the separation of Czechoslovakia in 1992. Their first international competition as the Czech Republic was Euro 1996 where they finished runners-up, their best finish in any international competition. Despite their early success, they have only featured in one FIFA World Cup, the 2006 tournament, where they were eliminated in the first round of the competition. They suffered the same fate at Euro 2008, their most recent appearance in the final stages of a major tournament.[1]
Contents
History
See also: Czechoslovakia national football teamBefore World War I, Bohemia, present–day Czech Republic, whilst part of Austria–Hungary, played seven matches between 1903 and 1908, six of them against Hungary and one against England. Bohemia also played a match against Yugoslavia, Ostmark and Germany in 1939 while being the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
Outside Synot Tip Arena
When the Czech Republic was part of Czechoslovakia, the national team had runner–up finishes in World Cups (1934, 1962) and a European Championship win in 1976.
When Czechoslovakia split and reformed into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the Czech Republic national team was formed, and they played their first friendly match away to Turkey, winning 4–1, on 23 February 1994. The newly formed team played their first home game in Ostrava, against Lithuania, in which they registered their first home win, a 5–3 victory.
Their first competitive match was part of the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying campaign, in which they defeated Malta 6–1 in Ostrava. During the campaign, the Czech Republic registered six wins, three draws, and an embarrassing defeat against Luxembourg, finishing their qualifying Group 5 in first place, above favorites the Netherlands. In the final tournament, hosted by England, the Czechs progressed from the group stage, despite a 2–0 opening game defeat to Germany. They continued their good form, and progressed to the UEFA Euro 1996 final, where they lost 2–1 to the Germans at Wembley Stadium.
Given their success at Euro 1996, the Czechs were expected to qualify for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. However, they finished third in their group, behind Spain, and Yugoslavia, and subsequently failed to qualify.
They did, however, qualify for Euro 2000, winning all ten of their group games, conceding just five goals. The team failed to perform well at the finals though, producing just one win, and being eliminated in the group stage.
Once again, the Czech Republic failed to qualify for the World Cup, this time finishing second in their group, behind Denmark, and then being beaten 1–0, and 0–1 by Belgium in the UEFA play–offs for a place in the finals.
They progressed to the finals of Euro 2004, qualifying through their group ahead of the Netherlands, and their only dropped points being in a 1–1 draw away to the Oranje. In the Euro finals, the Czechs progressed to the semi–finals, where they were beaten 1–0 by the eventual upset champions Greece
The Czechs finally qualified for a FIFA World Cup, qualifying for the 2006 edition in Germany, via a play–off against Norway, winning both legs 1–0. They seemed set to progress to the last 16, with a 3–0 win over the USA, however, 2–0 defeats to Ghana, and Italy promptly ended their hopes of progression.
The disappointing World Cup campaign was followed by a successful qualifying campaign for Euro 2008, where they finished top of their group, above Germany on head–to–head records. The Czechs beat co–hosts Switzerland 1–0 in their opening game, before being beaten 3–1 by Portugal, this meant that they, and Turkey carried identical records going into the final group game. The Czechs took a 2–0 lead just past the hour mark and looked set to qualify. However, the Turks staged a stunning comeback in the last 15 minutes of the game to win the game 2–3, and that signaled the end of another disappointing performance at a major tournament and the final match for coach Karel Brückner. It was said amongst many Czechs, that the injury of midfielder Marek Matejovsky crippled the team's chances of reaching the quarter finals.
After the failure to impress at the Euro, the Czechs faced World Cup qualification, being drawn in Group 3, under the guidance of coach Petr Rada. They started with a 0–0 away draw against Northern Ireland, which was followed by a poor performance against Poland, losing 2–1. Their campaign was starting to become a nightmare when they had loads of trouble to defeat Slovenia, winning 1–0 thanks to a Libor Sionko goal with ten minutes to go. This was followed by an unconvincing win against San Marino, and a goalless draw in Slovenia. However, the worst thing was still to come. Their following match, against their neighbors Slovakia, meant an impacting 2–1 defeat at home that left the Czechs in a terrible situation, and it was also coach Petr Rada's last match. Ivan Hašek took over as both Czech FA president and manager, slightly improving things, as they drew away to group leaders Slovakia and thrashed San Marino 7–0 at Uherske Hradiste. They entered the penultimate matchday with a game against Poland to win, and hoping that Slovenia did not defeat Slovakia. They did their task, but the Slovaks weren't able to theirs, and lost 2–0, which meant that minnows San Marino had to hold the Slovenians to a draw to give the Czechs a chance of reaching the play-offs. Effectively, their hopes had sunk, and the 0–0 draw against the Northern Irish was a mere formality which ended the first Czech failed campaign since 2002.
