CZECH REPUBLIC - PORTUGAL MATCH PRESS KIT Stade de Genève, Geneva Wednesday 11 June 2008 - 18.00CET (18.00 local time) Group A - Matchday 5 Contents 1 - Match preview 7 - Competition facts 2 - Match facts 8 - Team facts 3 - Squad list 9 - UEFA information 4 - Head coach 10 - Competition information 5 - Match officials 11 - Legend 6 - Match-by-match lineups Match background Winners of day one of UEFA EURO 2008, the Czech Republic and Portugal go into their encounter at the Stade de Genève seeking the second victory that, depending on the result between Switzerland and Turkey, could secure their place in the last eight with a game to spare. • Both teams have an impressive recent pedigree on the European stage – the Czechs were semi-finalists in 2004 and runners-up in 1996, while Luiz Felipe Scolari's Portugal reached the final four years ago – and both set an early marker with victories on Saturday. • Karel Brückner's Czech team defeated co-hosts Switerland 1-0 in the opening match in Basel, substitute Václav Svěrkoš scoring the only goal after 71 minutes. Portugal then overtook them in the initial standings thanks to a 2-0 win against Turkey in Geneva, Pepe and Raul Meireles the scorers. • This is a fixture that will stir memories of EURO '96™ and the only previous meeting between the countries – one settled in the Czechs' favour by a famous goal from Karel Poborský. • Poborský's cheeky lob over Vítor Baía after 53 minutes secured a 1-0 victory for the Czechs in the quarter-final at Villa Park in Birmingham. Dusan Ûhrin's team subsequently reached the final where they lost 2-1 to Germany. • The teams for that quarter-final were: Czech Republic: Petr Kouba, Radoslav Látal, Jan Suchopárek, Miroslav Kadlec, Václav Nemecek (Patrik Berger), Jirí Nemec, Karel Poborský, Pavek Kuka, Radek Bejbl, Michal Hornák, Vladimír Šmicer (Luboš Kubík). Portugal: Vítor Baía, Carlos Secretário, Oceano Andrade Cruz (António Folha), Fernando Couto, João Pinto, Sá Pinto (José Domingos), Rui Costa, Dimas, Hélder, Paulo Sousa, Luís Figo (Jorge Cadete). • Poborský had a spell with Portuguese side SL Benfica later in his career and eventually became his country's most capped player with 118 appearances. • Looking further back, the former Czechoslovakia also claimed Portugal's scalp en route to winning the European crown in 1976. The Czechoslovakians defeated Portugal 5-0 in Prague then earned a 1-1 away draw in the tournament's preliminary group stage. • The overall record between Czechoslovakia and Portugal was three wins apiece from nine matches. • Ricardo Quaresma scored both Portugal goals when they defeated the Czech Republic 2-1 in the final of the UEFA European Under-16 Championship in May 2000. Raul Meireles was also in the Portugal team while Tomáš Sivok featured for the Czechs. Last updated 10.06.2008 00:18:12CET www.euro2008.uefa.com Match facts 1 CZECH REPUBLIC - PORTUGAL Wednesday 11 June 2008 - 18.00 CET (18.00 local time) MATCH PRESS KIT Stade de Genève, Geneva • Portugal pair Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira are defensive colleagues of Czech goalkeeper Petr Čech at Chelsea FC. Portugual full-back Bosingwa will join that trio at Stamford Bridge after the finals. • Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo headed the opening goal of May's UEFA Champions League final between Manchester United FC and Chelsea past Čech. The Czech goalkeeper later saved a penalty from Ronaldo but was beaten by another from Nani as Chelsea lost the deciding shoot-out. • Czech internationals Tomáš Galásek and Jan Polák were members of the 1. FC Nürnberg side that ran out surprise 3-2 winners against a VfB Stuttgart team including Fernando Meira in the 2007 German Cup final. • Čech kept clean sheets for AC Sparta Praha in home (2-0) and away (1-0) wins against FC Porto in the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League second group stage. Libor Sionko scored in both games against a Porto team that included Ricardo Carvalho and Deco. • Meireles and Quaresma both scored past Čech in FC Porto's 2006/07 UEFA Champions League first knockout round tie against Chelsea. Meireles struck the opening goal in the 1-1 first-leg draw, Quaresma the opener in Porto's subsequent 2-1 loss in the return. • Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first hat-trick for Manchester United FC in January this year in a 6-0 win against a Newcastle United FC side featuring Czech defender David Rozehnal. • The Czech Republic's best performance in their three previous UEFA European Championship finals appearances was in 1996, when they reached the final. As part of the former Czechoslovakia, they were European champions in 1976. • Portugal's own best performance in four previous