Football: Czech press step up pressure on Bruckner

The Czech press stepped up the pressure for the country's veteran manager, Karel Bruckner, to resign on Thursday after the team's uninspiring 1:0 victory against Cyprus on Wednesday. The team had previously lost at home to Germany on Saturday in another Euro-2008 qualifier. Newspapers above all reproach 67-year old Bruckner for always preferring the same group of players and being unable to impose discipline on some of them. The whole squad was fined 1 million crowns (almost 48,000 dollars) after several players celebrated with a drinking session into the early hours of Sunday morning, hours after their 2:1 home defeat against Germany. The tabloid daily Sip alleged on Monday that prostitutes took part in the celebrations to mark the birthday of one of the players.