They may have been part of Czechoslovakia for their greatest European Championships performance, winning the tournament in 1976, but the Czech Republic have carved their own names into the competition's history with a runners-up spot in 1996 in England and a semi-final appearance in Portugal in 2004. Some of the big names from 1996 and 2004 like Pavel Nedved and Karel Poborsky are now retired and their loss is still sorely felt in midfield.
Despite finishing top of Euro 2008 qualifying group D, the Czech Republic looked a pale shadow of their 1996 counterparts with a first round World Cup 2006 hangover still haunting the side. Qualification was secured mainly due to the comparative weakness of the rest of their group, Germany excluded, but the Czechs still made heavy weather at times of disposing of San Marino and Cyprus and struggled to a 1-1 draw against an Ireland side in disarray in Dublin. They'll need to pick their game up if they have any pretensions of success in Austria and Switzerland.
Another former U-21 coach promoted to the senior position, Karel Bruckner has been in charge of the Czech Republic since 2001 and presided over a period of change in the old Czech guard. Losing stars such as Nedved and Poborsky have hampered the side recently and even Bruckner's long held regard for many of the players he brought through the U-21 ranks hasn't helped replace the guile of these attacking talents. With Lothar Matthaus supposedly being interviewed for his job, Euro 2008 may be Bruckner's last hurrah in this position.
Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech may wear a ridiculous headguard these days but he is still arguably the greatest goalkeeper in world soccer. There are no identifiable areas of weakness in his game and his bravery after suffering a fractured skull and rushing back to action as soon as possible show the steely determination of the giant shot stopper.
The giant Jan Koller's goalscoring form for the Czech Republic has never been in doubt. An obvious handful in the air for any defence, the 6 ft 7 inch forward is also intelligent on the ball and, despite being a bit past his prime, still offers a potent goal threat.
