About Czech Republic

Having reached a verbal agreement last month, Zdenek Grygera yesterday
signed a five-year contract with Juventus, definitively committing
himself to the Italian giants. The Czech international defender will
join Juve on July 1st, on a free transfer, when his current contract
with Ajax expires.

Posted by Mikes at 2:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Roma - Lyon 0-0
AS Roma remain in contention to reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals for the first time but have plenty of work to do after a resolute Olympique Lyonnais earned a goalless draw in the Italian capital.
full story

Barcelona - Liverpool 1-2
Liverpool FC pulled off a famous victory as they defeated UEFA Champions League holders FC Barcelona 2-1 at Camp Nou to end the Catalan side's 13-match unbeaten run on home soil.
full story

Porto - Chelsea 1-1
Both FC Porto and Chelsea FC retain hope of sealing a UEFA Champions League quarter-final place after sharing two goals in an eventful first leg at the Estádio do Dragão.
full story

Internazionale - Valencia 2-2
Valencia CF claimed two priceless away goals after coming from behind twice to frustrate FC Internazionale Milano in the first leg of their first knockout round tie.
full story

Celtic - Milan 0-0
Celtic FC and AC Milan played out a goalless draw in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League first knockout round tie in Glasgow.
full story

PSV - Arsenal 1-0
PSV Eindhoven took an important step towards reaching the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League for the second time in three years with a 1-0 win against Arsenal FC in the first leg of their last-16 tie.
full story

Lille - Man. United 0-1
A late Ryan Giggs free-kick erased memories of last season's loss to LOSC Lille Métropole as Manchester United FC achieved a 1-0 victory in Lens that leaves them in command ahead of the return leg of their UEFA Champions League first knockout round contest.
full story

Real Madrid - Bayern 3-2
Two first-half goals from Raúl González and one from Ruud van Nistelrooy gave Real Madrid CF a slender advantage in a vibrant first leg of their UEFA Champions League first knockout round tie with FC Bayern München, whose challenge was revived by Mark van Bommel's late strike.
full story

Posted by Mikes at 5:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Pohar CMFS (CMFS Cup) quarter-final game between Marila Pribram and
Sparta Praha has been brought forward from April 25th to March 6th,
before the spring section of the Gambrinus Liga season begins. The three
other games -- Viktoria Plzen vs. Jablonec, Tescoma Zlin vs. Mlada
Boleslav, and Dynamo Ceske Budejovice vs. Slovacko -- will still be
played on April 25th.

Posted by Mikes at 5:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tomas Enge is quietly confident that he can pick up the threads of last year performance in Durban and fight at the front. Filip Salaquarda will make his A1GP debut in the rookie session.


The street track in Durban proved to be a spot on last year where it brought not only exciting racing but also breathtaking view of the Indian Ocean. South Africa really enjoyed their round of the A1GP and offered a great hospitality to all teams with unforgettable moments. The Czech team left last year with mixed feelings after Enge was one of the quickest around tricky street track but quite a bit of bad luck deprived top results. Enge was third in the sprint after he hit the debris of Chinese car and late puncture cost him two places and stalled engine put him out of the feature race.

Enge is, however, positive ahead of the weekend and believe that he can charge the front runners. The acclimatization went according to the plan and was spiced up with an opportunity to learn about local fauna and especially about one of the African symbols – lions. Experienced leading driver of the Czech team will be joined by Salaquarda who will take part in the rookie session. He successfully raced in selected races of the F3000 International Masters series last year after several years in the formula BMW and F3.

Tomas Enge: “I think that we can look forward to the weekend because we were quick there last year. It could be a bit of advantage that I raced there but our competitors showed that they are able to learn quickly, so we will see. I like the street tracks they add a bit of excitement to both drivers and public. The layout is same as last year and although you can see it to recall your memories you will really feel it only after you will drive the race car around again. It is quite hot here and while it can be nice to escape from winter Europe and enjoy some warm sun it is not that easy in the cockpit!”

