Football interferes with Czechs' holidays

ONE of the more hazardous aspects of covering overseas finals for journalists the world over is planning ensuing holidays. Cunning Scots were justified in their pessimism by their team's first round exit, and some of them can be found currently in Ireland. That the entire Czech media have pretty much had to abandon theirs says everything about their team's prospects before the tournament began.

Advance planning based on a less than optimistic prognosis clearly extended to the players as well. That the Czechs are port raying themselves as the romantics of Euro 96 took literal extremes yesterday when Vladimir Smicer was granted permission to go ahead with his noon wedding in Prague with Pavlina Vizek, the daughter of a former international striker, before the couple returned to the squad's base in London.

Smicer, who received four stitches in a head wound sustained in a clash with French full back Lilian Thuram in Wednesday's semi final, assured coach Dusan Uhrin that he would only permit himself "one symbolic drink"

cot that Uhrin would mind, if one believes all the stories emanating from the Czech camp. In contrast to an English squad under siege before the tournament began, the Czechs have been celebrating into varying hours of the night, depending on whose account you believe, after their win over Italy, the 3-3 draw with Russia which ensured qualification from the Group of Death, and the subsequent wins over Portugal and France.

To facilitate their celebrations, the Czechs took their own brewery supplier with them to their original base in Preston and on to London. From the country that spawned genuine Budweiser, the Czechs, naturally, are, per capita, the biggest consumers of beer in the world.

Largely left alone by an uninterested media until the last few days, the light hearted and friendly Czechs have been making friends wherever they go, happily signing autographs, mixing with the public and serving themselves in their hotel. No prima donnas here.

The pressure has never been on them and still isn't, to a large degree, coming into the final. Rated 80 to 1 outsiders after a qualifying campaign that included a defeat to Luxembourg (admittedly only one of three losses in their last 23 matches) and a draw with Malta, those odds were extended to 150 to 1 after an opening 2-0 defeat to tomorrow's opponents in the so called Group of Death.

Whether or not they invested themselves they are a due a nice little earner, having already procured a £70,000 a man bonus for reaching the final with the promise of a £100,000 bonus should they win the tournament outright. The joke within the camp is that the Czech government might now give them a two year tax amnesty.

In all of this, of course, they are invoking the spirit of the underdog and in particular, the eventual champions of four years ago, Denmark. The slightly dour Uhrin also sees similarities with their precursors from 1976. "There is a similarity with that team because we have played with the heart to get this far," said Uhrin.

They are milking it for all its worth, goalkeeper Petr Kouba of Sparta Prague unashamedly countering Juergen Klinsmann's public relations performance on behalf of Germany. The English supporters will be very down about going out to Germany on penalties," said Kouba, who has been linked with a move to Wolves.

"But I hope when it comes to Sunday's final against Germany, they will choose to back us. We will be playing not only for the Czech Republic but for England as well." He is liable to have his wish granted, though all this love bombing of the locals may not even ensure a full house.

Czech support has largely been confined to the streets of Prague where 30,000 danced in the streets on Wednesday night. The large number of empty seats for their semi final with France at Old Trafford was as much to do with local insularity as with the prohibitive prices of tickets for Czech natives eager to jump on the roller coaster.

Supporters who travelled over for the knockout games were charged £75 for tickets sold in the Czech Republic by the official agency, Sport Tourist. The catch was that unless they bought them in their native country they ran the risk of problems with immigration officials.

Frantisek Chvalovsky, the president of the Czech Football Federation, observed tartly: "I'm very disappointed by this. We think the organisers are not too happy with the fact that the Czech Republic have advanced. We are, it seems, a negative attraction."

This is true to a point, for despite a rich legacy the Czechs lack the intrigue or glamour of many Euro 96 participants, even some of their fellow East European brethren. However, it's also partly a question of style, with the Czechs limiting Euro 96 audiences to small doses of it so far.

In many ways, their progress to the final is something of an indictment of prevailing standards, especially the inability of Portugal and France to break them down. The Czechs appeared to take an inferiority complex on to the pitch in the initial 2-0 defeat to Germany and might never have kickstarted their campaign were it not for the arrogance Arrigo Sacchi inadvertently transmitted to his players and Luigi Apolloni's dismissal. Even then they were utterly negative against the 10 man Italians.

Alas, their entertaining 3-3 draw with the Russians was overshadowed by the coinciding 0-0 draw between group rivals Italy and Germany. Since then there have been a few glimpses of Patrik Berger's attacking runs and eye for goal from midfield which has yielded him eight goals in 15 internationals, but the fact that his Euro 96 campaign has been limited to just two starts and three appearances as a substitute cannot be attributed entirely to his fever.

The one true highlight, and the only goal to have graced either of the Czechs' games in the knockout stages was more in the spirit of 76 and all that. For sheer impudence, Karel Poborsky's run at the heart of the Portuguese defence, Paolo Sousa, Fernando Couto et al, and the ensuing lob lifted outrageously over Vitor Baia is the goal of the tournament. Remarkably, it was the 24 year old's first international goal.

In a team comprised of fairly functional parts, his is a blissfully free spirit. His chunky figure and mane of Guillermo Vilaslike hair had already been seen dancing past Paolo Maldini in the group stages, alerting Liverpool among others to what is clearly an exceptional talent.

Poborsky still has a year to run on his Slavia Prague contract, and the Czech players made a pre tournament pact that they would not discuss prospective transfers until all Euro 96 business was concluded.

A bit like their journalistic compatriots, and their blissfully wedded team mate, deep down they didn't expect their flight of fantasy to last this long.