Discussion The Football/Soccer Thread

[Mendes]

MU won the league as rtyd1 said, and you know my opinion on this. They deserve being champions. Alongside Arsenal, they played the best football, but the gunners lost the flare in the last month. Injuries and a young, limited squad can justify the poor last sprint of Arsenal, while Manchester's strategy of sparing lots of important players for the most important matches ended paying off. I'd bet on MU for the CL final as well.

In Italy, Inter Incredibly lost a major opportunity to become champions. They owned the match but allowed siena to strike 3 times, 2 of them went in. 2 things impressed me in this game: 1-Materazzi may have cost Inter the title. For 2 times he went up to 'help' the team in the attack, and got himself in the way of Julio Cruz's shots. In one of them the ball was going in, but Materazzi fell right in time to block his teammate's shot xD. Later in the 80 minutes, he was awarded a penalty kick for the victorious 3-2, but he allowed Siena's keeper to defend... 2- Balotelli. This kid joined Inter's senior squad in the middle of the season from the Primavera Team of Inter (young squad) and he's being in the 1st 11 very frequently to play as striker. Considering Inter has Crespo and Suazo in the bench to replace him, I'd say he's going to be a true monster in world football. His physical is strong, and his technique is prodigious. He's also a free kick genius and his FK crosses reminded me of beckham's with some amazing and precise curling. Scored 1 and assisted another in this match. Maybe he'll be a surprise nominee for Italy's 23 in Euro Cup.

I saw some highlights of the Copa dos Libertadores. Really nice matches there as well. I was impressed with Boca's win over Cruzeiro. Boca Juniors have lots of talented players. I wouldnt mind at all that FC Porto went shopping there. Rodrigo Palacios, Riquelme and Palermo are some players I'd love to see playing with our strip.

Who do you guys see as favorite for the Euro Cup? Nationalism aside, I really think Spain has what it takes to take the title. They may have wasted alot of chances lately and got themselves eliminated soon, but this year they seem to be playing very well and their team is superb. I dont see any flaws in their squad and to think that Xavi, Fabregas, Iniesta, Villa and Torres play in the same team...


EDIT: I just saw Boro's impressive win against City. 8-1! Can you believe it? Was it just bad luck for City, or is Eriksson already thinking on his next challenge? (or both)

 

[rtyd1]

Spain have the best squad in terms of talent but always find a way not to win, this might be there year though since the have more great players than usual. However some of the spainiards are in poor form such as Xavi, Iniesta and Villa and Fabregas appears to be tired after such a long season with arsenal. My pick for the Euro is Portugal since they are strong at the back with Bosingwa, Paulo Ferreira, Ricardo Carvalho (all could be a Chelsea next season) and have the current greatest player in the world Ronaldo.
PS, Mendes im not sure why you would want Riquelme after what happened at Villareal

 

[Stiluz]

Weeeeeeeeee are the Champions! Two fantastic seaons! I'd rather have seen Arsenal than Chelsea in second place though, I mean, where was Chelsea all year? And suddenly they come and BHAM.

 

[Mendes]

Spain have the best squad in terms of talent but always find a way not to win, this might be there year though since the have more great players than usual. However some of the spainiards are in poor form such as Xavi, Iniesta and Villa and Fabregas appears to be tired after such a long season with arsenal. My pick for the Euro is Portugal since they are strong at the back with Bosingwa, Paulo Ferreira, Ricardo Carvalho (all could be a Chelsea next season) and have the current greatest player in the world Ronaldo.
PS, Mendes im not sure why you would want Riquelme after what happened at Villareal

Oooo you think Portugal's gonna win? I hope you're right of course, but we're not as favorites as Italy, France, Spain...
Our defense is strong if you exclude the left back... we're trying right backs on the left out of desperation. The only origin left back is Everton's Nuno Valente, but its definitely not good enough (its bad actually, very bad). Our center forward position is a problem yet unsolved. I'd like Hugo Almeida to take the spot, since he's doing fine in Werder Bremen (in a team where there's already world class strikers) and he's tall, with a good heading. That's important since our main strength is the wingers. Sadly, our 'beloved' coach, Scolari dont agree with me and plays Nuno 'I Cant Score A Goal Even In The Short Box Without The Keeper Or Defensive Pressure' Gomes or Helder Postiga, who was FC Porto's 4th or 5th option for the attack or Makukula, Benfica's recent acquisition who plays 1 game in 10, with only power and no technique.

