footballspectator

There are only about three weeks left until the start of the new Premiership season. Most players are training hard, preparing for the long season ahead. Those that played in the World Cup have been given an extended break.

One of those is the Czech Republic’s Milan Baros. Now Baros can hardly claim to be drained after his involvement in the tournament - he was injured and only played in the Czechs’ last game against Italy. He seems to be making the most of his time off though as these pictures published in Czech paper Blesk prove. A clearly drunk Baros was caught dancing bare-chested with a condom tied to his hair, arguing with a wedding party and even kissing another man.

He has shown signs of remorse, however: “I should be an example to young athletes and unfortunately during this period I have not been“, he said.

We think it’s too early to make judgements. Romario regularly parties ’til dawn, goes straight to training and games with no sleep and yet has racked up almost 1,000 career goals. Maybe following his example will help Baros to show his international form in club football!

They had started off their campaign demolishing the USA 3-0, but then went on to lose to Ghana… Today, against Italy, they needed to show the form they displayed in their first match to preserve the hope of making it to the last 16.

Did anyone see them today? They were completely harmless and never posed a real threat to Italy. True, Jan Polak was sent off just before the half time whistle, but they still hadn’t managed to produce anything tangible while they were still 11. Did Jan Koller’s injury affect the team so much, to the extent that they couldn’t play together anymore? This was probably their biggest chance ever to World Cup glory and they’ve blown it, big time!

Italy weren’t exactly impressive either, but they were effective. It was rather frustrating seeing them fighting (!) to preserve the 1-0 lead rather than taking advantage of having one man more on the pitch in order to secure victory. They finally got their second with Inzaghi in the closing minutes, but if they want to make it all the way, they better find back to the form they showed in their opener….

Well done to Ghana: with their 2-1 victory over the US they made it through to the next round and will probably face Brazil next…They played with enthusiasm and looked solid throughout. Shame Essien will miss the next match (he got his second yellow today), but they have enough good players to pose a threat to any team.

After the first matches in Group E, most people would have thought that the Czechs, so vibrant against the USA would brush Ghana aside. Instead the Ghanaians dominated from start to finish. Asamoah Gyan’s 2nd minute strike appeared to fill the Black Stars with confidence and they started to produce some flowing football, with Petr Cech forced to make some big saves to keep the Czechs in it.

Things got worse for the Czechs in the second half Ujfalusi gave away a penalty for a foul on Amoah for which he was sent off. Asamoah Gyan’s effort hit the post and Czechs continued to have hope. However as they pressed for an equaliser they left massive holes at the back which the Ghanaians should have exploited. Instead, they came up against a wall  called Petr Cech. Eventually they managed to get through, as Udinese’s Sulley Muntari smashed his shot into the roof of the net.

Without Jan Koller or Milan Baros, the Czechs are struggling. Lokvenc did nothing and it was obvious that star players Nedved and Rosicky had no confidence in him. The Czechs will now have to beat Italy in their last match to ensure qualification, something which looks unlikely in the absence of their first choice forward line.

Highlights below..

The Czech Republic continued where they left off at Euro 2004 and produced some sublime football to destroy the USA 3-0. The match highlighted the uselessness of the FIFA World rankings with the US apparently the 5th best team in the world if you believe FIFA’s classifaction but clearly not in the same league as the Czechs.

Giant centre forward Jan Koller showed Peter Crouch how a big man should play when he powered in Zdenek Grygera’s cross with a thumping header in the 5th minute, but was strechered off shortly afterwards with a hamstring injury which may rule him out of the next few games. However, new Arsenal signing Tomas Rosicky picked up the slack, first with a long range curler from 25 metres in the 36th minute, later smashing a shot against the bar and finally by finishing off a flowing move in the 76 minute to make it 3-1.

The Czechs ooze class but much depends on how quickly Koller and fellow striker Milan Baros recover from injury. Vraclav Lokvenc, Koller’s replacement, is more in the Peter Crouch mould, not in Koller’s class. In any event the Italians will be worried. They are likely to have to beat them in order to avoid a last 16 clash with Brazil. Based on today’s displays, the Czechs seem destined to win the group.

Giant Czech striker Jan Koller has left Dortmund on a free transfer and signed a two-year contract with French club Monaco. Monaco will be looking to Koller to provide them with the firepower they need to improve on last year’s disappointing showing in Le Championnat. Koller only returned to action last month after a long spell out with a knee injury sustained in September. The 33 year-old has an impressive international scoring record with 42 goals in 67 appearances. The Czechs will be hoping that his little and large combination with Milan Baros will carry them through a tough group which includes Italy, the USA and Ghana. The prize for qualification? A potential second round clash with Brazil…oh dear..