Showing posts with label Czech Republic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Czech Republic. Show all posts

Monday, June 29, 2009

30 June 1996 - Bierhoff Strikes Gold

On 30 June 1996, Germany won the UEFA Euro Final with a golden goal in the 95th minute, defeating the Czech Republic 2-1 before a crowd of 73,611 at London's Wembley Stadium.

The teams met earlier in the tournament during the group stage. Germany won by the comfortable margin of 2-0, with both goals coming in the first half.

The goals did not come so quickly for Germany in the Final, as the first half ended scoreless. The Czechs went ahead 1-0 in the second half when midfielder Patrik Berger converted a penalty kick in the 59th minute. In the 69th minute, with the Czech Republic still ahead, German manager Berti Vogts replaced midfielder Mehmet Scholl with forward Oliver Bierhoff. The substitution worked, as Bierhoff equalized for Germany with his first goal of the tournament four minutes later, and regulation time ended with the match tied 1-1.

The 1996 tournament was the first European championship to apply the Golden Goal rule, which meant that the game ended upon the scoring of a goal in extra time. If, after two periods of extra time, no goal were scored, the match would be decided by penalty kicks.

As it turned out, however, no penalty kicks were needed. Bierhoff scored his second goal of the match (and the tournament) in the 95th minute, giving Germany the 2-1 win and the 1996 UEFA Euro title. It was the first major tournament to be decided by a golden goal.


Monday, March 30, 2009

30 March 1973 - That's 6'7" For You Non-Metric Types

On 30 March 1973, striker Jan Koller was born in the town of Smetanova Lhota, in what was then Czechoslovakia (and is now the Czech Republic). Koller is the all-time leading goalscorer for the Czech national team with 55 goals in 90 appearances. He retired from international football in 2008.

During his time with the national team, the Czechs made only one World Cup appearance, in 2006. Koller scored the first-ever World Cup goal for the Czech side when he netted in the 5th minute of their opening match against the United States, leading the way to a 3-0 victory. Those were the Czech side's only goals of the tournament, however, and they were eliminated in the group stage after losses to Ghana (0-2) and Italy (0-2).

Koller has a well-traveled career, having played club football in the Czech Republic (with Sparta Prague), Belgium (with Lokeren and Anderlecht), Germany (with Borussia Dortmund and Nuremberg), France (with Monaco), and Russia, where he currently plays for Krylia Sovetov Samara.

His longest club tenure to date was with Borussia Dortmund, where he played from 2001 to 2006, making 137 appearances and scoring 59 goals. He helped them claim the Bundesliga title in the 2001-2002 season.

An imposing physical presence at 2.02 meters, Koller has earned a number of honors throughout his career, including Belgian League top scorer in 1999 and Belgian League Player of the Year in 2000.