Tag: EURO

SLUTSKY SAYS APPOINTMENT WOULD SWELL RUSSIAN SUPPORT

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The head coach of Championship side Hull City Leonid Slutsky believes his appointment as the first Russian manager in English football would swell Russian support for the club.


The 46-year old manager is commissioned with the task of pulling a Benitez by returning the club to the top flight as soon as possible.

The Marco Silva replacement has a high profile in his home country. He won three titles while coaching CSKA Moscow. He also led the national team of Russia at the Euro 2016 last year in France. The manager opines that English football is popular in Russia so his appointment could improve the followership by the fans back at the Far East.

“English football is very popular in Russia. The first tournament by Russian TV companies was the English Premier League. It’s really popular in Russia. I’m a coach, I don’t have a team, but of course when Mr [Roman] Abramovich bought Chelsea a lot of Russians supported them and I’m not an exception,” the coach said.

He agreed that more Russians would support Hull now that he was the manager.

“I don’t know how many [Russian] supporters there will be on the stands because it’s difficult. But Maybe energy from TV, I think now. In Russia, there are 150 million people and I think 50 percent will be supporting Hull City,” Slutsky boldly claimed. Continue reading “SLUTSKY SAYS APPOINTMENT WOULD SWELL RUSSIAN SUPPORT”

ITALY GETS EXTRA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SPOT

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Football governing body UEFA has announced that Italy would get an extra qualification spot for the Champions League.


Initially, there were reports that England could lose a spot as Premier League sides struggled to impress in recent years. However, the continental football body decided to increase the slots for Italy without reshuffling the status quo.

Italy would now enjoy four spots as England, Spain, and Germany.

“Spain, Germany, England and Italy are confirmed as the top four associations regardless of what happens in the quarter finals and beyond of the two club competitions. And despite ending last season in fifth place, Portugal have fallen outside the top six and with all their clubs now out of Europe will not be able to overtake France and Russia,” a statement credited to UEFA read. Continue reading “ITALY GETS EXTRA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SPOT”

CECH RETIRES FROM INTERNATIONAL ACTION

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Arsenal current shot-stopper Peter Cech has announced his retirement from national team sporting activities following an impressive career that saw him won several individual silverware.


The 34-year old goalkeeper throughout his international career holds a record of 121 caps for country and competed in all three games that his country featured in before been thrown out of the group stage of 2016 Euro competition.

Cech made his first international debut in 2001 and went on to represent his country at the 2014 Euro. Cech’s performance in that competition saw the country finished third. The lanky goalkeeper then went ahead to captain his side at Euro 2008.

Although the world cup of 2006 was the only world cup he has competed in owing to his teams failure to qualify for subsequent world cup, Cech went on to represent his country at Euro 2012 and 2016. Following his glittering career, Cech has now called it quit, choosing to focus on improving his performance at Arsenal. Continue reading “CECH RETIRES FROM INTERNATIONAL ACTION”

NORTHERN IRELAND NAME SQUAD FOR CZECH GAME

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Northern Ireland has named the squad that would be paraded when they take on Czech Republic in the World Cup qualifier.


Coach Martin O’Neill named players he deemed fit to ensure they get past Czech Republic. O’Neill left out Wigan Athletic striker Will Grigg despite hitting four goals this campaign already. O’Neill chose Liam Boyce as his replacement, citing “personal reasons” as the rationale at a press conference. He opened up that the player would be missing as his partner was expecting a baby, and he didn’t want to miss it.

“He [Liam] was very unlucky to miss out of France. It was a toss of a coin between him and Will Grigg. He got a bad wrist injury and played poorly in the League Cup final even though County won the final, so his season fizzled out a bit after a strong first half, whereas Will Grigg finished strongly,” O’Neill explained.

O’Neill left out Linfield goal tender Roy Carroll, but named Tom Flanagan who has featured just once for Northern Ireland at Under 21 level. Flanagan was born in Hammersmith and he started his career at ML Dons. He was released in 2015 from his contract, but the central defender joined Burton Albion. Burton are playing in the English Championship for the first time, and Flanagan has been a regular. Continue reading “NORTHERN IRELAND NAME SQUAD FOR CZECH GAME”

CZECH REPUBLIC COACH LEAVES FOR RUSSIA

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Czech Republic coach Pavel Vrba has left the national team job to pick up a post in Russia, the Football Association confirms.

The coach failed to guide the team out of Group D at the ongoing Euro 2016 in France. He has now left to continue his coaching career in another role at Anzhi Makhachkala in Russia.


The 52-year old tactician led the team where they could only garner a point from the 2-2 draw against Croatia. The team lost to defending champions Spain and they then were defeated by Turkey in a shocking encounter. The finished bottom at the group, meaning their campaign ended instantly.

