The Czech Republic took part in the UEFA Euro in 1996 for the first time after Czechoslovakia split. The team managed to reach the final, where they lost to Germany. The Czech team managed to take the lead on the 59th minute, when Patrick Berger scored a penalty but Oliver Bierhoff netted twice ruining the Czech hopes in injury-time. Karel Poborski, Pavel Nedved, Petr Kouba, Vladimir Smicer became famous after that tournament.
The team missed the 1998 World Cup. The team’s heyday came in beginning of 2000s. Czech national team finished second in qualifying round and had chances to play in the World Cup 2002, but conceded the play-off game to Belgium. In 2004 the team succeeded in participating in European championship in Portugal, where the Czech Republic lost to Greece in semifinal and finished third. Milan Barosh, the best scorer of the tournament, starred there.
The squad lost to Ghana and Italy in 2006 World Cup and couldn’t pass through the group stage.
In the end of 2000s the team faced crisis. The generation of Nedved left the team after 2006 World Cup but it didn’t stop the squad from participating in European championship held in Austria and Switzerland. Czech Republic had a chance to get out of group A as they beat Switzerland 1-0 but they lost to Portugal 1-3 and to Turkey 2-3, moreover Turkey scored three goals during the last 15 minutes of the game.
With Nedved generation retiring, the team didn’t perform well and missed the World Cup.
At Euro 2012 the squad revived reaching quarterfinals of the tournament with Jiracek propelling the team.
Found a mistake? Highlight it with mouse and press CTRL + Enter. Thank you!
