Germans Czech out

Satisfied coach Karel Brueckner said his Czech Republic squad had proved their strength in depth after a second-string side beat Germany to ...

Satisfied coach Karel Brueckner said his Czech Republic squad had proved their strength in depth after a second-string side beat Germany to reel off their third successive Euro 2004 Group D Win on Wednesday.

The Czechs, with six players making their first appearance at the tournament, beat the Germans to complete their first round games in style before preparing to meet Denmark in Sunday’s final quarter-final in Porto.

The silver-haired coach, who made nine changes to the team that beat the Netherlands 3-2, said suggestions he had picked a ‘B’ team were nothing more than misplaced speculation.

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“Tonight was good work, to be brief,” he said. “But I was irritated before the game when I read that we were fielding a B team. We do not have a B team or an A team. All of our players are part of the same team.”

The cohesive team spirit of the 23-man Czech squad was shown at the end of a game in which they produced flashes of fluent football, but also rode their luck, when they ran to their fans packed behind the goal.

It was their first win against Germany, over 90 minutes and without the aid of penalties to decide a result, since they beat them 4-3 in a 1964 friendly and a long-awaited cause for celebration. It was also only their fourth win in 21 attempts.

But Brueckner, shrugging aside the history, said he was “very satisfied to win, but not only for this reason but for many other reasons too…” He did not elaborate, but hinted it was a result that had proved the strength of his squad.

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The Czech coach added that he had given little thought to Denmark, their next opponents. “I’m not such a workaholic to be concentrating already on our next match!” he said.

Brueckner noted that wholesale changes were made because various players, including captain and midfield inspiration Pavel Nedved, had slight injuries and needed resting.

Before the game, Brueckner made it clear he fully intended to make use of the chance to give his senior men a break as the Czechs had already won the group.

Asked about the younger players given a chance in this match, he said: “They showed they can do it and they showed their pride in their work.”

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Czech forward Marek Heinz, who scored the equaliser after 30 minutes with a searing and swerving left-foot free kick from 25 metres, said: “This was good for all of us and it showed we have 23 very good players and a good style. We can play against anybody. It’s a very good result for the spirit of the team.”

Milan Baros, who scored the winner after coming on as a substitute, said: “We don’t care who we play because we feel very happy together and we have a system we like. We want to go well but we’re just taking each game as it comes now.” (Reuters)