As for Riquelme, yeah, he's a troublemaker and he'd never go to Porto, even if we wanted him. He's already on the club he loves, so it wouldnt be worth a try. Still, he's one of the players I like the most with the ball at his feet and of course I'd like to see a player like that in my team, as I'd like to see Messi, Ronaldo, Kaka, Pirlo in Porto, but its just a passing dream. Aside from Riquelme, Boca's squad is very talented. There's some players I think Porto could buy some of them, since we've been very active in Argentina when it comes to market and all our argentinian players are top class. Pablo Ledesma, Lucas Castroman, Palacio and Palleta could fill some positions where we'll loose 1st team players

 

[rtyd1]

I'd like to see Porto doing well again in the champions league seems more than ever that the European cup will be dominated by teams from England, Italy and Spain. Its unlikely though because the players they need to challenge for Europe are attracted to clubs in these countries since Porto or even Lyon are unable to compete financially. Your Porto dream team sounds like a team in Football Manager where anything goes which is why its so fun.

For Portugal, maybe Scolari should play Ronaldo as a striker since he keeps getting goals and Simao and Quaresma on the wings with Deco, Veloso with another player in midfield

 

[Mendes]

For Portugal, maybe Scolari should play Ronaldo as a striker since he keeps getting goals and Simao and Quaresma on the wings with Deco, Veloso with another player in midfield

That's a valid option too, but Scolari doesnt play without an original center forward, so Ronaldo's always winger. It wouldnt be a bad thing if we hadnt that original center forward problem...
Simão is having lots of injuries this season and Quaresma is having form variations throughout the season. Hopefully they'll be at top form for the Cup and Nani is already at good level as well. To be honest, I was hoping that Figo decided to go back to Portugal for the Cup, just like he did in 2006, but I guess its just a dream now.

Our center midfield is veru strong right now. Petit may be out of form, but Inter's Pélé, Stuttgart's Fernando Meira and Miguel Veloso will have a tough fight over the spot of defensive midfielder. For the other 2 spots, we have Joao Moutinho (Sporting), Raul Meireles (Porto), Manuel Fernandes (Everton), Deco, Tiago (Juve) and Simao can play as offensive midfielder as well. Its not a midfield like England or Spain, but I think its stronger than France's and more creative than Italy's

 

[rtyd1]

What about Portugal goalkeeper, is it still Ricardo. If so that may be a weakness since he's no Cech or Casillas.
England's midfield isnt that great since there two best central midfielders Gerrard and Lampard seem to be unable to play with each other since the like to attack instead of defending so leave gaps for the opposition to exploit. The England wingers have also been very poor for the national side which is why they were unable to qualify for the Euro's
If you havent heard already Chelsea have signed Jose Bosingwa for £16.2 million on a three year deal. This means they have three right backs now Belletti and Ferreira. One of them will leave an my money is on Belletti since Ferreira has signed a new deal recently.

 

[Imperium]

^ The partnership between lampard and gerrard wasnt good, it was expected to be something miraculous, magical even, but its been quite woeful. Barry with Gerrard/Lampard is a better partnership. Barry can hold back while one of them goes foward. Which has been quite good. The wingers have been rubbish, wright-phillips isnt good enough. Beckham is much better even at his age, and that was evident against croatia. Bentley might be able to fill in his shoes, but even though i'd hate to say it, i would think it would be wise for him to move to a bigger club. More compettion would make him better....i hope.

Im devastated because i was going to either Reading or Birmingham next year for university.

Really? I live in Birmingham, what university in birmingham did you apply?. And a lot of people over here are gutted, they blame the board. I agree with them, Mcleish is a decent manager and Birmingham have a decent squad with the likes of Zarate, larsson, kapo, Mcfadden etc.

Fabregas has admitted Hleb helps him to play better may not get the same help next year if he leaves. Imperium the next season for arsenal will be decided by how well the new recruits settle in to the club

If we do get new players i would expect them to be young, so they will most likely fit in well. As for the transfer speculation, we've been linked again to ben arfa, with Wenger saying he will sign a "player" within weeks. Ben arfa has been hyped and i hope it him, he could be a good for us in midfield.

