European Cup opening match of the first half of Switzerland Vs Czech Republic

Milan Baroš (born 28 October 1981 in Vigantice, Czechoslovakia, now Czech Republic) is a Czech international footballer.

He is a striker who currently plays for Portsmouth, on loan from Lyon until the end of the season. He has previously played for Liverpool, Aston Villa, and FC Baník Ostrava, where he earned the nickname Ostrava’s Maradona^[1]

Club career

[edit] Liverpool

Baroš joined Liverpool in 2002, and was given the number 5 shirt, making his debut in a Champions League tie away to Barcelona. It was his only appearance of the 2001/02 season. The following season Baros scored twice on his Premiership debut away to Bolton Wanderers ^[2] and ended the season with 12 goals for the club. For the 2003/04 season Baros was expected to feature more prominently but he broke his ankle in a match at Blackburn Rovers.^[3] He didn’t play again for 6 months and scored just two goals all season as Gerard Houllier preferred both Emile Heskey and Michael Owen. Baroš would later claim that had Houllier stayed at the club after the summer of 2004 he would have put in a transfer request. As it was Houllier was sacked and replaced by Rafa Benítez.

On returning from Euro 2004, where he had been the top goalscorer, Baroš hit his best form for his club early in the 2004/05 season. With Michael Owen and Emile Heskey now sold and new signing Djibril Cissé out with a long term injury Baroš was now seen as the club’s senior striker. Despite being the club’s joint top scorer with thirteen goals, including a hat trick against Crystal Palace, Baroš was surprisingly dropped for the Carling cup final defeat to Chelsea. However, he played an important role in Liverpool’s run to the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final, playing virtually all the games in the competition as a lone striker as the club clinched its fifth title. Baroš reportedly dropped the trophy during the team’s celebration, leaving a dent, but Liverpool decided not to mend it.^[4]

In June 2005, Baroš’ future at Liverpool looked bleak, with the player seemingly poised to leave Liverpool to rejoin former manager Gérard Houllier at Lyon who had expressed interest in bringing him to France. Baroš, however, rejected the move, saying that he wanted to prove himself at Liverpool. It was widely reported, however, that Liverpool would try to sell Baroš before the transfer window closed on 31 August. Adding fuel to these rumours was Liverpool’s purchase of Peter Crouch from Southampton, along with the decision by manager Rafael Benítez not to play Baroš in any of Liverpool’s Champions League qualifying-round ties. By not playing Baroš, Benítez assured that Baroš would not be cup-tied to Liverpool, Cup-tied players are considerably less valuable, especially to teams that could reasonably afford the transfer fee that Liverpool would likely require for Baroš. Indeed, two clubs that had already qualified for the group phase, Lyon and Schalke, strongly pursued Baroš, but he expressed a desire to stay in the Premiership or to move to Spain.

He played as a substitute in the first 2 games of Liverpool’s 2005-6 season but they were his last for the club. Baroš’ name was still chanted from the crowd proving that despite his imminent departure he was a very popular player.

Aston Villa

Baroš moved to Premiership side Aston Villa for a fee of £6.5 million in August 2005, signing a four year contract.^[5] He was given the number 10 shirt. Just ten minutes into his Aston Villa debut, he scored the only goal in his new team’s victory over Blackburn Rovers. He finished the season with 8 goals from 25 appearances. He also scored 3 goals in as many games in the FA Cup that season, as well as 1 goal from two Carling Cup appearances. But he never really won over the fans due to his perceived lack of effort and commitment to wearing the shirt.

The following season proved to be a nightmare for Milan. He began the season as first-choice striker under Martin O’Neill and played alongside Juan Pablo Ángel but he soon got injured and lost his place to Luke Moore and the emerging Gabriel Agbonlahor. Boss Martin O’Neill challenged Baros to prove himself before the January transfer window. He subsequently opened his account for the season on December 11 with a close range equaliser against Sheffield United in a 2-2 draw. This didn’t prove good enough and he was soon dropped from the squad altogether. January was just around the corner and it seemed destined that Baroš would be leaving the club. Following his final goal for Aston Villa in a 2-1 loss to Manchester United in the FA Cup he was sold to Lyon in a part exchange deal for John Carew.

He finished his Aston Villa career with 14 goals from 51 appearances.

