The UEFA European Football Championship has enjoyed a rich variety of formats and winning teams
since its inauguration in 1960. The very first tournament saw seventeen nations enter at the start
of the competition with the semi-finals and final played in Paris over a four day period resulting
in the Soviet Union becoming the first ever winners.
This, perhaps, was not the new Europe that the leaders of the continents nations had envisaged
when the Berlin Wall came tumbling down in November 1989. The years between the European
Championships of 1988 and 1992 were the most politically tumultuous since the end of the Second
World War. At varying points over the course of those four intervening years, the geopolitics of
the entire continent had been upturned.
There can be few things more tiresome in international football than war analogies. Sometimes,
however, they are inescapable and this can be no more true than in the case of European nations
which once pitched up against each other on battlefields, only to find themselves facing off
against their former allies or rivals for decades afterwards.
A primeira edição da Eurocopa foi realizada entre os dias 06/07/1960 e 10/07/1960, por apenas 4
seleções na sua fase final, que foi realizada nas cidades de Marseille e Paris.
Para a classificação das 4 seleções (União Soviética, França, Tchecoslováquia e
Iugoslávia), foram realizadas 3 fases de qualificação, envolvendo 13 seleções.
At least on weekends. And the occasional midweek cup fixture.
UEFA frowns upon what are called "common leagues", those which feature multiple nations coming
together to form one big league, which would also explain Michel's disdain for the Premiership.
However, it appears he might be swayed in the case of once-lovers the Czech Republic and
Slovakia.
One could forgive the Czech Republic for being a little circumspect in their preparations for
the 2012 European Championships. Having failed to qualify for the World Cup finals again two years
ago they've only qualified for one World Cup finals since the division of the Czechoslovakia's
national football team split into two early in 1994 their qualification for this European
Championships was modest and unspectacular.
As football entered the twenty-first century its race towards full industrialisation had more or
less been completed. Resource management had become everything. In club football, scouting networks
had diversified in order to fall quickly upon any young player spotted that hadn't already got a
professional contract, whilst at international level the stigma surrounding appointing foreign
coaches had been diluted with several high profile European appointments.
The cheeky little penalty chip turned thirty five years old this week. On May 20th,1976 after
Uli Hoeness missed his PK, Antonin Panenka showed the world a novel way to score penalties
clinching a memorable win for Czechoslovakia over Germany in the Euro Cup finals.
The clip above shows a selection of the best ones.
CzBlogs Funny football | Funny Videos, Stupid Videos, Funniest Videos -
http://www.funnypeak.com/?p=35 6 hours ago from czech - Google Blog Search - Comment - Like ...
fifa UEFA Champions League fifa world cup UEFA Cup Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, England, Hungary,
Italy, Spain, Switzerland, USSR, West Germany, Yugoslavia, Belgium, France, Romania, Croatia, Czech
Republic, England, France, Germany,.
CzBlogs Brazil Futbol | Czech Knight who wowed in '62 – Fifa.com -
http://brazil-futbol.com/brazil-... 5 hours ago from czech - Google Blog Search - Comment - Like
Fifa.com Czech Knight who wowed in '62 Fifa.com But if the Czechoslovakia midfielder landed at the
FIFA World Cup™ with an alien identity, everyone knew who he was by the time he boarded his
squad's return flight to Prague.
Soccer24 Czech Knight who wowed in ‘62 - http://www.fifa.com/classic... 5 hours ago from FIFA.com
- News - Comment - Like Josef Masopust thrust Dukla Prague to eight league titles and
Czechoslovakia into the FIFA World Cup Final. FIFA.com pays tribute to a midfielder who won the
Ballon d'Or and was named his nation's player of the century.
The Netherlands will try to win the World Cup final on their third attempt. Czechoslovakia (1934
and 1962) and Hungary (1938 and 1954) are the other two countries besides the Netherlands who have
featured in two World Cup finals on the losing end. (West Germany was on the losing end in 1966,
1982 and 1986 but won the World Cup in 1954 and 1974 before unification with East Germany).
It is a beautiful sunny day in Durban. At 4pm, this afternoon Netherlands will take on Slovakia
for a place in the quarterfinals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.