2- Balotelli. This kid joined Inter's senior squad in the middle of the season from the Primavera Team of Inter (young squad) and he's being in the 1st 11 very frequently to play as striker. Considering Inter has Crespo and Suazo in the bench to replace him, I'd say he's going to be a true monster in world football. His physical is strong, and his technique is prodigious. He's also a free kick genius and his FK crosses reminded me of beckham's with some amazing and precise curling. Scored 1 and assisted another in this match. Maybe he'll be a surprise nominee for Italy's 23 in Euro Cup.

Balotelli indeed has a lot of potential, i remeber watching some clips in which the commentator started shouting his nickname, "Super Mario" xD. With Milan's Pato and Barcelona's Bojan he is another stunning young striker.

Who do you guys see as favorite for the Euro Cup?

Spain have the best team on paper, but it will all depend on Xavi and Fabregas, if they can work together then Spain will go far. If they cant then i dont see them winning it. They are both quite similar, if they do form a partnership and perform well, then it will be a dangerous combination. But it can also end up with them just getting in each others way and spain falling flat! But im being safe and putting my money of the ever so stable germans, who just seem to become dangerous on big occasions (albeit more so in the world cup than in the Euro's in recent time). Since Englands out though, im hoping for an upset, so i could see russia as a dark horse, more to do with the fact that they have Gus hiddink. Dont see Greece holding onto the title.

EDIT: I just saw Boro's impressive win against City. 8-1! Can you believe it? Was it just bad luck for City, or is Eriksson already thinking on his next challenge? (or both)

City have been horrible ever since Erikssons job was put into doubt, they were woeful against liverpool and even more so today. Im really glad for Boro though, i think Southgate has done a good job with them this season, next season maybe they could push for a top 10 finish, they defintely showed they have the quality.

---

I'd like to see Porto doing well again in the champions league seems more than ever that the European cup will be dominated by teams from England, Italy and Spain. Its unlikely though because the players they need to challenge for Europe are attracted to clubs in these countries since Porto or even Lyon are unable to compete financially.

The most recent figures show that Arsenal, Liverpool and United are all in the top five richest clubs in the world with their annual turnover. And Chelsea have abramohvic so you might as well put them at the top of the list. The only other club who probably could complete financially with them is most likely madrid and milan (With berlusconi). So i wont be surprised if in another couple of years the CL become a league within a league within a league. Making teams like lyon and porto's chance even slimmer. Which is...really messed up. =/

 

[Mendes]

What about Portugal goalkeeper, is it still Ricardo. If so that may be a weakness since he's no Cech or Casillas.

Yeah it is a major weakness! I dont want to be too critic or something but I hate Ricardo. Benfica's Quim is in Superb shape. One of the best keepers I've seen in action this season. But Scolari is stubborn as a freakin door and he'd put Ricardo in the 1st 11 even if he had Cech, Buffon, Saar or Casillas...

England's midfield isnt that great since there two best central midfielders Gerrard and Lampard seem to be unable to play with each other since the like to attack instead of defending so leave gaps for the opposition to exploit.

^ The partnership between lampard and gerrard wasnt good, it was expected to be something miraculous, magical even, but its been quite woeful. Barry with Gerrard/Lampard is a better partnership. Barry can hold back while one of them goes foward. Which has been quite good. The wingers have been rubbish, wright-phillips isnt good enough. Beckham is much better even at his age, and that was evident against croatia. Bentley might be able to fill in his shoes, but even though i'd hate to say it, i would think it would be wise for him to move to a bigger club. More compettion would make him better....i hope.

You guys are complaining about midfield? Carrick, Hargreaves, Barry, Downing, Lampard, Gerrard, Joe Cole and Jenas :/ Can we pick a few for ourselves?

As for beckham, I dont like him. I've seen some impressive games by wright-phillips, and dont forget Walcott, he could save England's winger 'problem' in the future.

