BOUNCING CZECHS
Rewind to 2004:
Eleven months before contributing to Liverpool’s Miracle in Istanbul, Milan Baros and Vladimir Smicer gave us a sneak preview in Portugal. Czech Republic staged one of the great European Championship comebacks to beat Holland, with the Reds’ duo scoring.
In a group containing Germany and the Netherlands, Karel Bruckner’s side were under pressure from their opening game, in which they struggled to beat underdogs Latvia.
After snatching a 2-1 win against the Group D minnows with two late goals, the Czechs faced the Dutch in their second group game.
Dick Advocaat’s side were in control after Wilfred Bouma and Ruud van Nistelrooy – then with Manchester United – put them 2-0 up after 19 minutes.
A Dutch victory seemed a formality, until Czech Republic, led by skipper and reigning European Footballer of the Year Pavel Nedved, turned the game on its head.
In a thrilling end-to-end encounter, Jan Koller pulled a goal back midway through the first half.
Edgar Davids struck the woodwork for the Dutch, before Baros levelled 19 minutes from time, swiftly followed by a second yellow for Holland’s Johnny Heitinga. Smicer sealed a famous win with two minutes to go.
“It was a fantastic match and a fantastic evening,” recalled Czech skipper Nedved. “We deserved to win.
“We slept again at the beginning, as against Latvia, and coming from behind took a lot of energy. The Netherlands played offensively, so the fans witnessed a great game.”
Baros agreed, saying: “We began too nervously and were completely down after two goals. But it was a fantastic game in the end.”
Czech coach Bruckner was honest in his assessment of his side’s performance, and said: “The beginning was very bad as we made defensive mistakes.
“I was forced to make changes. It was not so risky as our three-man defence worked well.” Holland coach Advocaat said: “We had chances to increase our lead but we didn’t and, at this level, if you don’t take your opportunities you get punished.”
Despite suffering the galling defeat, the Dutch still had a chance of making the quarter-finals if they beat Latvia in their final group game and the Czechs defeated Germany.
While Holland swept past Latvia 3-0, the Czechs trailed for the third successive game, Michael Ballack putting Germany ahead.
But Bruckner’s side made it a hattrick of group stage comebacks, dumping Germany out 2-1 and ensuring they and the Dutch advanced.
Both countries made it to the semifinals, where the Dutch lost 2-1 to Portugal and Czech Republic were beaten in extra-time by shock eventual winners Greece.
We began nervously, but it was a fantastic game in the end