Antonin Charouz: “We are going to Durban in a positive frame of mind for several reasons. First of all, Tomas raced very well there last year and we also believe that we are on the top of our qualifying problems but only the weekend itself will show if our adjustment was the right one. We have drafted Filip in at the last moment because we did not want to miss the rookie session. We changed the engine and other parts and they need to be run in. Lap times will not be our focus and we just want to give him an easy opportunity to sample the car because our other drivers – Jarek and Erik Janiss, Jan Charouz and Tomas Kostka - are unfortunately not available this weekend for various other commitments.”

source: http://www.a1gp.com/News/NewsArticle.aspx?newsId=30510

Posted by Mikes at 5:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sigma Olomouc have loaned Roman Hubnik to FK Moskva until the end of
June, when the Russian side are expected to sign the 22-year-old
defender permanently.

"We verbally agreed terms and are now only waiting for Yuri Belous, the
general director of the Moscow club to send us a fax confirming the
agreement," Sigma Olomouc Sporting Director Jiri Kubicek told the Czech
media.

FK Moskva must take up their option on the Czech Under-21 international
no later than April 30th.

Posted by Mikes at 5:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lubos Loucka is returning from Sparta Praha to Jablonec, where he spent
the autumn section of the season on loan. This time, however, the
24-year-old defender has signed a permanent deal that should keep him in
northern Bohemia for the next three-and-a-half years. Loucka will today
travel to Cyprus, where Jablonec are holding a winter training camp.

Posted by Mikes at 5:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HUNAL MOVES FROM TEPLICE TO PRIBRAM
After nearly five years with Teplice, veteran defender Tomas Hunal has
joined relegation-threatened Marila Pribram. The 33-year-old, who was
told last month that he would be released by Teplice in the summer,
trained with his Pribram team-mates yesterday.

Exact details of Hunal's contract haven't been made public, except that
it contains a clause that would allow him to move abroad in the summer,
if there were interest from a foreign club. Pribram will pay no fee for
Hunal but will instead buy out the remainder of his Teplice contract.

Hunal joined Teplice in 2002, from Viktoria Zizkov, amid allegations
from team-mates -- never proven -- that on the last day of the 2001/02
season he had thrown a league game against Slavia Praha.

Posted by Mikes at 1:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The CMFS (Czech football association) have welcomed a proposal from the
Czech Police that fireworks and other pyrotechnical devices be banned
from the stadiums of first and second division clubs, and will issue a
decree to that effect before the season restarts.

The proposal arose following meetings between representatives of the
national police force (Policie CR) and Prague's big four professional
clubs -- Sparta Praha, Slavia Praha, Bohemians 1905, and Viktoria Zizkov.

Posted by Mikes at 1:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Fatherhood and a new start at AC Sparta Praha appear to have helped Marek Kulič shake off his tag as one of the lost talents of Czech football.

Bílek convinced
The 31-year-old's €300,000 move to leaders Sparta from rivals FK Mladá Boleslav was widely heralded as the biggest transfer of the January window. Sparta coach Mihal Bílek said: "His style will be very useful for us. There is no other player with his experience in the Czech 1. Liga." Nor are you likely to find another player with his reputation as a bad boy, yet since his belated international bow last August, Kulič has been making up for lost time. The forward's goal in the Czech Republic's 2-0 friendly win in Belgium last week was his second in four appearances.

Plastering trade
Kulič's career has been unusual by any standards. The former SK Hradec Králové trainee gave up professional football as a teenager after a row with his coach and worked as a plasterer, before being tempted back at the age of 22 by FK Lázně Bohdaneč in 1997/98. A subsequent spell at FK Drnovice in 1998/99 coincided with him meeting his wife Gabriela, and he created a different kind of stir after switching to FK Marila Príbram, scoring a hat-trick in his first-ever UEFA Cup tie against French side CS Sedan-Ardennes in September 2001. Yet his lifestyle soon became an issue.

