CZECH REPUBLIC Best finals record: Winners 1976 Qualification record: Won Group Nine

Vladimir Smicer

Coach: Jozef Chovanec

Squad: Pavel Srnicek, Miroslav Biranaek, Radek Bejbl, Jan Koller, Patrik Berger, Pavel Horvath, Tomas Repka, Pavel Nedved, Jiri Nemec, Pavel Kuka, Vratislav Lokvenc, Karel Rada, Karel Poborsky, Vladimir Smicer, Ladislav Maier, Pavel Verbir, Jiri Novotny, Petr Vlcek, Ivo Ulich, Radoslav Latal, Rene Wagner, Milan Fukal, Tomas Rosicky, Petr Gabriel, Radek Cerny, Jaromir Blazek.

Prospects

While England coughed and spluttered their way into the finals, the Czechs scored a perfect 10.

10 successive victories in their qualifying campaign was a marvellous achievement and even though the collective opposition of Scotland, Bosnia, Estonia, Lithuania and the Faroe Islands were hardly the most testing, it's still a record for coach Jozef Chovanec to be immensely proud of.

The Czechs scored 26 and conceded just five over the campaign and were only really tested once when Scotland took a 2-0 lead in Prague.

That the Czechs came back to hit them with three second half goals suggests that they can dig deep if things turn against them.

It also showed that the Czechs have scoring power in abundance and much of the credit for that must go to coach Chovanec.

The former Sparta Prague coach had taken over a side on the slide who, following their triumphant march to the final of Euro 96, had failed to qualify for the 1998 World Cup finals.

The Czechs' attacking style revolved around a 3-5-2 formation for most of the campaign and thrived largely on a superb midfield featuring the talents of Liverpool's Patrik Berger and Lazio's Pavel Nedved.

With such an array of attacking midfielders the Czechs managed to hide their lack of a top-class striker early on but the second half of their campaign saw the emergence of giant frontman Jan Koller.

The Anderlecht striker powered in six goals in the final five qualifiers and with so many talented midfielders revolving around him, the goalscoring threat now comes from all angles.

The goalkeeping situation is less clear and there may be cracks appearing in defence so Chovanec has realised that given the players he has at his disposal the best option is attack. Expect the Czechs to entertain.

Winners in 1976 in a memorable penalty shootout and finalists again in 1996, the European Championships have provided Czech football's greatest moments and could do so again this time.

Some may fear that they have left all their best form behind in the qualifiers but despite their tough opening group the Czechs may once again emerge as dark horses with the staying power to go all the way.