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After a record loss, Slavia seeks more equal play in Arsenal rematch

By František Bouc
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
October 31st, 2007 issue

ISIFA/GETTY
Arsenal's Theo Walcott rounds Slavia goalkeeper Martin Vaniak to score the third goal of seven in the Champions League match Oct. 23.
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When the Slavia Praha soccer team qualified, for the first time ever, for the Champions League — Europe’s most prestigious club competition — head coach Karel Jarolím spelled out two simple wishes.
“We’d like to challenge a major team and enjoy playing the games,” Jarolím said.
The first of Jarolím’s wishes was fulfilled, as Slavia drew the English club Arsenal, one of the world’s best soccer teams, as part of the league’s group stage.
The second wish, however, has not quite come true, and may have turned out to be more than a bit naive.
Slavia took on Arsenal in a game at Emirates Stadium in London Oct. 24. Almost as soon as the match began, the Prague team’s players lost any hope of enjoying themselves.
Slavia was unable to resist Arsenal’s attacks for more than two minutes before the London-based team opened scoring. The game’s first goal, netted by Cesc Fabregas, began a shellacking that ultimately saw Slavia leave the pitch after an embarrassing
7–0 loss.
It was far from enjoyable, Jarolím said.
“To be honest, I was pushing the clock’s hands with my eyes during the second half,” he said. “I was looking forward to an end of that nightmare.”
Lopsided losses
“Nightmare” perfectly describes the play of recent campaigns by Czech teams in the Champions League. Two years ago, Sparta Praha, Slavia’s long-time rival, ended its play in the league’s group stage with a bitter 5–0 loss in France against Olympique Lyon.
Previously, Sparta had been capable of causing occasional upsets in the league. But its performance against Lyon showed that it could no longer compete with elite European teams.
Slavia’s long-awaited Champions League appearance has only helped confirm how uncompetitive Czech clubs are against Europe’s best.
After winning its opening league match 2–1 against Steaua Bucharest in Prague this September, Slavia’s defense allowed four goals in its next game against FC Sevilla in Spain, sending Slavia home with a 4–2 loss.
The game against Arsenal brought the disparity between Slavia and its other group members to a head: The 7–0 defeat was not only the worst loss of a Czech team in the European Cups, but it was also the largest defeat in Champions League history.
Observers say the record defeat was in no way an accident. It simply reflects the economic situation of Czech soccer clubs.
“Let’s be honest, our teams cannot compete against strong European teams anymore,” said Antonín Panenka, a former international soccer star of the 1970s and early 1980s. “Our best players are going to teams abroad, leaving our local clubs looking weaker and weaker when faced with top European competition.”
Treasure hunt
Indeed, no one expects Czech clubs to be able to halt the long line of players leaving the country. While Slavia had 20-year-old Czechs in its starting lineup against Arsenal, the star-studded English team had only one Englishman in the lineup. The remaining players were all foreign recruits.
“They had a better player in every place of the lineup,” the frustrated Jarolím said.
In fact, Czech teams that qualify for European play hope for good results so they can eventually profit from the loss of their best players.
“Czech players can be sold abroad at lucrative terms only if they prove themselves in international games — and preferably in the Champions League,” said Lukáš Přibyl, who worked until late September as a member of the board at Sparta Praha and is now the club director at Bohemians 1905.
Josef Dufek, president of FK Mlada Boleslav, which qualified for the UEFA Cup’s group stage, said his team capitalized on its successful campaign last season in the UEFA Cup by selling some key players. A similar scheme could be repeated this season, he said.
“An opportunity to sell players abroad represents a good source of additional income,” Dufek said. “None of the Czech clubs can afford rejecting such income.”
Jarolím said he was well aware that his young and inexperienced team could not pose a major threat to Arsenal, even in the return leg of the home-and-home series, set to be played Nov. 7 in Prague.
“But we must shake off this loss and learn from the debacle in London,” he said.
That’s his only wish in anticipation of his team’s rematch.
“It’s obvious that we cannot be equal to Arsenal, but we can pull an occasional surprise,” he said. “It would be great if we played a more equal game in Prague.”

František Bouc can be reached at fbouc@praguepost.com


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