appearances came at UEFA EURO 2004™, where they finished runners-up on home soil. • This is the 13th edition of the UEFA European Championship and the eighth edition that features a final tournament with a group phase. Match facts CZECH REPUBLIC UEFA EURO 2008™ statistics • Two Czech Republic players appeared in all 12 matches in qualifying Group D: Jaroslav Plašil and David Rozehnal., and both also featured against Switzerland. • Two of the final 23-man squad did not feature in qualifying: Václav Svěrkoš and Rudolf Skácel, although the former came on in the first Group A game. • Jan Koller struck six goals in qualifying, with David Healy of Northern Ireland finishing as the top scorer on 13 goals. • Koller provided four assists with Slovakia's Ján Kozák leading the way in that regard with seven. • The Czech Republic striker also committed 36 fouls in qualifying, more than any other player. • In qualifying Koller was caught offside 19 times with Healy the most penalised player in that respect having been flagged on 27 occasions. • The Czech Republic managed 27 qualifying goals at an average of 2.25 goals per game. Germany finished as the highest scorers with 35 goals. • Karel Brückner's side conceded only five times, the best defensive record in qualifying along with France and the Netherlands. • The Czechs had 85 shots wide in qualifying, fewer only than Portugal (112 shots) and Germany (89). • Of the 16 sides at UEFA EURO 2008™ the Czech Republic committed the most fouls in qualifying having been penalised on 187 occasions. Scotland led the way overall having conceded 203 fouls. • The Czechs nevertheless collected only 14 yellow cards in qualifying, more only than Croatia (seven) and France (eight). Last updated 10.06.2008 00:18:12CET www.euro2008.uefa.com Match facts 2 CZECH REPUBLIC - PORTUGAL Wednesday 11 June 2008 - 18.00 CET (18.00 local time) MATCH PRESS KIT Stade de Genève, Geneva Latest information • Saturday 7 June: Switzerland 0-1 Czech Republic (Svěrkoš 71) Svěrkoš crashed the party for co-hosts Switzerland by scoring the only goal of the UEFA EURO 2008™ curtain-raiser in Basel. The Czech substitute struck after 71 minutes to defeat a home side who came closest to rescuing a Group A point when Johan Vonlanthen's shot hit the underside of the crossbar late on. • Czech coach Brückner said: "We did a good job. Three points from the first game is a great start and a great boost. However, we can play much better as this was by no means our best performance. I brought on Václav Svěrkoš for Jan Koller because we hadn't really done enough going forward and you need quicker players later in a game. It turned into a good substitution." • With Tomáš Rosický ruled out of the finals with a hamstring injury, Tomáš Ujfaluši wore the captain's armband. Injury news • Zdeněk Pospěch watched the game on television in the Czech Republic's base in Seefeld as he recovered from flu. He was still awake to congratulate his team-mates on their midnight return, and has since returned to training. • Daniel Pudil was ruled out of the finals when he broke his hand as he celebrated SK Slavia Praha's league triumph. Skácel was drafted in to replace him. Friendly results 30.05.2008 Czech Republic 3-1 Scotland (Sionko 2, Kadlec) 27.05.2008 Czech Republic 2-0 Lithuania (Koller 2) 26.03.2008 Denmark 1-1 Czech Republic (Koller) 06.02.2008 Czech Republic 0-2 Poland Miscellaneous • Often substituted in the closing stages with games already decided, Koller is unused to being replaced as part of a tactical switch, as was the case against the Swiss. Indeed, experienced Czech commentators could recall only one other occasion – against Northern Ireland in 2001. • Pavel Nedvěd watched the win against Switzerland from the stands, while Vladimír Šmicer worked as a TV reporter in Basel and the injured Rosický was doing punditry work in Prague. • Karel Poborský's famous lob against Portugal at EURO '96™ has been voted the best individual goal in the latest Carlsberg Goal of the Day poll on euro2008.com. Domestic information • Tomáš Sivok and Michal Kadlec both won the Czech Cup with AC Sparta Praha, Kadlec scoring the decisive penalty in the shoot-out that followed a goalless draw against FC Slovan Liberec in the final. • Sivok had been at Sparta on loan from Udinese Calcio, but on the eve of the finals he signed a four-year deal with Beşiktaş JK. • Stanislav Vlček claimed a Czech 1. Liga winners' medal with SK Slavia Praha despite leaving to join RSC Anderlecht in January. • Vlček had the unusual pleasure of winning trophies with different clubs in the same season as an Anderlecht side also including compatriot Jan Polák won the Belgian Cup. Polák scored in the 3-2 win against KAA Gent in the final.