Czech Republic

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Europe's leading nation - at least according to FIFA rankings - still has it all to prove on the world stage. Featuring a side littered with international class, the Czech Republic can be a dangerous opponent on their day but have showed a frustrating knack for inconsistency at crucial junctures. Coach Karel Bruckner has cultivated a supremely talented group of players since taking over in 2001 yet has seen his side chopped down to size twice in knockout matches, latterly at the Euro 2004 semi-finals to Greece.

The Czech's playing roster is scary. Petr Cech and Tomas Rosicky are leading lights while captain Tomas Galasek holds the midfield together. Former European footballer of the year Pavel Nedved has not yet decided if he'll make his World Cup debut next year after returning from international retirement for the playoff win over Norway. While upfront Milan Baros and Jan Koller played their part in tallying a mammoth 35 goals in qualifying. Koller's recuperation from a serious knee injury is vital for the World Cup debutants to go all the way.

Coach: Karel Bruckner
FIFA Ranking: 2

Czech Republic Matches

Match #	Date & Time	Group	Teams		Result	Venue
10	Mon 12th Jun 18:00	E	USA	CZE	0 - 3	Gelsenkirchen
26	Sat 17th Jun 18:00	E	CZE	GHA	0 - 2	Cologne
41	Thu 22nd Jun 16:00	E	CZE	ITA	0 - 2	Hamburg

Match times shown are local times for Germany (CEST/GMT+0200). Click on match date/time to view match statistics.

Past World Cup performance

First appearance as Czech Republic
- as Czechoslovakia
First Round: 1954, 1958, 1970, 1982
Quarter Finals: 1938, 1990
Runner-Up: 1934, 1962

Key Players

Pavel Nedved
Petr Cech
Tomas Rosicky

World Cup 2006 Qualification

Runners-up to the Netherlands in European Group 1. Beat Norway 2-0 on aggregate in their play-off matches to qualify.

Squad

						Total		World Cup 2006
#	Posn	Name	DOB	Club		Caps	Goals	Pld	Goals	OG	YC	RC
1	GK	Cech Petr	20-05-1982	Chelsea	ENG	45	0	3	0	0	0	0
2	DF	Grygera Zdenek	14-05-1980	Ajax	NED	45	1	3	0	0	1	0
3	DF	Mares Pavel	18-01-1976	Zenit St Petersburg	RUS	10	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	MF	Galasek Tomas	15-01-1973	Ajax	NED	52	1	2	0	0	0	0
5	MF	Kovac Radoslav	27-11-1979	Spartak Moscow	RUS	7	0	1	0	0	0	0
6	DF	Jankulovski Marek	09-05-1977	AC Milan	ITA	52	8	3	0	0	0	0
7	FW	Sionko Libor	01-02-1977	Austria Vienna	AUT	18	1	1	0	0	0	0
8	MF	Poborsky Karel	30-03-1972	Ceske Budejovice	CZE	119	8	3	0	0	0	0
9	FW	Koller Jan	30-03-1973	Borussia Dortmund	GER	70	44	1	1	0	0	0
10	MF	Rosicky Tomas	04-10-1980	Borussia Dortmund	GER	58	19	3	2	0	1	0
11	MF	Nedved Pavel	30-08-1972	Juventus	ITA	91	18	3	0	0	0	0
12	FW	Lokvenc Vratislav	27-09-1973	Austria Salzburg	AUT	75	14	2	0	0	2	0
13	DF	Jiranek Martin	25-05-1979	Spartak Moscow	RUS	24	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	MF	Jarolim David	17-05-1979	Hamburger SV	GER	4	0	1	0	0	0	0
15	FW	Baros Milan	28-10-1981	Aston Villa	ENG	50	27	1	0	0	0	0
16	GK	Blazek Jaromir	29-12-1972	Sparta Prague	CZE	11	0	0	0	0	0	0
17	MF	Stajner Jiri	27-05-1976	Hanover 96	GER	25	3	3	0	0	0	0
18	FW	Heinz Marek	04-08-1977	Galatasaray	TUR	29	5	1	0	0	0	0
19	MF	Polak Jan	14-03-1981	Nuremberg	GER	22	5	3	0	0	1	1
20	MF	Plasil Jaroslav	05-01-1982	Monaco	FRA	18	1	3	0	0	0	0
21	DF	Ujfalusi Tomas	24-03-1978	Fiorentina	ITA	51	2	2	0	0	0	1
22	DF	Rozehnal David	05-07-1980	Paris St-Germain	FRA	26	0	3	0	0	1	0
23	GK	Kinsky Antonin	31-05-1975	Saturn Moscow Region	RUS	5	0	0	0	0	0	0