Czech brewery promises to "reward" players if they win Euro 2004

The Czech football team's excellent run at Euro 2004 has been good for the pub trade here as many Czechs go to bars to watch the matches and cheer their team on. One Czech brewery has been in the news recently with an interesting marketing ploy to take advantage of this upsurge in business and keep beer on people's minds.

Czech brewery promises to "reward" players if they win Euro 2004

In what is apparently an effort to encourage the team, the Bernard brewery has offered the Czech coach a lifetime's supply of beer if his players can win the tournament. The brewery has also promised the entire Czech squad 160 litres of beer each, if they are successful at Euro 2004.

One would think that such an offer would hardly motivate a bunch of millionaire professional footballers, but Prague barman David Hylas disagrees. He says all Czechs have an emotional attachment to beer and that the offer would be appreciated:

"Oh yeah - If you say the word 'Czech' the first thing that comes into your mind is probably beer. The Czechs call it their 'liquid bread'. Traditionally, nobody here really minds when the price of flour or milk goes up, but whenever the price of beer increases it's always a big problem."

The Czechs are indeed fond of their beer. Lagers and dark beers have been brewed here for centuries and the Czech Republic regularly tops international beer consumption charts.

Czech football team, photo: CTK

If beer is their favourite drink, football is also their most popular sport. David says that beer and football often go hand-in-hand, as most Czech players like to wind down with a few beers after a hard match.

"Beer and football is the same word almost. Why do we play football? Just to get a thirst and to splash it with a beer. We play to get a thirst and to treat ourselves with a beer. If you just go for a beer on its own, you maybe feel you shouldn't treat yourself that much, but if you play football beforehand, you're going to treat yourself and get a couple of pints - that's perfect."

Having been a barman for over a decade, David has seen his bar fill out down through the years for many football tournaments and other large sporting events, especially when the Czech competitors are doing well. He predicts that a victory for the Czech Republic in Portugal would be good for business as the locals will presumably treat themselves to gallons of their national drink to celebrate. But what if the Czechs lose?

"Then, we'll just drink dark beer, because Czechs make black, dark beer as well. Black is the colour of sorrow so [when we're sad] we've drink the black beer."