Czech face Netherlands - again - in football qualifier

The Czech national football side is preparing to face the Netherlands on Wednesday evening, in their opening qualifier for the 2006 World Cup. After facing each other in the last two European championships, the Czechs and the Netherlands have become something like traditional rivals. At Euro 2004 in June, the Czechs downed the Dutch in a 3-2 turn-around thriller. Wednesday's game will see many key players, however, missing from the Czech line-up: regular team captain Pavel Nedved and fellow midfielder Karel Poborsky.

Author: Jan Velinger