Lyon

On 22 January 2007, Baroš signed with French side Lyon, reuniting with former manager Gérard Houllier from his time at Liverpool. The deal swapped Baros with Lyon striker John Carew, who joined Aston Villa on a three-and-a-half-year deal. On January 24, 2007, he made his Lyon Ligue 1 debut against Bordeaux.

On April 18, 2007, during Lyon’s match against Rennes, Baroš was accused of making a racist gesture towards his Cameroon-born opponent Stéphane Mbia. After having been fouled by Mbia several times, Baroš held his nose in front of Mbia and waved his hand as if to waft away an unpleasant smell. In the ensuing controversy, Baroš insisted that his gesture was not intended to be racist in any way, and he was only trying to tell Mbia to get out of his face and leave him alone. ^[6] On May 4, Baroš and Mbia were brought before an official disciplinary hearing of the LFP. The jury ruled that Baroš was innocent of racist behavior, but he was nevertheless suspended for the remainder of the season for unsportsmanlike conduct. ^[7]

Following the departure of Gérard Houllier, Baroš played significantly less under new manager Alain Perrin in the 2007/8 season. On November 1, Baroš was arrested in France while driving at 271 km/h in his black Ferrari F430, on a freeway limited to 130 km/h. Stopped by French Police between Lyon and Geneva in the region of Ain, the local authorities said the radar reading of 271km/h (168.4mph) was the fastest speed ever recorded in the region, beating the 248km/h (154mph) set by a motorcyclist in 2000. As a result, Baroš had his car and licence confiscated, had to take a taxi back to Lyon. In the awaiting court case, his driving licence may be suspended for up to three years and he will have to pay a significant fine.^[8].

Portsmouth

As of 27 January 2008, Milan completed a loan signing that will keep him at English side Portsmouth F.C. until the end of the 2007/2008 English Premier League season with a view to a permanent deal (7.000.000 €).^[9]. Baros made his Portsmouth debut against Manchester United on 30 January 2008

Baroš did not score in any of his 16 appearances for Portsmouth but played a significant role in the club winning the 2008 FA Cup. He was fouled for Portsmouth’s match-winning penalty kick in the quarter final at Manchester United and assisted Kanu’s deciding goal in the semi final match against West Bromich Albion. The final match of Baroš’ loan spell was the 2008 FA Cup Final against Cardiff City at Wembley Stadium where he appeared as a substitute for Kanu in the 87th minute.

International career

At the 2004 European Football Championship, Baroš scored the first goal for the Czech Republic in their first game of the tournament, a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Latvia. He went on to score goals in the Czechs’ other two group matches. His second goal was an equalizer against the Netherlands; the Dutch team had a two-goal lead over the Czechs until the 22nd minute, when Jan Koller scored from a Baroš pass. The Czechs went on to win that game. The last was a game-winning goal against Germany. Baroš and Dutch star Ruud van Nistelrooy were the only two players in the tournament to score in all three of their group matches.

Baroš added two goals in two minutes of the second half of the Czechs’ quarterfinal win over Denmark, and finished as the tournament’s Golden Boot with five goals.

At the 2006 FIFA World Cup, a persistent foot injury kept him out of games against the United States and Ghana. He did appear in the Czech’s final group game against Italy, but was considered unfit and was subsequently withdrawn after 65 minutes.

Honours

• Peace Cup: 2007
• Ligue 1: 2007
• Trophée des champions: 2007
• League Cup: 2003; Runner-up: 2005
• UEFA Champions League: 2005
• Charity Shield: Runner-up: 2002
• FA Cup: 2008

Personal awards

• Euro 2004 Golden Boot

Stanislav Vl?ek (born 26 February 1976 in Vlašim) is a Czech football striker who currently plays for RSC Anderlecht. He is a well traveled player with a lot of experience. He has been capped several times for the Czech Republic national football team. Apart from playing as a striker, Vlcek can also play on the right wing.

He signed a contract with Anderlecht for 2,5 years on 21 December 2007. His previous club was Slavia Prague.

Václav Sv?rkoš (born November 1, 1983 in T?inec) is a Czech footballer who is playing for FC Baník Ostrava.