Vrba was the one who guided Viktoria Plzen to two league titles and a Czech Cup victory; he agreed to lead the national team in November 2013. He started the job in the first month in 2014, as the team had already failed to qualify got the World Cup which was hosted in Brazil. Since taking over, he has recorded some decent strides. One of which is leading the team to the top spot in Group A of the qualifying round for the European Championship. Czech qualified above Turkey, eventual quarter finalist Iceland and Netherlands, who later missed out at the tournament.
Continue reading “CZECH REPUBLIC COACH LEAVES FOR RUSSIA”

CZECH REPUBLIC PLAYER RECEIVES GOAL OF THE SEASON AWARD AMIDST LOUD CHEER

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Czech Republic ace, Jiri Skalak, had plenty to smile about as he received his goal of the season award amidst cheers.

The audience urged the Czech rep ace to smile as he received one of the most prestigious individual awards in the Albion calendar. He didn’t disappoint as he was seen grinning and beaming with smiles.


The Czech international had just won the club’s goal of the season competition so there was a real reason to celebrate as he hoped to make an impact in English football – and boosts his Euro 2016 chances.

Albion re-opened their goal of the season poll and extended the voting deadline to cater for Skalak’s screamer against English side, Queen Park Rangers and an Anthony Knockaert free-kick earlier in the same game. It was no surprise to see those two strikes – against a goalkeeper, in Alex Smithies, who had previously kept two clean sheets at the Amex – finish No. 2 and No. 1.

The mid-season signing from Mlada Boleslav is convinced there is more to come from him and when asked if he was playing his best football, the talented player replied:

“I hope not.” Continue reading “CZECH REPUBLIC PLAYER RECEIVES GOAL OF THE SEASON AWARD AMIDST LOUD CHEER”

The Czech Republic earns draw against strong Sweden opposition

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The Czech Republic manage to hold Sweden to a 1-1 draw despite the presence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the pitch. The match was held in Stockholm and in front of a passionate crowd, Sweden was determined to win the game.

They started well the game by putting the Czech Republic under intense pressure. It was normal that they took the lead in the 14th minutes thanks to a Marcus Berg goal. The Swedish player benefited from a superb cross from Martin Olsson. He connected well with the ball and buried it in the bottom corner to give his side the lead.

However, Czech Republic did not give up and continued to create some occasions. They will be rewarded on a set-piece. MatejVydra will rise higher than everyone else to meet Thomas Sivok’s ball with a magnificent header allowing the Czech Republic to come back in the game.

Despite the continuous pressure of Sweden, the Czech Republic will get a chance to take the lead following a great pass by LadislavKrejci, who found Vladimir Darida. However, the Czech player will shoot inches wide of the target spurning a chance to give his team the lead. Continue reading “The Czech Republic earns draw against strong Sweden opposition”

PavelVrba wants to focus against Croatia and Turkey

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It’s hard to deny the fact that Czech Republic has the hardest opponents to face in their opening match of the 2016 European Championship as they have to face off with the current champions Spain on June 13 of the ongoing year.

PavelVrba is the coach of the Czech Republic national team and he is aware that trying to claim a victory against Spain is extremely difficult and this is why he wants his team to instead focus on their upcoming matches against Croatia and Turkey, all of these games are scheduled to take place on June 17 and 21 respectively.

The 52 year old Czech manager of Czech Republic, PavelVrba talked during a press conference and said: ‘’We definitely have a very difficult group. Spain are one of the favourites to win the tournament. Us, Turkey and the Croatians will probably be fighting for the other qualifying spot. Maybe we have a slight advantage, because we start against Spain – the decisive matches against Turkey and Croatia will come later’’

‘’We know the Turkish team very well because we faced them in qualifying, so that can be an advantage for us. Facing Spain in the first match will be very difficult, of course, but the matches against Croatia and Turkey will be the crucial ones’’ Continue reading “PavelVrba wants to focus against Croatia and Turkey”

Tomas Rosicky is probably playing his last few matches

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Czech Republic captain Tomas Rosicky is probably playing his last few matches for the national team.

The Arsenal midfielder is approaching the end of his career, but he has been a force to reckon with in the national team. Rosicky is one of the few quality players in this Czech Republic team, who have been able to take the national team to the next level along with the likes of Petr Cech. The midfielder is set to make his 100th appearance for Czech Republic in the Euro 2016 qualifying match against Iceland. He is planning to mark this occasion with a famous victory.

However, Rosicky was also quick to point out that he is not having any personal ambitions ahead of this game. Czech Republic have been surprise leaders in the group A, but they could be overthrown by Iceland with a defeat. Even a draw will be sufficient for Czech Republic, but it is unlikely that manager PavelVrba will be going in with such an ambition. The continuous struggle for Netherlands – under Guus Hiddink – is proving to be a boon for both Iceland and Czech Republic. If the group finishes as it is, both these unlikely candidates will be qualifying for the Euro 2016 automatically. Continue reading “Tomas Rosicky is probably playing his last few matches”