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 No pix of Patrik alas Most seemed to feature Tufty though! |  Two-goal Vlad |  Look at that thigh! What a brute!! |
Eeh, so lovely to see the Czechs end on a win; they deserved more though. Poor Denmark! No points; no goals - dreadfully disappointing for them. I wonder if England might've managed to have beaten them?!?!? I didn't see this game (just a quick few clicks across channels hoping to catch a glimpse of Patrik - did!! :)). Nice to see Vladimir back to scoring ways though. As I didn't see the game, I leave you in the very capable hands of Lynn Truss (The Times!) to give you a rundown of the game. She is a lady after my own heart anyway!
Lynne Truss in Liège
Smicer finally cashes in for the Czechs
ELSEWHERE last night in Euro 2000, footie fates unfolded in a rather dramatic fashion. Those of us who had predicted enormous things for Spain found that we could breathe again. At Liège, by contrast, no glory was on the table. Denmark and the Czech Republic were two teams with a 100 per cent record of defeat who lined up against each other in the full knowledge that nobody except their mums would remember who won.
Each team arrived for this, their last opportunity to shine, empty-handed and with a glum expression. One felt sorrier for the Czechs, of course. They had played close, ferocious games against both France and Holland, whereas the Danes - well, the Danes had been roundly slaughtered twice.
They could not have chosen a better spot, I must say, for this existential exercise. Grim place, Liège. Here was a test for the fans, too, with 30,000 seats to fill and all neutral eyes, ears and television cameras trained on France against Holland in Amsterdam. Pavel Srnicek, the Czech Republic goalkeeper, rather wildly opined last week (in the aftermath of the infamous Holland penalty) that there was a conspiracy in Euro 2000 against the "unfashionable" countries.
"Paranoid of Sheffield", we now call him. But, sitting down last night to watch this deeply unfashionable match unfold in this toxic ashpit of a city, I did begin to think that he had a point.
The big news was that Patrik Berger was back from suspension for the Czechs, just in time to do no good whatsoever to their progress in the competition. Whatever he did to earn the suspension, I bet he feels very sorry now. Bo Johansson, the outgoing manager of Denmark, who had promised an experimental side for his farewell match, fielded Bjarne Goldbaek for the first time in Euro 2000, and put Mikkel Beck in the starting line-up, which must have been a sore relief for anyone with a bet on the Czechs. Meanwhile, one's heart rose to see Stig Tøfting, of Denmark, once more - a bull-necked midfield player so zealous and tireless that he makes Marc Overmars look like an ambling insouciant.
Two high points in the goalless first half were supplied by the Czechs. The first was in the thirtieth minute, which just goes to show what a gripping time we were having. The Danes were engaged in a bit of goalmouth action, and Berger cleared the ball with a Byronic toss of the head, thus earning a pat on the bottom from Srnicek. Really.
The next was seven minutes later, when Karel Poborsky made a splendid and unimpeded run down the right, crossed to Vladimir Smicer, who made an elegant shot. Peter Schmeichel made easy meat of it, of course. Did I mention Schmeichel suffered a crack to the head at one point? Surprisingly, it did not improve his temper.
What you had to keep thinking in the first half was: how good of them to turn up. But in the 63rd minute (at long last) the Poborsky-Smicer machine made a goal from a perfect lofted crossfield pass from the man-mountain, Jan Koller. Then, three minutes later, Smicer took a lone run towards Schmeichel, beat him and scored again. Lumme. What a great leaving present for Johansson this was turning out to be.
As for Schmeichel, with ten minutes to go, he looked like a man who would rather take a crack to the head any day. As one of the best goalkeepers the world has known, he had now conceded eight goals in this competition. And his team were going home from Euro 2000 - clearly with the love of their amazing fans intact - with not a single goal for consolation.
copyright "The Times" 2000
Teams and things
DENMARK: Schmeichel, Schjonberg, Henriksen, Heintze (Colding 68), Helveg, Tofting, B.Nielsen, Gronkjaer, Tomasson, Goldbaek, Beck (Molnar 74)
CZECH REP: Srnicek, Repka, Rada, Fukal, Nedved, Nemec, Bejbl (Jankilovski 62), Porborsky, Berger, Koller (Kuka 74), Smicer (Lokvenc 79)