Really? I live in Birmingham, what university in birmingham did you apply?The most recent figures show that Arsenal, Liverpool and United are all in the top five richest clubs in the world with their annual turnover. And Chelsea have abramohvic so you might as well put them at the top of the list. The only other club who probably could complete financially with them is most likely madrid and milan (With berlusconi). So i wont be surprised if in another couple of years the CL become a league within a league within a league. Making teams like lyon and porto's chance even slimmer. Which is...really messed up. =/

That's inevitable, but for the near-future, I've got faith in Porto for the CL, since we have some amazing players who dont have the chance to play right now. When the 5 players I mentioned before were all gone (1's already out) and we've made ourselves a huge profit, we may be able to fill some positions with very good players. I've got no idea at how point will Porto be able to buy already renowned players, a little like Lyon is doing. Of course when I say I have faith in Porto for the CL, I'm speaking of the quarter-finals... semi-final if we're lucky in the draw. I also believe in miracles since we won it with Mourinho

---

Oh and almost forgot, Portugal's 23 announced players for the Euro Cup:

Spoiler

Guarda Redes:
Ricardo (Bétis de Sevilla)
Quim (Benfica)
Rui Patrício (Sporting)

Defesas:
Bosingwa (FC Porto)
Bruno Alves (FC Porto)
Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea)
Paulo Ferreira (Chelsea)
Pepe (Real Madrid)
Miguel (Valencia)
Fernando Meira (Estugarda)
Jorge Ribeiro (Boavista)

Médios:
Raúl Meireles (FC Porto)
Miguel Veloso (Sporting)
João Moutinho (Sporting)
Petit (Benfica)
Deco (Barcelona)
Nani (Man. United)

Avançados:
Quaresma (FC Porto)
Nuno Gomes (Benfica)
Simão (Atlético)
Hugo Almeida (Werder Bremen)
Hélder Postiga (Panathinaikos)
Cristiano Ronaldo(Man. United)

I'm kinda shocked with the decision of having only 5 original midfields, when we play with 3, sometimes 4 in the 11. Specially considering some of them are young (Veloso and Moutinho) and some of them are in horrible shape (Petit and Deco). Raul Meireles isnt that good... I was really hopping Scolari would give a chance to Manuel Fernandes and specially Pele, who's being used very regularly in Inter. Tiago is a player I think would be useful... but he's not playing much in Juve. Most of our center forwards are laughable. I dont think either Nuno Gomes or Postiga or even Almeida are capable of doing well in there. I hope Scolari ends up placing Ronaldo in the center. Less magic in the wings, but a guy who scores two times more goals than our entire attackers together shouldnt let us down...

 

[rtyd1]

For England i can see a 4-3-3 formation with Lamps, Stevie and Hargreaves/Barry. Up front Rooney supported by Young, Bentley,Cole or Agbonlahor in the wide positions. Beckham defo has the chance to feature in the England side but i think Owens time may be up, he seems to be lacking that cutting edge in front of goal which he had in the past for England.

About Bentley a move to Liverpool may do him good since they really need a good winger since pennant and kuijt are not players who will win you a league title and Bentley has the ability to become one.

I applied to the Aston uni for Economics and management and also agree about the Board. After the Carson Yeung takeover fiasco and also being unable to sign a good striker at the start of the season, Forssell didnt play enough games and Jerome just wasnt good enough, Zarate and Mcfadden didnt come until the second half of the season.

I have good news about Ben Arfa for you, he has been in talks with Arsenal about a move this year for about 12 million. I believe Carlos Vela will be a player to watch next season since his loan away at Osasuna ends soon and he should be able to get a work permit

You guys are complaining about midfield? Carrick, Hargreaves, Barry, Downing, Lampard, Gerrard, Joe Cole and Jenas :/ Can we pick a few for ourselves?

I can see where your coming from but the problem is these players dont play well in the national side. They are good players for their clubs but not for internationals where they always play poorly. I hope Capello is able to get these players to transfer club form for their country

and dont forget Walcott, he could save England's winger 'problem' in the future.

Walcott is a really a striker he prefers playing there than on the wings, just does it for arsenal since he needs games and hasnt fully developed yet i think. In the long term he wont be a winger though he be a henry like striker

 

[Lohnt]

I think it's ridiculous that Postiga plays for the national team, at least based on his games in Panathinaikos, he's terrible, even by Greek Superleague standards.

To be honest, I wish Edinho would get a chance, for starters last season he had 6 goals all season, this season he had 5 goals in 5 matches, and a sixth one during the playoffs. He plays amazingly at both striker and right offensive positions; also he's fast and tall. For a Portuguese offensive player that plays in Greece (in case you get a fated matchup with us again =p) that would know how to play against a Greek defense, I would choose Edinho over Postiga anyday.

 

[Mendes]

I think it's ridiculous that Postiga plays for the national team

You think so too? Well, believe it or not, he's better than Nuno Gomes, but that's so easy.
I dont know Edinho, but we sure need some striker to flourish as soon as possible. Up till then, I hope either Hugo Almeida or Ronaldo play as center forwards.