There was confusion in the western media over the head coach of the Czech national team in November 2009. Former player Vladimír Šmicer was named as manager of the administrative division on 10 November 2009, just one day after he had retired from football. The term manager (which has a different meaning in Czech language) caused widespread speculation. In fact the head coach of the Czech national team, who had been appointed a month earlier, is Michal Bílek.[2]
Record in major tournaments
World Cup
For 1930 to 1994 records, see: Czechoslovakia
Since independence from Slovakia, the Czech Republic has only qualified for one FIFA World Cup, in 2006. Coming into the 2006 World Cup as the team ranked second best in the world after Brazil, due to Czech domination in the 2004 Euro Cup, expectations were enormous. The Czechs defeated the United States 3-0 in their first game and people expected this to be a brilliant tournament for Czecho, however in the second game against the Ghana national football team the Czechs were unable to rebound from an early Ghana goal, despite hitting the post many times. Though the Czech team outplayed the opponents throughout the game, it still ended horribly for the Czech Republic; 2-0 for Ghana after a late insurance goal by the strong African team. Experts would go on to consider this a significant moment of collapse for the Czech team, who was put in a position of having to defeat Italy to advance to the next round. In a relatively close game, the eventual world champions defeated the Czechs by the score of 2-0 eliminating a team that didn't even approach expectations. They went out in the first round following one victory and two defeats in what came to be thought of as a disastrous World Cup for the Czech national team.
Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA 1998 and 2002 Did not qualify - - - - - - 
2006Round 1 20 3 1 0 2 3 4 
2010Did not qualify - - - - - - - Total 1/4 3 1 0 2 3 4 Confederations Cup
The Czechs qualified for the 1997 Confederations Cup following their second place in the UEFA Euro 1996 Competition and Germany's subsequent refusal to take part. Given that teams only qualify for the Confederations Cup if they win either the FIFA World Cup, or regional championship (UEFA Euro,) this is their only appearance.
Year Round GP W D* L GS GA 1992 to 1995 Did not qualify - - - - - - 
1997Third place 5 2 1 2 10 7 1999 to 2009 Did not qualify - - - - - - Total 1/8 5 2 1 2 10 7 European Championship
1960 to 1992 records, see: Czechoslovakia
Since their independence, Czech Republic have never failed to qualify for the European Football Championships, with their best finish being second place in the 1996 edition of the tournament (which was also their first), since then they have advanced from the first round on only one occasion, in 2004. Qualifying for UEFA Euro 2012 is now underway.
UEFA European Championship record Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA 
1996Runners-up 2nd 6 2 2 2 7 8 
2000Group Stage 10th 3 1 0 2 3 3 
2004Semi Final 3rd 5 4 0 1 10 5 
2008Group Stage 11th 3 1 0 2 4 6 
2012Qualified Total 7/13 25 11 5 9 36 32 - *Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty shootout.
- **Gold background colour indicates winning the tournamen. Red border colour indicates hosts.