Risky signing
After two further seasons at Príbram, he endured two mediocre campaigns with SK Dynamo Ceské Budéjovice before top-flight newcomers Mladá Boleslav took a chance on him in 2005/06. Eleven league goals, including a hat-trick at FC Slovan Liberec on the last day of the season, were their reward. National coach Karel Brückner was duly persuaded to give Kulič his debut in a summer friendly against Serbia. Before that game, Kulič's first daughter was born. It seems to have changed the player's life. His wild years are behind him. He has even reportedly stopped smoking.

Life begins
The initial signs since he arrived at Sparta have been good too. He has registered four goals in winter friendlies and looks set to shine in the spring. Interestingly, he has chosen No30 as his squad number - a sly reference to the fact that his career was finally resurrected at 30.

source: http://www.uefa.com/footballeurope/news/kind=2/newsid=507426.html

Posted by Mikes at 1:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Radek Hochmeister has joined Sigma Olomouc, on a one-year loan from
Slovan Liberec. A clause in the contract between the two clubs could,
however, see the 24-year-old defender return to Liberec in the summer.

Posted by Mikes at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jiri Rychlik, who was recently released by Slovak side Ruzomberok, has
joined second division Bohemians 1905. The versatile 29-year-old, who
can play as a left back or a midfielder is on loan to the Prague side
until the summer, after which the "Kangaroos" have the option to make
the move permanent.

Bohemians 1905 web site

Posted by Mikes at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Prague- The stock of power company CEZ, one of the Prague bourse's best performers in recent years, is the worst performer this year, having shed 2.74 percent to Kc886.5 and having lost 7.7 percent so far this year, the bourse said.

The bourse's PX index dropped 1.19 percent to 1,686.6 points today, and is 6 percent above last year's close.

According to dealers, investors are selling the CEZ stock amid concern about a possible sale of a part of the state-owned stake in the company via the bourse.

Czech Industry and Trade Minister Martin Riman said in an interview for daily Hospodarske noviny that 6-7 percent of the CEZ stock in government hands could be sold on the bourse to the highest bid, and not necessarily to CEZ.

The government needs the money for the Transport Fund.

The CEZ stock also lost due to the falling price of electricity and the worse-than-expected Q4 2006 results of Austrian power utility Verbund.

CEZ will publish its results on Thursday.

Among other blue chips, Unipetrol put off 1.48 percent to Kc239.7, Zentivya fell by 1.3 percent to Kc1,293 and Erste Bank dipped by 1.07 percent to Kc1,667.

One of the few stocks bucking the trend was developer ECM, rising by 1.53 percent to Kc1,655.

Erste Bank and Cyrrus analysts issued a "buy" recommendation for ECM. Cyrrus set the target price at Kc1,938.

http://www.ctk.cz/zpravy/anglicke_view.php?id=237605

Posted by Mikes at 12:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Contrary to reports in the Czech media yesterday, businessman Zdenek
Smetana, who died on Friday following an apparent suicide, is not a
shareholder in Viktoria Plzen, and his death is unlikely to affect the
running of the club.

The 44-year-old was the chairman of the board of Plzenska Sportovni, the
company that owns Viktoria Plzen, but apparently wasn't a shareholder in
the firm, and had no direct relationship with the football club. As a
result, his death isn't expected to influence the day-to-day running of
the Gambrinus Liga side.

Smetana seemingly shot himself in the head with a legally owned pistol,
registered in his name. Police investigating the death haven't yet ruled
out foul play, however.

Posted by Mikes at 12:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Czech national team began the year with a fairly comfortable win,
with Jan Koller, Petr Cech and Marek Kulic all impressing.

Coach Karel Bruckner was happy with his team in all areas -- and had
particular praise for debutants Daniel Pudil and Marek Matejovsky -- but
warned that the Euro qualifier against Germany will be a much tougher game.

He was also pleased to see his squad in such good shape for a friendly:
"Today was something a little bit different," he told reporters. "The
players were in perfect condition."

Bruckner also noted that his team had to play more directly than usual,
because of the poor condition of the pitch in Brussels.