I only checked Portugal's nominees for the euro. How were the other nation's nominees? Any big surprises?

 

[rtyd1]

Postiga has a decent record for Portugal i think 10 goals in 30 games. No one else really has a much better record but he's a shodow of the player he was hyped up to be when he moved to Tottenham

Big surprises about the Euro 08 so far are,
Henrik Larsson in the Sweeden squad, Clarence Seedorf has pulled out of the Netherlands' provisional squad and Pavel Nedved could come out of retirement for the Czech Republic
<hr noshade size="1">
If anyone cares Hollands provisional squad is

Goalkeepers: Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United), Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax), Henk Timmer (Feyenoord), Sander Boschker (Twente Enschede)

Defenders: Wilfred Bouma (Aston Villa), Tim de Cler (Feyenoord), Urby Emanuelson (Ajax), John Heitinga (Ajax), Kew Jaliens (AZ Alkmaar), Joris Mathijsen (Hamburg), Mario Melchiot (Wigan Athletic), Andre Ooijer (Blackburn Rovers).

Midfielders: Ibrahim Afellay (PSV Eindhoven), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord), Orlando Engelaar (Twente Enschede), Nigel de Jong (Hamburg), Denny Landzaat (Feyenoord), Hedwiges Maduro (Valencia), Clarence Seedorf (AC Milan), Wesley Sneijder (Real Madrid), Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburg), Demy de Zeeuw (AZ Alkmaar).

Forwards: Ryan Babel (Liverpool), Klaas Jan Huntelaar (Ajax), Danny Koevermans (PSV Eindhoven), Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid), Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Arjen Robben (Real Madrid), Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (Celtic).

 

[Lelo]

Gooooooooo Man U, who here is a Manchester United fan. There gonna take Chelsea out

 

[Mendes]

Nedved on Czech Republic is bad for me as they're stuck in the same group as Portugal.

Nowdays, Holland's team is composed by alot of players from their internal championship. Is it that dutch clubs are able to keep their players better than before or is it that there's less quality on the actual dutch football?
Still, I'm impressed at how van der Vaart is still in HSV... I consider him one of the very best players in the world, but he's still outside a huge clube of Europe. I wonder if this summer market he'll be responsible for a huge transfer.

 

[rtyd1]

Van der Vaart has said his time is up at Hamburg as he has achieved all that he can there and was planning to make a big move this summer. But Hamburg are not prepared to let him go easily since his contract in up in 2010 and the teamhe was linked with Valencia are in a lot of trouble finacialy and are selling there best players and the stadium this summer.
Imo the dutch national sqaud is much weaker than it has been in past years, they have no word class defenders, 1st choice goalkeeper is getting old and might not be able to replace him and only have two great midfielders Wesley Sneijder and Van der Vaart.

---

Found an article about Van der vaart moving this season

In-demand Hamburg midfielder Rafael van der Vaart has admitted he is likely to leave the Bundesliga club at the end of the season.The Holland midfielder saw a move to Valencia fall through last summer after Hamburg rejected a 22million euro bid even though the player stated his desire to move to Spain.

And he is adamant he will not be denied a transfer again.

"I would like to have everything cleared up early, but we cannot agree in July that I will be staying - that would be unrealistic," he told Sport Bild magazine.

"What happens when Chelsea or another top club comes along on August 21 and offers 30 million euros?

"I would want to move, even at the very last minute of the transfer window."

Van der Vaart has impressed for Hamburg again this season, scoring 10 goals in 24 games to spearhead the club's bid to qualify for next season's Champions League.

The 25-year-old has a clause in his contract which enables him to leave in the summer of 2009 for just 1.5million euros.

And rather than risk losing him on the cheap, Hamburg are believed to be open to offers since talks over a new, improved deal with the Bundesliga side are "out of the question".

"Hamburg made me a great offer last year and I turned it down because my aim is to move to a big club where I can improve and win trophies," added van der Vaart.

"My opinion will not change."

 

[walkie]

waooww european championship is getting closer every day..and there is not much time left before turkey beats portugal

seriously guys, i just want some outsider opinions about turkey and qualifying from that group, do you think we can make it?

