Sports News

The Czech national football team have now extended their unbeaten run under coach Karel Brueckner to 18 games, with a 3:2 win over Austria on Saturday. The Under 21s also beat Austria to secure a place in the play-offs for their European Championships. In ice hockey, Hasek and Jagr are doing well in the NHL while Slavia Prague have beaten Pardubice in a replay of last season's play-offs final series. And Prague - the only candidate - has withdrawn its bid to host the 2007 European Indoor Athletics Championships.

Sports News

Czechs extend unbeaten run to 18 games with 3:2 win over Austria

Photo: CTK

The Czech national football team have now extended their unbeaten run under coach Karel Brueckner to 18 games (including 14 wins), with a 3:2 win over Austria on Saturday. With qualification for next year's European Championships already in the bag, the estimated 10,000 Czech fans who travelled to Vienna were there to party. And party they did, though the Czechs - missing several first-team regulars - had to come from behind before sealing victory in the dying moments, with a goal from Jan Koller adding to earlier strikes from Marek Jankulovksi and Stepan Vachousek. All three goals were set up by Pavel Nedved, who was inspirational throughout; after the match goal scorer Jankulovski praised the work of the Czech captain:

Photo: CTK

"It was brilliant work by Pavel Nedved. I gave him a shout when I saw that there was space...we were under instruction to attack whenever we got the chance and when Pavel passed it to me my shot was on target. After being 2:1 down we turned the game around...we didn't have to win, it was difficult, but I'm glad we managed to win the last game."

Sverkos makes an impact as Under 21s reach play-offs

Unlike the senior team, the Czech Under 21s needed to beat Austria to ensure a place in the play-offs for their European Championships. Striker Vaclav Sverkos, who has yet to make his mark since joining Borussia Moenchengladbach, certainly made an impression in Friday's 2:0 win: he was brought down for a penalty, scored the Czechs' second goal and then missed a penalty himself.

Hasek and Jagr (minus his mother) doing well as NHL season begins

Czech ice hockey goaltender Dominik Hasek has made a successful comeback from retirement, helping the Detroit Red Wings to wins in their opening two games of the season. Meanwhile, another Czech star, Jaromir Jagr, has also made a good start to the season: Jagr is playing excellently at the minute, and has picked up four points in two games. That despite recent turbulence in his private life, and the news that for the first season since he moved to the NHL his mother will not be in the States looking after him.

Slavia win replay of last season's Extraliga final series

In the Czech Extraliga, there was a mini replay of last season's final series on Sunday, with Slavia Prague defeating league-leaders Pardubice 4:2; Slavia's most impressive player was 21-year-old forward Petr Jaros, who scored twice for the champions. Sparta Prague, who are in second place, were also beaten; they lost 4:2 to Pilsen. Sparta have also lost all hope of keeping star Martin Havlat, who has finally agreed on a contract with Ottawa.

Prague withdraws bid to host 2007 Euro Indoor Athletics Championships

Despite being the only candidate, Prague has withdrawn its bid to host the 2007 European Indoor Championships. The Czech Athletics Union had to pull out when it became clear the government would not support the holding of the prestigious event.