Sports News

Yes, it's sport of course, and before our attention focuses entirely upon the impending proceedings in Sydney, there's a very important week of European football to get through. Match of the week here in the Czech Republic is undoubtedly Tuesday evening's Champions League encounter in Prague between Sparta and the English Premier League team Arsenal.

Both teams are missing key players. Libor Sionko is with the Olympic Squad in Australia and midfielder Jiri Jarosik is out with a broken nose. Arsenal expect French midfielder Patrick Viera to return from suspension, although their captain, Tony Adams, will miss out on the clash through injury. Their Dutch forward Dennis Bergkamp also didn't make the trip--his excuse being a fear of flying. I wonder if that's just on Czech Airlines...

Anyway, although the Czech champions have got off to a marvelous start to the new league season--taking maximum points from their first five matches--they will be the underdogs against an Arsenal team boasting the international talents of players such as Thierry Henry and Nwankwo Kanu.

Slavia Prague have pulled off a coup by re-signing the former Czech international Jan Suchoparek. The 31-year-old defender has signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with the club on free transfer.

Suchoparek, who helped the Czechs to the final of the 1996 European Championship, left Slavia shortly afterwards for Racing Strasbourg before moving on last year to Tennis Borussia Berlin. The player missed out on Euro 2000 after suffering a knee injury.

Click here for all the Gambrinus League results, plus the league table.

Finally onto cycling and on the 15th stage of the Tour of Spain, held over 164 km between Cangas de Onis and Gijon on Monday, the Czech rider Jan Svorada of the Lambre-Daikin team, came in 7th, over five minutes behind the stage winner Alvaro Gonzales.