Václav Sv?rkoš
Personal information
Date of birth	November 1, 1983 (1983-11-01) (age 24)
Place of birth	T?inec, Czechoslovakia
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	FC Baník Ostrava
Number	25
Youth clubs
1990-1998 1998-2001	VP Frýdek-Místek Baník Ostrava
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2001-2003 2003-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007 2007-	FC Baník Ostrava Borussia Mönchengladbach Hertha BSC Berlin Borussia Mönchengladbach FK Austria Wien FC Baník Ostrava	26 (14) 70 (17) 10 0(0) 06 0(0) 07 0(0) 24 (15)
National team
2008-	Czech Republic	02 0(0)

Career

He started his career at VP Frýdek-Místek. At the age of fourteen he switched to Baník Ostrava, playing on U15 international for the Czech Republic already. Still eligible to feature for Baník’s U19, Sv?rkoš enjoyed his breakthrough in the Gambrinus Liga, the best Czech division, for the Silesian city outfit after the departure of Milan Baroš. His record of 14 goals in just 26 first-team appearances for Ostrava and similar performances in the Czech Republic national under-21 football team got German club Borussia Mönchengladbach interested. Mönchengladbach had been unable to extend the half-a-season loan of Chelsea’s Mikael Forssell, the teams top scorer in 2002-2003, in those times and regarded Sv?rkoš a potential long-term replacement for the Finland international.

A stuttering start to life in Bundesliga under Ewald Lienen, Sv?rkoš was gaining his advantage from a change of manager at the club and, though, he was able to end up the teams topscorer in 2003-2004 with nine goals in 31 Bundesliga matches. His most notable contribution came half-way through that campaign when he netted a hat-trick in Mönchengladbach’s win over Champions League participant VfB Stuttgart (4-2) in the round of the last 16 in the German Cup competition. A year later, Mönchengladbach only just avoided relegation in a season in which Sv?rkoš netted seven goals for them, his ongoing presence in the youth ranks for the Czech Republic awarded him the captaincy of the Czech U21. However, his third season under contract in German football turned out to be a total flop. A blow of fate in his private life, followed by descending form, took the ground from under his feet and made him longing for a different approach to solving his struggle. Initially planning to go on loan to MSV Duisburg, UEFA Cup participants Hertha BSC Berlin became his interim club for the remainder of the season in December 2005.

Even this change of environment didn’t work for Sv?rkoš and though he was facing uncertain times with Hertha BSC Berlin unwilling to buy him and Mönchengladbach, to whom he had to return to at the end of the season, seemingly willing to finally sell him to another club. Mönchengladbach’s decision to part with manager Horst Köppel at the same time proved to be his fortunate circumstance as one of the first decisions of Köppel’s successor Jupp Heynckes was allowing him to stay on and make a fresh start at the club.

In the summer of 2007 he decided to return to Baník Ostrava. He found his form again after the winter break and scored eleven goals in thirteen matches during the spring part of Gambrinus Liga.

He has recently been called up to the Czech Republic national football team and made his debut in the friendly match against Lithuania on May 27. On May 14, 2008, it was announced that he would be part of the Czech squad for Euro 2008.

Jan Koller (born March 30, 1973 in Smetanova Lhota, Czech Republic, then Czechoslovakia) is a Czech football player, who currently stars as a striker for the Czech Republic national team and the Bundesliga club 1. FC Nuremberg in Germany. He is the all-time leading goal scorer for either the Czech Republic or the former Czechoslovakia, with 50 goals in 80 caps as of September 13, 2007.

Jan Koller
Personal information
Date of birth	March 30, 1973 (1973-03-30) (age 35)
Place of birth	Smetanova Lhota, Czechoslovakia
Height	2.02 m (6 ft 7+1?2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	1. FC Nuremberg
Number	19
Youth clubs
1978–1989 1989–1994	TJ Smetanova Lhota ZVVZ Milevsko
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1994–1996 1996–1999 1999–2001 2001–2006 2006–2008 2008-	Sparta Prague Lokeren RSC Anderlecht Borussia Dortmund AS Monaco 1. FC Nuremberg	029 0(5) 097 (43) 065 (43) 137 (59) 051 (12) 014 0(2)
National team2
1999–	Czech Republic	086 (54)

Koller has an impressive physical presence (height: 2.02 m, nearly 6′8″ and weight 100 kg, about 220 pounds). Borussia Dortmund’s physio refused to comment on this phenomenon. Koller started his football training as a goalkeeper, but was converted to striker by the time he started his professional career. His training as a keeper saw some use in the 2002-03 season. In one Bundesliga match at Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund’s keeper Jens Lehmann was sent off about midway through the second half, and Koller moved from striker to keeper after he had already scored once in the first half. He kept a clean sheet for the rest of the match against good opportunities by Michael Ballack and others, and was named the Bundesliga’s top keeper of the week for his performance. Nevertheless Dortmund lost this important match.

