Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has urged his players to respect the Czechs because “they’ve got dangerous men who are capable of getting good results”. In fact, the World Cup winning manager isn’t wrong to single out the Czech Republic as carrying a potential threat.
Czech Republic: Previously Down, Now Furious And Serious So Watch Out, Spain!
The Czech Republic is no more the side that received admiration from the public during Euro 2004. In June 2004 and 2005, the Czechs were on top of the world in the FIFA rankings. Ahead of the 2006 World Cup, they were also statistically considered to be only second behind then-chart leaders Brazil. But things have changed for the Czechs who are now 30 places below current world number one, Spain. Few are the teams that fear their name nowadays, surely because of the many failures they’ve been subject to in recent years.
The Euro 2004 semi-finalists, who successfully reached the 2006 World Cup, failed to produce anything great in Germany. Their opening match victory followed with two defeats – to Ghana and Italy, respectively. In general, Germany 2006 is a competition which the Czech Republic would rather love to forget. They seemed so poised to go past the first round of the tournament after thrashing the USA 3-0, but the rest of the story turned out differently for the Czechs – in a negative manner, actually.
Euro 2008 was another disaster: the Czech Republic dramatically flopped during that tournament whereas they had been tipped among the favourites following their remarkable qualifying campaign. In the road to Austria-Switzerland, the Czechs clinched wonderful results as they eventually won their group to get automatic tickets to the finals. But when the stage was set with the eyes of the public wide open, the Czechs proved to be another bunch of disappointing footballers.
The following years were more of a torture as intense problems on and off the pitch deprived them from participating in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In fact, the Czechs have gone through a lot of lows throughout the past 6 years or so.
Thanks to the opportunities presented by the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign, they feel the time has come for them to put the past behind. Lately, the Czechs have experienced mixed results with wins over Scotland and Liechtenstein preceding a goalless draw and a 4-2 defeat against Denmark and Croatia respectively.
Luckily for the Czechs, their victories occurred in the Euro 2012 qualifiers. So after kicking off their campaign with a miserable 1-0 loss to Lithuania, the Czechs can perhaps consider themselves to be back on track in Europe. Now although their latest results (clinched in international friendlies) may seem to reveal otherwise, Michal Bilek’s troop is not to be underestimated.
The 1990 FIFA World Cup quarter-finalist has an array of potential players at his disposal. Michal Bilek has Lazio’s Kozak, Jablonec’s in-form striker David Lafita and the experienced Milan Baros all available for Saturday’s clash against Spain.
The battle is a huge one and there’s a lot at stake for the Euro 2008 flops. Only 3 points separate them from the continental kings, and those are vital ones. Saturday’s Spain vs Czech Republic Euro 2012 qualifying match appears as a perfect test for Bilek’s men who need some mental energy to carry on and thus find consistency on the pitch.
The Czechs are maybe furious and serious enough now to confront the Spaniard’s red fury. It's better not to try taming a wild animal unless you have the skills of a tamer. Spain, this goes out to you...
