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July 6th, 2008
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September 6th, 2006 | Current Issue

Changing the guard
Veteran national team star Pavel Nedvěd bows out of international competition for good this time

National team wins without Nedvěd
Young talent spurs Czechs to Euro 2008 qualifier victory over Wales

BRIEFS


  • TENNIS -
    • Two Czech tennis players advanced to the fourth round in men's singles play at the U.S. Open. Jiří Novák topped Belgium's Xavier Malisse in four sets Sept. 3. He fell to second-ranked Rafael Nadal of Spain Sept. 4. Tomáš Berdych won a five-set battle against Russia's Dimitry Tursunov Sept. 3. Berdych was scheduled to face American James Blake at press time.

  • HOCKEY -
    • The national ice hockey team finished in last place in the four-team Česká pojišťovna Cup in Liberec Sept. 3. The Czechs defeated Finland in a penalty shootout, but lost to Sweden and Russia. Russia won the tournament, which is part of the Euro Hockey Tour championship.

  • DRAW -
    • Two UK soccer teams will arrive in Prague to play Czech opponents in the first round of the UEFA Cup. English Premiership's Tottenham Hotspurs will take on Slavia Praha Sept. 14. Two weeks later, Sparta will host Scottish powerhouse Hearts of Midlothian. The other Czech teams in the UEFA Cup, Liberec and Mladá Boleslav, will take on CZ Belgrade and Olympique Marseille, respectively.

  • CHANGE -
    • The Sparta Praha soccer organization fired Stanislav Griga, the head coach of the club's elite Gambrinus liga team, Aug. 30. Sparta named former midfielder Michal Bílek as Griga's replacement. The perennially dominant team currently sits in ninth place after five matches.

  • SIEGL -
    • Horst Siegl, the fourth-highest scorer in Gambrinus liga history, has announced his retirement after accepting an assistant coaching position with Sparta Praha. The 37-year-old striker played the past two seasons in Most, north Bohemia. He scored his 176th goal in the top division Aug. 28. Siegl played with Sparta for most of his career. He said he could appear in a farewell match for Sparta later this season.

  • GOALIE -
    • Soccer goalkeeper Jan Laštůvka became the sixth Czech player in the English Premiership. Laštůvka transferred from Ukraine's Shaktar Donetsk to the London-based Fulham.

  • SURGERY -
    • Soccer striker Michal Meduna underwent heart surgery after he collapsed while playing for Manisaspor in a Turkish league match Aug. 19. Doctors did not say whether Meduna would be able to play soccer anymore.

  • GUARD -
    • Czech-American basketball guard Maurice Whitfield was dropped from the Czech national team after failing to join it in time for the European Championship qualification in late August. Whitfield, a basketball journeyman from Philadelphia, gained Czech citizenship last year while playing for Nymburk in the Mattoni National Basketball League. The 32-year-old transferred to Russia's Perm this season. Czech head coach Zdeněk Hummel said Whitfield could appear on the Czech team again in the future.

  • JOCKEY -
    • Czech jockey Filip Minařík won a stunning upset in the prestigious VW Grand Prix horse race in Baden-Baden, Germany, Sept. 3. Minařík rode the race's biggest outsider, Prince Flori, whose odds before the race stood at 27.4-to-1.

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