He was bought from Anderlecht in 2001. He also played for Lokeren and finished the 1998-99 season as Jupiler League topscorer for that club. Playing at Anderlecht, he also won the Belgian Golden Shoe.

Koller suffered a minor thigh injury during a World Cup game against the United States on June 12, 2006, not long after the opening goal he scored. His injury was a major blow for the Czech Republic, who lost their next 2 matches without him. Koller moved to French side AS Monaco on a free transfer in June 2006.

He found it difficult to settle in France however, despite a respectable scoring record, and on January 6, 2008 he returned to Germany with 1. FC Nuremberg.^[1]

Just about into his third month with Nuremberg, Koller announced that he will retire after EURO 2008.^{[citation needed]}He currently has 194 goals in his professional carrer and 52 goals in his international career.

Career statistics

Martin Fenin [?marcin ?f??in] (born 16 April 1987 in Cheb) is a Czech football striker currently playing for the German club Eintracht Frankfurt. Fenin has also played for youth national teams, primarily the under-19 Czech Republic team.

International

Fenin scored three goals for the Czechs in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada, including one in the final against Argentina.^[1] After the tournament he won 16th place in a poll for best under-21 player.^[2] On August 22, 2007 Fenin made his international debut against Austria.

Move from home club

Juventus were strongly in the head of the scramble to sign the Czech forward from his home club, FK Teplice. The deal looked to be sealed but Fenin had a change of heart after claiming he wouldn’t be happy as Juventus would loan him out to Udinese Calcio or Genoa CFC for a season. He then swiftly agreed to a deal with Eintracht Frankfurt worth €3.5 million, where he scored a hat-trick in his first match.^[3]

Early career

He previously played for Austria Vienna, Grazer AK, Sparta Prague, Banik Ostrava and Rangers. Playing successfully for Sparta in the Czech league and UEFA Champions League, where Sparta in two occasions (1999-00 and 2003-04), got through from the group stage. He left Prague, due to contract problems, to join high-rising Grazer Athletik Klub in February 2004, helping to achieve the first ever Austrian championship for the Styrians. He also was in the team winning the Austrian Cup for the 4th time.

After that remarkable success and change to Austria Vienna, he was a principal for a very successful challenge in the 2004-05 UEFA Cup, when the Viennese side reached the quarter-final. In 2005-06 the Czech player was an Austrian double winner a second time.

Rangers & Copenhagen

He completed a Bosman transfer to Rangers on 16 May 2006 on a three year contract.^[1]

He scored on his SPL debut against Motherwell on July 30, 2006 in the Gers’ 2-1 win.^[2] Frequent injury, however, meant that he was used intermittently by Paul Le Guen. He re-established himself in the team in December 2006 where he scored against Hibernian^[3] and Aberdeen,^[4] as Rangers’ form improved after a poor start to the season.

On July 27 2007, it was announced Rangers have agreed a deal for the transfer of Sionko to the Danish champions F.C. Copenhagen^[5], and the next day he was presented in the club after signing a 2 year deal.^[6].

On August 4 his debut for the club came, where he assisted the single goal at the 1-0 victory on away ground against AGF. His first goal for the club came in his second match for the club, and his debut at Parken, against Esbjerg fB in the 5-2 victory. Afterwards he started the next six matches at the bench, but on September 23 he was back in the lineup in his first New Firm Derby against Brøndby IF. This match ended 1-0 for FCK, the goal assisted by Sionko. Afterwards he has scored twice in a cup match against FC Fredericia and once against Lyngby Boldklub - in both matches was he named man of match.

Following the Lyngby-match, Sionko told fck.dk that his family has settled down well in Copenhagen, unlike their stay in Glasgow, he further stated that he calls Copenhagen his second home.^[7]

International career

He has been capped more than twenty times by the Czech Republic national team, and has scored 3 goals, making 6 assists. He was called up to the Czech team for the World Cup due to Vladimír Šmicer being injured, however only featured a late substitute role in some games as the Czechs were knocked out in the group stage of the competition.

His World Cup debut came against Ghana on June 17, 2006. Ghana won the game 2-0.

Libor Sionko (born February 1, 1977 in Ostrava) is a Czech footballer currently playing for Danish Superliga club F.C. Copenhagen.