CZECH REPUBLIC
Pavel Nedved, Karel Poborsky, Vladimir Smicer. The Czech Republic have given this tournament some of it’s best and most gifted players in the past, but this current crop is distinctly lacking star dust. Tomas Rosicky is arguably the last in the line of golden playmakers, and makes the squad despite serious doubts over his fitness. Still, they are far from a team expecting to be beaten. They did incredibly well to win their qualifying group, and the lack of household names arguably reflects the growing strength of the domestic league as much as a lack of talent. Vladimir Darida is one of the few exports, a diminutive but excellent midfielder recently linked with Real Madrid. Jiri Skalak, meanwhile, joined Brighton in January and helped to breathe new life into their promotion push. They have not, however, kept a clean sheet under their current boss, even with Petr Cech in goal.
Manager: Pavel Vrba
The mastermind of the shock qualifying success, Vrba has an excellent record as a coach. Turned Viktoria Plzen from minnows to a true powerhouse before taking the national job.
Captain: Petr Cech
Has moved ahead of Poborsky as his nation’s most capped player, and is easily the most well-known in this squad. Cech (pictured) is likely have plenty of saves to make in this difficult group.
Star to watch: Pavel Kaderabek
Now playing at Hoffenheim, he is a player whose reputation is rapidly growing. Typical of this team, he loves to attack from wide areas. An exciting talent.
Kit verdict
A Puma number that would be spot on, were it not for the bizarre sequence of arrows pointing down towards the player’s crotch. No one needs to see that.
How they got there
Topped Group A ahead of Iceland, Turkey and the Netherlands. A quite remarkable effort.
What the bookies say
Out at 125/1, the bookies aren’t backing this lot to even make it out of their group. Although they lost to Turkey late in qualifying, they have proven that they should not be underestimated.
Prediction
A lot of players getting older and they didn’t convince in qualifying. Third in group at best this time round.