Managers
Václav Ježek (1993)
Dušan Uhrin (1994–1997)
Jozef Chovanec (1998–2001)
Karel Brückner (2001–2008)
Petr Rada (2008–2009)
František Straka (2009)
Ivan Hašek (2009)
Michal Bílek (2009–present)Recent results
Main article: Czech Republic national football team resultsDate Home Team Score Away Team 9 February 2011 
Croatia4–2 Czech Republic25 March 2011 
Spain2–1 Czech Republic29 March 2011 Czech Republic2–0 
Liechtenstein4 June 2011 Czech Republic0–0 
Peru7 June 2011 
Japan0–0 Czech Republic10 August 2011 Norway3–0 Czech Republic3 September 2011 
Scotland2–2 Czech Republic6 September 2011 Czech Republic4–0 Ukraine7 October 2011 Czech Republic0–2 Spain11 October 2011 
Lithuania1–4 Czech Republic11 November 2011 Czech Republic2–0 
Montenegro15 November 2011 Montenegro0–1 Czech RepublicUpcoming fixtures
Friendly matches
Greece29 February 2012 EURO 2012 qualifiers
Opponents Venue Date MontenegroPrague 11 November 2011 MontenegroPodgorica 15 November 2011 UEFA Euro 2012 qualification – Group I
Main article: UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group ITeamPld W D L GF GA GD Pts Spain8 8 0 0 26 6 +20 24 Czech Republic8 4 1 3 12 8 +4 13 Scotland8 3 2 3 9 10 −1 11 Lithuania8 1 2 5 4 13 −9 5 Liechtenstein8 1 1 6 3 17 −14 4 Czech Republic — 2–0 0–1 1–0 0–2 Liechtenstein 0–2 — 2–0 0–1 0–4 Lithuania 1–4 0–0 — 0–0 1–3 Scotland 2–2 2–1 1–0 — 2–3 Spain 2–1 6–0 3–1 3–1 — 7 September 2010
20:15 UTC+2Czech Republic 0 – 1 LithuaniaAndrův stadion, Olomouc
Attendance: 12,038[3]
Referee: Alon Yefet (Israel)Report Šernas 
25'
8 October 2010
20:15 UTC+2Czech Republic 1 – 0 ScotlandSynot Tip Arena, Prague
Attendance: 14,922[4]
Referee: Ivan Bebek (Croatia)Hubník 70'Report
12 October 2010
20:00 UTC+2Liechtenstein 0 – 2 Czech RepublicRheinpark Stadion, Vaduz
Referee: Stanislav Sukhina (Russia)Report Necid 12'
V. Kadlec 29'
25 March 2011
21:00 UTC+2Spain 2 – 1 Czech RepublicEstadio Nuevo Los Cármenes, Granada
Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)Villa 69', 72' (pen.)Report Plasil 23'
29 March 2011
17:30 UTC+2Czech Republic 2 – 0 LiechtensteinStadion Střelecký ostrov, České Budějovice
Attendance: 6,700[5]
Referee: Ovidiu Alin Hategan (Romania)Baroš 3'
M. Kadlec 70'Report
3 September 2011
15:00 UTC+1Scotland 2 – 2 Czech RepublicHampden Park, Glasgow
Attendance: 51,457
Referee: Kevin Blom (Netherlands)Miller 44'
Fletcher 82'Report Plašil 78'
M. Kadlec 90' (pen.)
7 October 2011
20:45 UTC+2Czech Republic 0 – 2 SpainGenerali Arena, Prague
Attendance: 17,873[6]
Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (Italy)Report Mata 6'
Alonso 23'
11 October 2011
21:45 UTC+3Lithuania 1 – 4 Czech RepublicS. Darius and S. Girėnas Stadium, Kaunas
Attendance: 2,000
Referee: David Fernández Borbalán (Spain)Šernas 68' (pen.)Report M. Kadlec 2' (pen.), 85' (pen.)
Rezek 16', 45'Stadia
The most important matches of the Czech national team are held in Prague's Generali Arena, the home stadium of AC Sparta Prague. However, as of November 2011, the team has only played 34 of 83 home matches there. This is due to the policy of playing matches against teams with a lesser reputation outside the capital city, as is the case for Montenegro.
