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Czech Republic Team Information
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Czech Republic - Team Profile
30/03/2006
The Czech Republic have qualified for their first World Cup finals having taken part in previous tournaments under the name of Czechoslovakia when allied with Slovakia. Despite only just qualifying through the play-offs they enter this tournament with a decent chance of progressing - perhaps even to the semi-finals. Their belief will be buoyed by their performance in the European Championships in Portugal two years ago when they reached the semi-finals.
They possibly have the best goalkeeper in the world with Petr Cech who has been admirably consistent for Chelsea over the past two seasons. Ahead of him they have a mixture of youth and experience. Zdenek Grygera plays in Holland for Ajax and has held down a defensive position since 2002. Marek Jankulowski is a member of AC Milan's squad that reached the Champions League final last year while other defenders to note include David Rozehnal and Tomas Ujfalusi.
A quality midfield sees the Pavel Nedved and captain Tomas Galasek play alongside players such as Vladamir Smicer who scored for Liverpool in the Champions League final of 2005 (though Smicer will be missing through injury), Tomas Rosicky and perhaps even Karel Poborsky.
Up front they have the mercurial Milan Baros, now struggling to find form at Aston Villa, and the prolific and immense Jan Koller while in reserve they can call upon Tomas Jun, Vratislav Lokvenc or perhaps Marek Heinz.
Their chances will depend on the form and fitness of their two real stars Nedved and Baros. If either of these fail to bubble then the Czech's threat will be cancelled.