The Czech Republic is a country of just over ten million people, landlocked and surrounded by Austria, Germany, Poland and Slovakia. As Czechoslovakia - made up of modern day Czech Republic and Slovakia - they won the European Championship in 1976 and came third twice in 1960 and 1980. They also were runners up in the World Cup twice, in 1934 and 1962, and have also been quarter-finalists twice, in 1962 and 1990.
After the self-dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993, the Czech Republic national football team was formed playing their first game in 1994. They would start their independent history off well winning their qualifying group ahead of the Netherlands to qualify directly into Euro 1996.
The Czech Republic were placed in Euro 1996 Group C alongside Germany, Italy and Russia in one of the biggest groups of death at a European Championship or World Cup. After a loss to Germany, the Czech Republic beat Italy 2-1 and drew 3-3 with Russia. Despite an inferior goal difference to Germany, they would progress on the head-to-head rule.
After wins over Portugal and France, the Czech Republic made it to the final to face Germany which took place at the old Wembley Stadium. The game would finish 1-all and Germany would win under the golden goal rule with Stefan Kuntz scoring in the 95th minute. Despite this, a golden generation was born and Radoslav Látal, Karel Poborský and Pavel Kuka would all be announced a part of the Team of the Tournament.
In Euro 2000 the Czech Republic would exit at the group stage following losses to the Netherlands and France but would win against Denmark. In the 2002 World Cup qualifiers, Denmark would qualify ahead of the Czechs but they would still earn a play-off spot against Belgium. They went on to lose both legs 1-0 and would miss out on qualification.
The peak of the Czech's golden generation was during Euro 2004. Liverpool striker Milan Baros would win the golden boot outright with five goals during the tournament. He was also named in the Team of the Tournament alongside Petr Cech and Pavel Nedved who were both among the best players of their generation. Supporting the pair was left back/winger Marek Jankulovski who had an exceptional work rate and was quick, Liverpool attacking midfielder Vladimír Šmicer who would score a long-range goal against Milan in the 2005 Champions League Final and a young Tomáš Rosický who make a name for himself at Arsenal.
The Czech's qualified ahead of the Netherlands, who would endup qualifying after trouncing Scotland 6-1 on aggregate. They'd meet again in the group stages with the Czechs beat the Netherlands, Germany and Latvia to sweep through their group alongside the Dutch. They went on to beat Denmark 3-0 in the quarter-finals and in perhaps the biggest missed opportunity in Czech Republic's football history, they would lose to Greece in the semi-finals following a silver goal to Traianos Dellas which allowed them to progress as they were winning at the end of the first half of extra-time. It was the only time it decided a match at a major international tournament and was quickly scrapped, deemed confusing and complicated.
The Czech's would qualify for their first ever World Cup in 2006 after beating Norway 2-0 on aggregate thanks to goals from Smicer and Rosicky in a play-off qualifier. Heading into the World Cup the Czech's were ranked the second best team in the world and so expectations were high. The stage was set with Baros, Cech, Jankulovski, Nedved and Rosicky headlining the prime of the Czech Republic's golden generation.
After a 3-0 win over the United States in their first match, it would end in anti-climatic circumstances as the Czechs lost to both Ghana and Italy by two goals to nil and would exit at the group stages. Nedved would retire after the World Cup which would be the demise of the national team. The Czech's have made every Euro championship since, but have only finished as high as quarter-finalists, and they're yet to return back to the World Cup.
Cech and Rosicky would retire in 2016 which would all but end what remained of the Czech Republic golden generation. For World Cup 2022 qualification....
YES, ANOTHER FOOTBALL BLOG...
Football Blog FC is a spin-off of Wolfgang Sport, an American and British sports blog I created in 2017. The beautiful game isn't what I remember it to be as a kid and using satire is my way of coping with it. FBFC was created to write about football with a bit of fun reflecting the current state of football.