Holland's best performance in the World Cup have been two trips to the final in 1974 and 1978,
led by the Dutch legend Johan Cryuff.
Tuesday, June 15th, 12:30 GMT, Royal Bafokeng Stadium
It's been a while for the All Whites of New Zealand. This is their first World Cup appearance
since 1982. That's great and all, but pundits are saying that this New Zealand squad is by far the
worst team in the tournament. Although they've shown some positive signs leading up to the World
Cup, they have a huge uphill battle ahead of them if they want to get out of the group.
Slovakia World Cup 2010 Preview #24 (Group F) is a post from: Just Football
Slovakia
Appearances at World Cup finals: Slovakia are making their debut at the World
Cup Finals as an independent nation. As Czechoslovakia, they reached eight finals competitions,
making the Quarter Finals in 1938 and 1990, perhaps disappointing for a team which won the European
Championships of 1976.
I have over the last 8 months or so tried to find and tell about the 50 greatest matches in World
Cup history, as a way of preparing for this coming World Cup in South Africa.The final list is (in
chronological order!):France-Mexico, 1930Uruguay-Argentina, 1930Italy-Czechoslovakia,
1934Brazil-Italy, 1938Italy-Hungary, 1938USA-England, 1950Brazil-Uruguay, 1950Hungary-Uruguay,
1954Hungary-West
The Pot 4 Club Viktoria Plzen is a post from: Just Football
The Pot 4 Club continues on Just Football with analysis of Viktoria
Plzen by Czech football writer Chris Boothroyd:
Club: Viktoria Plzeň
Straight outta': Czech Republic
Group: H with FC Barcelona, AC Milan and BATE Borisov
This year is the first time that FC Viktoria Plzeň have graced Europe's premier club
competition, but with their attacking displays against Rosenborg and København in the Qualifying
Rounds you'd be excused to think they are seasoned campaigners on the continental stage.
A huge victory for Hercules against Barcelona, a Champions League review and a football derby
special feature on this week's languagecaster.com's football podcast. For more football news come
to our site, read the posts, listen to our main reports and check out our links section.
________________________________________
FEATURED POSTS Download the latest podcast which is all about the Bundesliga side St Pauli here
Read our fabulous Glossary of footballing phrases Listen to something from our back catalogue: 5
questions about football derbies
Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon
________________________________________
PREDICTION
This week's featured match sees Manchester United take on Liverpool a game with no love lost
between the two sides.
A huge victory for Hercules against Barcelona, a Champions League review and a football derby
special feature on this week's languagecaster.com's football podcast. For more football news come
to our site, read the posts, listen to our main reports and check out our links section.
________________________________________
FEATURED POSTS Download the latest podcast which is all about the Bundesliga side St Pauli here
Read our fabulous Glossary of footballing phrases Listen to something from our back catalogue: 5
questions about football derbies
Automatically receive the podcast each week by clicking on the icon
________________________________________
PREDICTION
This week's featured match sees Manchester United take on Liverpool a game with no love lost
between the two sides.
Their Words The '90 World Cup team was truly a team of amateurs across the board, from the
federation who hadn't been there in 40 years to no coaches, no players, nothing. And the first game
when we got handled 5-1 by Czechoslovakia that kind of summed it up. Seattle Sounders goalkeeper
Kasey Keller, speaking to The Seattle Times' Bob Wickwire.
Costa Rica:
Costa Rica name rings a lot of sweet memories to me in football. One of my nicest memories of the
game was attending 1989 Youth World Cup that was hosted in my home, Saudi Arabia. I remember
attending one of the group stages games of Costa Rica vs. Columbia. And a the captain Ronald
Gnzalez scored the 1-0 winning goal at the last minute from a beautiful free kick.
Costa Rica:
Costa Rica name rings a lot of sweet memories to me in football. One of my nicest memories of the
game was attending 1989 Youth World Cup that was hosted in my home, Saudi Arabia. I remember
attending one of the group stages games of Costa Rica vs. Columbia. And a the captain Ronald
Gnzalez scored the 1-0 winning goal at the last minute from a beautiful free kick.
The Union lose again, this time to Kansas City. It says in Latin on the collar of their shirts,
"Join or Die." Anyone know what the Latin for "Win or Lose" is?