Turkey
Portugal
Czech
Switzerland

 

[Mendes]

I'm not familiarized with Turkey's team right now, but you guys have been qualifying regularly for the main national competitions in the last decade. Still, I'd be very surprised with something like 2002 and to tell the truth, Turkey had lots of trouble to qualify in the weakest group in theory. I'm betting on Portugal and Czech for the next round.

I wonder where will van der Vaart go to. Choices are very open for him, since HSV wont waste this opportunity to sell him for more than those ridiculous 1.5M€ mentioned. I think he may go to: Inter, who have no attacking midfielder other than stankovic, and the last can play winger; Juve, who's trying to rebuild the strongest team in Europe; Real Madrid, who would add another dutch prodigy to their squad in place of Guti, who seems to be the weakest midfielder of RM; Barcelona, who will apparently have a tough summer market with lots of ins and outs. Guardiola seems to want to change Barça radically, and Deco, Zambrotta, Ronaldinho and Puyol(!) are said to be on his dark book.

Today, UEFA cup final. Zenit vs Rangers... I dont feel too motivated to see this match :/

 

[Imperium]

Its on.....right now! I'll watch it, if it gets boring, ill just switch channels. A fiorentina and munich final would have been intresting, but this doesnt really seem to say "Watch Me". But ill still give it a go. I hope it gets exciting and is pretty even, since im neutral.

waooww european championship is getting closer every day..and there is not much time left before turkey beats portugal

seriously guys, i just want some outsider opinions about turkey and qualifying from that group, do you think we can make it?

Turkey
Portugal
Czech
Switzerland

To be honest i didnt even think turkey would qualify after what happened in 04 & 06. But now that they have i wouldnt rule them out, they have a history of over-achieving (Euro 00 & WC02) . Nihat has been pretty good, and Tuncay has been playing well for boro and if Emre performs, then they could have a chance of coming 2nd. But i really want to see Nuri Sahin, i hope he lives up to his reputation, although has he been called upto the squad for the euro's?

Anyway the Czech have lost Rosicky and frankly Nedved is too old, he might be able to lead them, but he wont regain his old form and i doubt his impact on the matches themselves will be impressive. Their defence is pretty good with the likes of Cech in goal and Jankulovki and Ujfalusi (damn their names are hard to spell >.>), their midfield is okay but upfront is their weak point. Koller is old and Baros hasnt had a good season with portsmouth and i doubt he will get many goals. And then you have a pretty decent swiss side that has home advantage (which could play a major part).

First place is going to portugal i would assume, but i think second will be fought for hard, the turks want to get back some pride, the swiss dont want to be embarrased and the Czechs want to get to the latter stages. My guess is though its going to be Portugal and - im stretching the imagination - Switzerland. Out of the two home nations they are the better side and home nations mostly do well, so i see an upset in that group coming. (Disclaimer: This has nothing to do with me wanting senderos to do well and come back a better player )

This could be fun, why dont we post who we think will get through the other group stages. Whoever is closest gets a cookie.

 

[rtyd1]

Zenit have won the Uefa cup and beat Rangers 2 - 0,
I was rooting for Rangers since there a british club

For that group i think it ll be Portugal and the Czechs going through although Switzerland have a the ability to push them i think they lack a really talented player. I woudnt be surprised if Baros has a good tournament since he was in a very similar position in the last championships

Here is the Czech squad for the euros and Nedved has not come out of retirement

Goalkeepers: Jaromir Blazek (Nuremberg), Petr Cech (Chelsea), Daniel Zitka (Anderlecht) Defenders: Zdenek Grygera (Juventus), Marek Jankulovski (AC Milan), Michal Kadlec, Tomas Sivok (both Sparta Prague), Radoslav Kovac (Spartak Moscow), Zdenek Pospech (FC Copenhagen), David Rozehnal (Lazio), Tomas Ujfalusi (Fiorentina)

Midfielders: Tomas Galasek (Nuremberg), David Jarolim (Hamburg), Marek Matejovsky (Reading), Jaroslav Plasil (Osasuna), Jan Polak (Anderlecht), Daniel Pudil (Slavia Prague), Libor Sionko (FC Copenhagen), Stanislav Vlcek (Anderlecht)

Strikers: Milan Baros (Portsmouth), Martin Fenin (Eintracht Frankfurt), Jan Koller (Nuremberg), Vaclav Sverkos (Banik Ostrava).

Russia have also submitted their squad and Kerzhakov is missing surprisingly since hes there main striker