Sports News

Against the odds, Teplice have beaten last year's winners Feyenoord to reach the third round of football's UEFA Cup, while Slavia Prague's failure to score against Levski in Bulgaria spelled their end in the competition. Sparta Prague, meanwhile, kept their dream of advancing to the knock-out stage of the Champions League alive by drawing away to Chelsea. Czech Robert Lang is heading the points table in ice hockey's NHL, and things seem to be on the up for the only Czech basketball player in the NBA, Jiri Welsch.

Sports News

Teplice beat Feyenoord 3:1 on aggregate to reach UEFA Cup third round

Teplice - Feyenoord, photo: CTK

Czech football club Teplice have caused one of the biggest upsets of the UEFA Cup second round by putting out last year's winners, Feyenoord of Holland. Leading 2:0 after an away win in the first leg, Teplice found themselves under pressure on Thursday night when Feyenoord took the lead on 38 minutes. However, just two minutes later Teplice had a chance to equalise when a penalty was awarded for a challenge on Jan Rezek. Captain Pavel Horvath stepped up calmly and struck the ball into the net to make it 1:1. Feyenoord piled the pressure on in the second half - hitting the woodwork twice in a minute at one point - but Horvath and co. managed to hold on for a famous victory. Here's what the Teplice captain had to say after the game:

"I think we won against a brilliant team who were clearly on top, though we managed to react to that, and tried to prevent them from having chances. When they did have chances we were lucky a couple of times, but I think all in all we deserved to win."

Baptism of fire for teenager in Sofia as Slavia bow out of UEFA Cup

Slavia Prague, meanwhile, were knocked out of the UEFA Cup on Thursday: after a 2:2 draw in Prague they could only manage a 0:0 draw against Bulgarian side Levski in front of a huge crowd in Sofia. It was a night to remember for 16-year-old Slavia midfielder Michal Svec, who won a lot of praise for his first-team debut in what was a real baptism of fire.

Draw at Chelsea keeps Sparta's chances of Champions League progress

alive The third Czech club in European action this week, Sparta Prague, also drew, though a point away at Chelsea in the Champions League can only be categorised as a success for the Czech champions. Wednesday's 0:0 result kept alive Sparta's chances of advancing to the competition's knock-out stage. They now need to beat Lazio at home in their last game and pray Chelsea win against Besiktas.

Lang leads NHL points while Washington team-mate Jagr suffers groin

injury Robert Lang of the Washington Capitals is playing some of the best ice hockey of his career at the moment, and is leading the NHL points table with 29. I'd by lying if I said I wasn't enjoying it, it's unbelievable, said the Teplice-born player. Lang's successful run coincides with a return to form for his Czech team-mate Jaromir Jagr. Unfortunately, after Lang scored from a Jagr assist less than two minutes into Washington's game against Buffalo on Wednesday Jagr left the ice with a groin injury, and the Capitals lost 5:2. Meanwhile, Czech goaltender Dominik Hasek - also suffering from a groin strain - hopes to return for the Detroit Red Wings next week.

Only Czech in NBA Jiri Welsch makes longest outing yet

Things are evidently on the up for Jiri Welsch, the only Czech in basketball's NBA. On Thursday Welsch made his second appearance in a row in the Boston Celtic's starting line-up, clocking up 22 minutes, his longest outing to date in the NBA. His four points helped Boston to a 94:92 win over Orlando.