So, class is in session.
Petr Cech. Goalkeeper for the Czech Republic, who are currently ranked 2nd in the world by FIFA. Cech plays professionally for Chelsea, a very talented and well financed English club who are basically like the New York Yankees of English soccer.
I choose to highlight Cech for several reasons.
1. He is a goalkeeper (just like me)
2. He is one of the best in the world, if not THE best (just like me). He was voted footballer of the year for the Czech Republic.
3. He plays for the Czech Republic, against whom the USA will play its first World Cup match on June 12.
4. His last name is the same as his country (pronounced Peter Check). If I were as cool as he, I would play keeper for the US national team and change my name to Jasn America. Or Slippry United States.
5. According to ESPN’s soccer website, Petr Cech weighs 13.2. I’m not sure what that means, but it sounds pretty dang cool.
As for the game against the Czech’s, this will be a huge gauge of how good our US men’s team really is and how we will fare in this World Cup; if we can manage a draw or even a squeack out a win against the Czech Republic, we stand a good chance of making it out of Group E and into the bracket round of the tournament. An interesting match up to watch will be Czech’s Jiri Stajner, a forward, who could line up against the USA’s Steve Cherundolo, a defender. Both Cherundolo and Stajner play together professionally for the German club Hanover.
One final parcel of food for thought. Many people think the US has finally arrived in the soccer world. We’re currently ranked 5th, though we often play like we’re ranked 50th (see USA v. Morocco), but we are looking to build on our strong quarterfinal performance in the 2002 World Cup. On the other hand, the Czech republic is ranked 2nd in the World. The Czech Republic currently has a population of approximately 10.2 million. Going back to my earlier New York analogy, the metropolitan area of New York City boasts approximately 21.9 million people, which is twice as much as the entire country of the Czech Republic (for you people from the Blue States). Not that quantity ever necessitates quality, but it would seem our talent pool, resources, financial support etc. might be a little bit bigger? So marinate on that for a while.
4 comments:
Other reasons to be nervous about the Czechs include Milan Baros, Pavel Nedved, and Jan Koller. Nedved's a veteran, and Baros scored five goals in five outings for the Czechs in the Euro 2004. Koller also scores regularly. It will be interesting to see how the USA handles a team with distributed talent and heavy goal scoring power like the Czechs.
Vladamir Smicer (former Liverpool Champ) may be out thanks to a pulled hammy. However, Tomas Rosicky (another injured player) will probably be ready for play on 6/12. This is a good, scary team. You're right, Luth, Petr is the man in the goal. As a fellow GK, I don't know quite who to compare him to (maybe the solid Walter Zenga of the early 80s?). I just know that the guy can make some saves.
Thanks for the post, Flex.
I heard Luther had a post about the Czech Republic soccer team so I'll just jump in and add my 2 cents.
Since they are so small a country they get behind their national sport teams big time. All 10 million will be watching the games and rooting for their team as they play in neighboring Germany. The players know they have that type of fan base and don't want to disapoint.
In my opinion there is no way for the US to pull off a victory come the 12th.
For other great quotes from Ellis, such as “Am I a geek?No, no. I try to get out on the weekends. You’ll go crazy if you don’t.” check out this recent article in The Hill, a DC publication.
Props to my fellow Student Body President.
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