Stadia which have hosted Czech Republic international football matches:
Number of
matchesStadium First international Last international 34 Generali Arena, Prague 26 April 1995 11 November 2011 19 Na Stínadlech, Teplice 18 September 1996 26 August 2009 5 Bazaly, Ostrava 25 May 1994 16 August 2000 5 Andrův stadion, Olomouc 25 March 1998 7 September 2010 4 Stadion u Nisy, Liberec 4 June 2005 11 August 2010 3 Stadion Střelnice, Jablonec 4 September 1996 5 June 2009 3 Synot Tip Arena, Prague 27 May 2008 8 October 2010 2 Sportovní areál, Drnovice 18 August 1999 15 August 2001 2 Městský stadion, Uherské Hradiště 16 August 2006 9 September 2009 1 Stadion SSK Vítkovice, Ostrava 26 March 1996 26 March 1996 1 Strahov Stadium, Prague 24 April 1996 24 April 1996 1 Stadion FC Bohemia Poděbrady, Poděbrady 26 February 1997 26 February 1997 1 Stadion Evžena Rošického, Prague 18 August 2004 18 August 2004 1 Stadion Za Lužánkami, Brno 8 March 1995 8 March 1995 1 Stadion Střelecký ostrov, České Budějovice 29 March 2011 29 March 2011 Squad
Current squad
Match date: 11 and 15 November 2011.[7]
Opposition: Montenegro
Caps and goals updated as 15 November 2011.# Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Petr Čech May 20, 1982 88 0 Chelsea23 GK Jaroslav Drobný October 18, 1979 5 0 Hamburger SVGK Jan Laštůvka July 7, 1982 1 0 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk2 DF Theodor Gebre Selassie December 24, 1986 7 0 Slovan Liberec3 DF Michal Kadlec December 13, 1984 32 7 Bayer Leverkusen4 DF Jan Rajnoch September 30, 1981 15 0 Ankaragücü6 DF Tomáš Sivok September 15, 1983 23 3 Beşiktaş11 DF Daniel Pudil September 27, 1985 22 2 Racing Genk12 DF Zdeněk Pospěch December 14, 1978 31 2 Mainz 055 DF Roman Hubník June 6, 1984 20 2 Hertha Berlin9 MF Jan Rezek May 5, 1982 11 3 
Anorthosis Famagusta10 MF Tomáš Rosický October 4, 1980 85 20 Arsenal13 MF Jaroslav Plašil January 5, 1982 69 6 
Bordeaux14 MF Václav Pilař October 13, 1988 6 1 Viktoria Plzeň18 MF Daniel Kolář October 27, 1985 8 1 Viktoria Plzeň19 MF Petr Jiráček March 2, 1986 5 1 Viktoria Plzeň20 MF Marek Matějovský December 20, 1981 15 1 Sparta PragueMF Milan Petržela June 19, 1983 8 0 Viktoria Plzeň8 FW Tomáš Pekhart May 26, 1989 8 0 Nürnberg15 FW Milan Baroš October 28, 1981 86 39 Galatasaray21 FW David Lafata September 18, 1981 15 2 Baumit JablonecRecent call-ups
The following players have also been called up to the Czech Republic squad within the last twelve months:
Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club Latest Call-up GK Aleš Hruška November 23, 1985 0 0 Příbramv. Scotland, September 2011GK Tomáš Grigar February 1, 1983 2 0 Teplicev. Japan, June 2011GK Tomáš Vaclík February 29, 1989 0 0 Viktoria Žižkovv. Liechtenstein, March 2011DF Ondřej Kušnír April 5, 1984 4 0 Sparta Praguev. Japan, June 2011DF David Limberský October 6, 1983 6 0 Viktoria Plzeňv. Japan, June 2011DF Mario Holek October 28, 1986 8 0 Dnipro Dnipropetrovskv. Croatia, February 2011MF Tomáš Hübschman September 4, 1981 40 0 Shakhtar Donetskv. Lithuania, October 2011MF Kamil Vacek May 18, 1987 6 0 
Chievov. Lithuania, October 2011MF Marcel Gecov January 1, 1988 1 0 Fulhamv. Norway, August 2011MF Jan Polák March 14, 1981 57 7 VfL Wolfsburgv. Norway, August 2011MF Petr Janda January 5, 1987 2 0 Slavia Praguev. Japan, June 2011MF Petr Trapp December 6, 1985 1 0 Viktoria Plzeňv. Japan, June 2011MF Adam Hloušek December 20, 1988 5 0 Slavia Praguev. Liechtenstein, March 2011MF Jan Morávek January 1, 1989 3 0 Schalke 04v. Liechtenstein, March 2011FW Martin Fenin April 16, 1987 16 3 Energie Cottbusv. Japan, June 2011FW Michal Hubník June 1, 1983 3 0 Legia Warsawv. Japan, June 2011FW Tomáš Necid August 13, 1989 25 7 
CSKA Moscowv. Japan, June 2011FW Václav Kadlec May 20, 1992 1 1 Sparta Praguev. Liechtenstein, March 2011FW Libor Kozák May 30, 1989 0 0 Laziov. Liechtenstein, March 2011FW Jiří Štajner May 27, 1976 36 4 Slovan Liberecv. Croatia, February 2011Previous squads
- FIFA World Cup squads
- UEFA European Football Championship squads
Player records
See also: List of Czech Republic international footballersPlayer records are accurate as November 15, 2011.