Czech Team: P. Cech - Ujfalusi, Jiranek, Rozehnal (46th Kovac),
Jankulovski - Sionko (46th Plasil), Rosicky (46th Pudil), Galasek (68th
Matejovsky), Polak - Koller (87th Lafata), Baros (56th Kulic)

Posted by Mikes at 2:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Petr Cech kept a clean sheet in his second competitive game since
returning from a head injury, helping Chelsea reach the final of the
Carling Cup (English League Cup). The London side beat fourth tier
Wycombe Wanderers 4-0 on the night to win 5-1 on aggregate.

Posted by Mikes at 2:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Under-19 international Radim Nečas, Jr. has joined Mladá Boleslav from
Slavia Praha. According to Slavia spokesman Jan Cicha, the attacking
midfielder, who turns 19 later this month, has signed a four-year deal
with Boleslav. Slavia dropped Necas to their junior B-team in October
when he refused to sign a new contract. Coincidentally, Radim Necas, Sr.
has also got a new job, becoming assistant coach of second division Caslav.

Posted by Mikes at 2:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After first round and promising second place in giant slalom in Are. Ania Person felt in the midle of the second round.

full coverage from: http://www.eurosport.com/alpineskiing/are/2006-2007/sport_sto1086261.shtml

Nicole Hosp won the giant slalom title in Are on Tuesday to save an otherwise disappointing world championships for the Austrian power-team as twice-defending champion Anja Paerson crashed dramatically and Olympic champion Julia Mancuso ceded her first-run lead.

Hosp - the Olympic silver medallist in the slalom from last year's Turin Games - was even with Sweden's Anna Ottosson at fourth after the first run, but blazed to the fastest time on the second run to claim her first gold medal at a major championship.

The 23-year-old finished in a combined time of two minutes and 31.72 seconds.

Sweden's Maria Pietilae-Holmner salvaged some pride for the host-nation by claiming the silver medal at 0.85 seconds behind Hosp after Paerson's dramatic wipe-out.

Italian Denise Karbon took the bronze a further 0.12 seconds back.

American number one Mancuso, who had a 0.25-second advantage over Hosp after the first run, skied a cautious second effort to drop to fifth a full 1.24 seconds behind the new world champion.

Starting from seventh-place after the first run, Paerson built a full 0.63 second lead over then-leading Karbon just prior to flying face-forward into the snow in a display reminiscent of her patented penguin belly-flop, normally reserved for victories.

The 25-year-old Olympic slalom champion had won the first three events at the Are world championships (super-G, downhill and super-combined) to become the first person to win world titles in all five Alpine disciplines.

Prior to Hosp's victory the normally dominant Austria were languishing at seventh in the medal table without a gold.

Posted by Mikes at 1:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The spring section of the current Gambrinus Liga season is now set to
end on Sunday, May 27th, three weeks earlier than originally planned.
The decision was made yesterday at a meeting of Czech first division
clubs at Prague-Suchdol's Hotel Wienna.

The topflight clubs also decided not to bring foreign match referees in
for the spring's big Gambrinus Liga games, and supported the recent
increase in the deposit that must be paid to make an official complaint
about refereeing decisions. The first division sides also welcomed plans
to increase the number of TV cameras covering those Gambrinus Liga games
that aren't being shown live.

At the same meeting, the clubs agreed that Sunday's live TV game would
kick off at 8:15pm, as it did in the autumn, and decided which 18th
round games would be televised when the season restarts on the weekend
of March 11th. CT4 will show the Sparta-Jablonec game on Sunday 11th, at
8:15pm, and CT2 will show the Liberec-Slavia game at 5:15pm on Monday 12th.

Posted by Mikes at 1:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Playing his second year in Aston Villa, and now moving to Olympique Lyonnais, signing a three and a half year deal with the French champions. In a straight swap deal, in which no money will change hands, Norwegian forward John Carew moves in the opposite direction, joining Villa from Lyon.

"I am happy that my future is clear and that I can concentrate on footballing matters," Baros told the media. "Moreover, it's very good that at the new club I'll be working with coach Houllier again,
and I'm also happy that I can play in the Champions League." Lyon are chasing their sixth consecutive French league title.

Posted by Mikes at 1:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)