Sparta advances in Europa League

Soccer fans are celebrating a rare international success by a Czech team after Sparta Praha qualified for the playoff round in the UEFA Europa League. The team entered the domestic Gambrinus liga winter hiatus in the runner-up position and then tied favorite Palermo 2-2 in a Dec. 2 game in Sicily.

The draw was enough to secure advancement with one game remaining in the competition's first round. Sparta holds a four-point advantage over Palermo heading into the final game, in which Sparta will host Russia's CSKA Moscow and Palermo will take on Switzerland's Lausanne. The top two teams in each group advance to the playoff round.

"We've fulfilled our dream," said Sparta head coach Jozef Chovanec moments after the game in Palermo. Sparta was twice down in the game but managed to level the score both times. Sparta is the first Czech team in seven years to advance to the playoffs in a European competition.

Matches against Palermo have been crucial for Sparta's Europa League success. Sparta beat the Italian side 3-2 in October in Prague. Sparta went on to draw with Lausanne in the home leg (3-3), but won in Switzerland (3-1). This was followed by a bitter 3-0 loss to CSKA in Moscow.

The results of the Europa League and the advancement to the playoff round earned Sparta 1.54 million euros ($2 million/38.5 million Kč) as a share of the competition's television revenue. During the games, Sparta has also seen a formidable African attacking pair emerge, with Ivory Coast striker Bony Wilfried and Leonard Kweuke of Cameroon leading the way. The two strikers have scored crucial goals in European competitions and also the Gambrinus liga. Wilfried has notched five goals in the Europa League thus far and is the second-leading scorer in the competition.

Although neither Wilfried nor Kweuke scored in Palermo, they kept Italian defenders occupied throughout the match. Chovanec said although a draw was enough to secure advancement for Sparta, he did not consider sitting either of the star forwards.

"They keep the opponent's defense busy, so our opponents cannot put all their power up front," Chovanec said.

A foul against Wilfried in Palermo's box brought Sparta a penalty from which Jiří Kladrubský scored the team's first goal. Midfielder Juraj Kucka, who headed in the all-important equalizing goal in the 62nd minute, admitted that the African strikers significantly helped him.

"I took advantage of being marked by a smaller guy. ... Taller defenders were focusing on Bony and Leo," Kucka said.

Despite Sparta's advancement, Czech teams are still far behind teams from the strongest European leagues, Chovanec admitted.

"We have to work on everything, be it technique, passing or speed of our game," he said.

Controlling the fight

Lukáš Konečný, the Czech Republic's best professional boxer (46-3, 22 KOs), took another step toward a second world title shot with a convincing performance in the initial defense of his European light middleweight belt against Swiss-based Armenian Hamlet Petrosyan (29-7, 10 KOs). Konečný dominated the Dec. 3 bout in Prague.

"He was a tough guy, but I managed to control the fight," Konečný said.

All three judges shared his view, declaring the Czech boxer the clear winner.

Konečný said he now plans to defend the European title one more time and then to challenge again for the world title. Two years ago, he lost his first world title fight to Ukraine's Sergei Dzinziruk.

Konečný still insists the judges' decision was unfair and has never accepted the defeat.

"I'm working hard to get another chance to fight for the world title," he said. "I hope to get one next year."

František Bouc can be reached at
fbouc@praguepost.com