Most capped Czech Republic players
# Name Career Caps Goals 1 Karel Poborský 1994–2006 118 8 2 Jan Koller 1999–2009 91 55 Pavel Nedvěd 1994–2006 91 18 4 Petr Čech 2002–Present 88 0 5 Milan Baroš 2001–Present 86 39 6 Tomáš Rosický 2000–Present 85 20 7 Vladimír Šmicer 1993–2005 81 27 8 Tomáš Ujfaluši 2001–2009 78 2 9 Marek Jankulovski 2000–2009 77 11 10 Vratislav Lokvenc 1995–2006 74 14 Top Czech Republic goalscorers
# Player Career Goals (Caps) Pct. 1 Jan Koller 1999–2009 55 (91) 0.604 2 Milan Baroš 2001–Present 39 (85) 0.453 3 Vladimír Šmicer 1993–2005 27 (81) 0.333 4 Pavel Kuka 1994–2001 22 (63) 0.349 5 Tomáš Rosický 2000–Present 20 (84) 0.235 6 Patrik Berger 1994–2001 18 (44) 0.409 Pavel Nedvěd 1994–2006 18 (91) 0.198 8 Vratislav Lokvenc 1995–2006 14 (74) 0.189 (Above Information in both tables taken from individual player pages, based on players from the Czech Republic international footballers page (List of Czech Republic international footballers)[8])
See also
References
- ^ CZE on FIFA.com
- ^ "Ex-Liverpool midfielder Vladimir Smicer handed Czech Republic job". guardian.co.uk. 10 November 2009. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/nov/10/vladimir-smicer-liverpool-czech-republic. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
- ^ http://nv.fotbal.cz/reprezentace/reprezentace-a/statistiky/viewstat2.asp?page=/nat/AM/2010/match5.asp
- ^ http://www.soccerway.com/matches/2010/10/08/europe/european-championships/czech-republic/scotland/914197/
- ^ FOTBAL.CZ - Reprezentace A - statistiky
- ^ http://fotbal.idnes.cz/cesko-spanelsko-0-2-rozdil-mezi-souperi-byl-propastny-pc9-/fot_reprez.aspx?c=A111007_165523_fot_reprez_min
- ^ ČMFS (27 September 2011). "Nominace na Španělsko a Litvu: Češi jsou kompletní". http://nv.fotbal.cz/scripts/detail.php?id=98089&tmplid=1484. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
- ^ "Czech Republic International Footballer Page". Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Czech_Republic_international_footballers. Retrieved 09-11-2010.
External links
- Official web
- RSSSF archive of results 1994-
- RSSSF archive of results 1903,1906-08,1939
- RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers
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defunct: CIS · Czechoslovakia · GDR · Ireland (1882–1950) · Saarland · Soviet Union · Yugoslavia2006 FIFA World Cup finalists Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place Eliminated in the quarter-finals Eliminated in the round of 16 Eliminated in the group stage Angola · Costa Rica · Côte d'Ivoire · Croatia · Czech Republic · Iran · Japan · Korea Republic · Paraguay · Poland · Saudi Arabia · Serbia & Montenegro · Togo · Trinidad and Tobago · Tunisia · United StatesUEFA Euro 2008 finalists Champions Runners-up Eliminated in semi-finals Eliminated in quarter-finals Eliminated in group stage Categories:- European national association football teams
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