The BBC looks at Philadelphia'a World Cup hopes and the Union.
Here's a nice rumor to chew on as MLS heads into the World Cup break: Ronaldhino is "heavily"
linked to LA Galaxy.
FIFA U-17 World Cups
U.S. Group Placement and Finish
YearGroupTeams (in order U.S. played)U.S. Group FinishU.S. Overall Finish2009
2007D
ESpain, Malawi, United Arab Emirates
Tajikistan, Tunisia, Belgium2nd
2nd12th
16th2005CKorea Republic, Italy, Cote d'Ivoire1st5th2003DKorea DPR, Sierra Leone,
Spain2nd5th2001AJapan, France, Nigeria4th15th1999ANew Zealand, Poland, Uruguay2nd4th1997COman,
Brazil, Austria3rd11th1995AEcuador, Japan, Ghana4th15th1993CColombia, Czechoslovakia,
Qatar2nd7th1991AItaly, Argentina, China PR1st5th1989BBrazil, Germany DR,
Australia3rd10th1987BEcuador, Ivory Coast, Korea Republic3rd14th1985AGuinea, Bolivia, China
PR3rd12th
We've already dealt with the shock of Italy's World Cup exit. Or we've posted about it at least. I
suspect it will take a while for Azzurri fans to fully process it. The happier story is that
Slovakia playing in their first World Cup as an independent nation after years of watching the
Czech Republic hog all the post-Czechoslovakia glory, are through to the last 16 of World Cup
2010.
You won't hear any complaints coming out of the defending champs' camp, as the Italians have been
paired with unfancied New Zealand, Paraguay and Slovakia. While the Azzurri should advance, the
battle is on for the second sport in the round of 16. Here's my take on Group F.
Italy will look to recapture the magic of their 2006 title run quite literally, with a
roster heavy on World Cup veterans.
The Asian Cup doesn't get a tremendous amount of pub outside the continent itself. It isn't even
afforded the luxury of being whined about as club teams lose their stars for a few weeks in the
middle of the winter (ahem, Africa).
But it does have appeal, if you're willing to look in the right places.
For Slovakia's World Cup debut (or their first without the Czecho prefix anyway) the team has
been drawn into Group F along with Italy, Paraguay and New Zealand. Not exactly easy, but it could
have been a lot worse. Which is good, because this team has a lot to offer.
Slovakia is one of those teams you think you know nothing about, until you realize that some of
their players are actually quite famous.
Penalties are a unique experience in football simply because the kicker is expected to score. It
is an intense psychological moment, offering a glimpse into the mind and personality of the kicker,
particularly at important moments like the final of the World Cup or with elimination from the
European Championships on the line.
The British referee Clive Thomas has admitted - after 32 years - that due to his failures Oranje
didn't win the 1976 EC. Thomas had a crucial role in the semi finals Oranje lost 2-1 against
Czechoslovakia.
World Champions West Germany, Czechoslovakia, host Yugoslavia and Holland - favorites for the
title [read more]
As soon as England are out of Euro 2012, all we want to see is some glorious goals. The top two are
fairly predictable, but the rest cover chips, long range strike and a cheeky penalty from 1968
above. Pick your best and cross for your fingers for some more beauties: 10. Antonin Panenka,
Czechoslovakia [.
Everyone was excited before the season-opening game between the Atlanta Thrashers and the
Washington Capitals. However, that excitement soon turned to concern after Thrashers goalie Ondrej
Pavelec collapsed on the ice. The 23-year-old from Czechoslovakia didn't regain consciousness until
he was at the hospital.
Maradona Lifted The World Cup Against Germany In 1986, Can He Do It Again Against The Germans As
A Manager?
In 1971, Franz Beckenbauer was handed the captaincy of the German national side. A golden age of
German football ensued under his leadership, as Germany went on to lift the European Championships
in 1972, and then won the following World Cup in 1974.
The Group of Death highlights Tuesday's action, but two of the tournament's bigger underdogs
have a chance to grab an early lead in their group as New Zealand and Slovakia tangle in Group F
action at Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenberg, South Africa (7:30 a.m., ESPN/ESPN3.com).
With Italy and Paraguay playing to a stalemate on Monday, first place in the group is up for
grabs.
