Michal Bilek’s team, currently 29th in the FIFA ranking, will play for the fifth time in a row, for the title of the European Champion. The best result so far was the second place achieved in a debut performance in 1996.
In the qualifying group the Czechs won only thirteen points which allowed them for finishing second behind Spain, which won all of their meetings. The Czechs played in the playoffs with Montenegro beating them twice 2-0 and 1-0. The goals scored in the qualifying games were scored by Tomas Necid, Vaclav Kadlec, Jaroslav Plasil, Milan Baros and Jan Rezek. This suggests that in the representation of the Czech there is no player, who could pull the team in difficult moments. The leader of the team seems to be Tomas Rosicky, who is experiencing second youth at Arsenal.
At the Championship the Czechs will play in Group A with Greece, Russia, and our representation. The group considered to be the weakest, paradoxically is very strong and it is hard from the four to distinguish two teams that will advance to the next round.
It seems that the Czechs will not belong to the two, and will drop away from the competition just after the group stage, however they must not be crossed out. The Czechs to the last match will fiercely fight for a place which will guarantee them the advancement from the group.
Czech Republic Euro 2012 Squad
Goalkeepers: Petr Cech (Chelsea), Jaroslav Drobny (Hamburg), Tomas Grigar (Teplice), Jan Lastuvka (Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk).
Defenders: Theodor Gebre Selassie (Liberec), Roman Hubnik (Hertha Berlin), Michal Kadlec (Bayer Leverkusen), David Limbersky (Viktoria Plzen), Daniel Pudil (Cesena), Frantisek Rajtoral (Viktoria Plzen), Tomas Sivok (Besiktas), Marek Suchy (Spartak Moscow).
Midfielders: Tomas Hubschman (Shakhtar Donetsk), Petr Jiracek (Wolfsburg), Daniel Kolar (Viktoria Plzen), Milan Petrzela (Viktoria Plzen), Vaclav Pilar (Viktoria Plzen), Jaroslav Plasil (Bordeaux), Jan Rezek (Anorthosis Famagusta), Tomas Rosicky (Arsenal).
Forwards: Milan Baros (Galatasaray), David Lafata (Jablonec), Tomas Necid (CSKA Moscow), Tomas Pekhart (Nuremberg).
Czech Republic Euro 2012 Group Matches
Friday, June 8, 2012 Russia v Czech Republic (20:45 CET in Wroclaw)
Tuesday, June 12, 2012 Greece v Czech Republic (18:00 CET in Wroclaw)
Saturday, June 16, 2012 Czech Republic v Poland (20:45 CET in Wroclaw)
Quick Facts
- Best World Cup Result: Group Stage (2006)
- Best European Championship Result: Runners-up (1996)
- Record Scorer: Jan Koller (55 goals from 1999 to 2009)
- Most Capped Player: Karol Poborsky (118 caps from 1994 to 2006)
- Coach: Michal Bílek
- Captain: Tomas Rosicky
