Football: Czechs could be surprise package

CHAMPIONSHIP COUNTDOWN No 13 Czech Republic

Unlike their eastern European rivals Bulgaria and Romania, who made their reputations at USA 94, the Czech Republic arrive on these shores unburdened by great expectations. They are, after all, in what has been quaintly dubbed the "Group of Death" along with Germany, Italy and Russia, and few expect them to survive.

But, also unlike Bulgaria and Romania, the Czechs have a mostly young team, they are still developing and improving, and are not over-reliant on big-name players who may be past their best. Almost certainly, there will be a shock result or two somewhere in this Championship, and it could be the Czechs who deliver.

They have a pedigree in this tournament - or, rather, the old nation of Czechoslovakia did, winning the 1976 Championship by beating West Germany on penalties in the final. Few quality players were lost when the Slovaks went their separate way in 1993, and the Czechs proved their worth as an independent footballing nation by topping a qualifying group that included the Netherlands and Norway.

Consistency, though, is a problem. They managed to lose to Luxembourg and draw with Malta in the qualifiers - but they also beat the Dutch and the Norwegians at home and drew away with both. Danny Blind, the Dutch defender, did not quite know what to make of them. "It seems as though they play with a total lack of a tactical system," he said. "In our two games against them I could not discover whether they were playing 5-4- 1 or 4-4-2."

Tactics (or the lack of them) are the responsibility of Dusan Uhrin, a canny and pragmatic coach. His team are a mixture of key men playing with overseas clubs and players from the top two Prague sides, Slavia (who reached the semi-finals of the Uefa Cup this year) and Sparta.

In goal, Sparta's Petr Kouba is preferred to Newcastle's Pavel Srnicek. The 31-year-old Miroslav Kadlec steadies the defence, in partnership with the tall, long-haired Jan Suchoparek, a combative centre-half who loves to join attacks, in the style of Portugal's Fernando Couto.

A former Slavia player, Patrik Berger, is the big hope in midfield. Only 22, he moved to Borussia Dortmund last summer and has come of age as a highly-skilled, confident playmaker who can also score goals. Radek Bejbl, a year older than Berger, has only just established himself in the Czechs' starting line-up. Tall and blond, this hard-working midfielder is a good box-to-box player in the Bryan Robson style, who could make a name for himself in England.

Up front, Pavel Kuka may be asked to play as a lone striker. If not, his partner should be Radek Drulak, a 34-year-old journeyman forward with dodgy knees from Petra Drnovice, a village club who reached the Czech Cup final.

CZECH REPUBLIC SQUAD: Goalkeepers: Petr Kouba (Sparta Prague), Pavel Srnicek (Newcastle United), Ladislav Maier (Slovan Liberec). Defenders: Miroslav Kadlec (Kaiserslautern), Jan Suchoparek (Slavia Prague), Lubos Kubik (Petra Drnovice), Michal Hornak (Sparta Prague), Karel Rada, Martin Kotulek (both Sigma Olomouc), Radoslav Latal (Schalke). Midfielders: Jiri Nemec (Schalke 04), Martin Frydek, Pavel Nedved (both Sparta Prague), Patrik Berger (Borussia Dortmund), Karel Poborsky, Radek Bejbl, Pavel Novotny (all Slavia Prague), Vaclav Nemecek (Servette). Forwards: Pavel Kuka (Kaiserslautern), Radek Drulak (Petra Drnovice), Vladimir Smicer (Slavia Prague), Milan Kerbr (Sigma Olomouc).

Player to watch

Pavel Kuka

(Kaiserslautern)

If the Czechs are to cause a shock, this man will probably do the scoring. Kuka only found the net once during the qualifiers, against humble Belarus, but he has found his form since with five goals in the last four friendlies. Quick and direct, he loves running at defenders.