Czech national football team (U-21 men)

Czech Republic

Nickname (s)

Lvíčata ("The Little Lions")

Association

Bohemian-Moravian Football Association

confederacy

UEFA

Head coach

Vítězslav Lavička

Assistant coach

Václav Jílek
Martin Svědík

captain

Aleš Čermák

FIFA code

CZE

home

Away

Balance sheet

115 games
64 wins
22 draws
29 losses

statistics

First international match
Czech Republic 1-0 Malta
( Opava , Czech Republic ; September 5, 1994)

Biggest win in the
Czech Republic 8-0 Bulgaria
( Teplice , Czech Republic ; October 5, 2001)

Biggest defeat
Spain 4-0 Czech Republic
( Burgos , Spain ; June 7, 1997)

Successes in tournaments

European Championship

Participation in the finals

4 ( first : 1996 )

Best results

European Champion 2002 (winner)

(As of September 2008)

The Czech U-21 national soccer team is a selection team of Czech soccer players . It belongs to the Czech-Moravian Football Association and represents it on the U-21 level , in friendly matches against the national teams of other national associations, but also at the European Championships of the continental federation UEFA and the Football World Cup of FIFA . Eligible to play are players who have not yet reached the age of 21 and who are Czech citizens . In tournaments, the age at the first qualifying game is decisive.

history

Although Czechoslovakia was dissolved on January 1, 1993, their U-21s played under the Czechoslovak flag until the end of the U-21 European Football Championship in 1994 . Only then did the two new countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, form their own U-21 national teams.

The newly formed team played their first official game on September 5, 1994, in the qualifying game for the U-21 European Football Championship in 1996 against Malta , which the Czechs won 1-0. The team made it to the finals on their first participation, but were eliminated in the quarter-finals against eventual winners Italy .

For the finals in 1998, the team missed the qualification. Two years later, the team surprised when they reached the final in Slovakia in 2000 . But as in 1996, Italy was again the stumbling block that the little lions should fall over. On June 4, 2000, Italy won 2-1 and screwed up the Czechs' first triumph at an EM.

In 2002 the red-blue-whites were more lucky and were able to hold the European Championship Cup in their hands for the first time. In the group stage they qualified with a win, a draw and a defeat for the semi-finals, where the team beat the opponent from Italy 3-2. After the two defeats in 1996 and 2000, the revenge finally came in 2002. After the Czechs took the lead in the first minute through David Rozehnal and Michal Pospíšil extended it in the 83rd minute, everything looked like a victory for the Eastern Europeans. But within four minutes, between the 86th and 90th, the Italians were able to equalize through Andrea Pirlo and Massimo Maccarone . There was redemption after Pospisil's second goal, which led the Czechs to victory. On May 28, 2002 in Basel , France was selected . Both teams played against each other in the group stage, where the French got the upper hand 2-0. This time luck should be on the side of the Czechs. After 90 minutes and extra time there was no winner, the penalty shoot-out had to decide. The Czech Republic kept its nerve and was able to prevail 3-1 from the point. Rudolf Skácel scored the third goal before Jean-Alain Boumsong missed for the French.

After this greatest success so far, there were no more. For 2004 and 2006, the team could not qualify and always failed in the play-off games. In 2007 you could already pack your bags after the preliminary round after the team got just one point from three games.

Participation in U-21 European Championships

The Czech U-21 team in 2007

1996 in Spain	Quarter finals
1998 in Romania	not qualified
2000 in Slovakia	final
2002 in Switzerland	winner
2004 in Germany	not qualified
2006 in Portugal	not qualified
2007 in the Netherlands	Group stage
2009 in Sweden	not qualified
2011 in Denmark	4th Place
2013 in Israel	not qualified
2015 in the Czech Republic	Group stage
2017 in Poland	qualified

Note: The First European Championship was held in 1978. At that time, the Czech Republic was not yet an independent country. Only with the dissolution of Czechoslovakia on January 1, 1993 did the U-21 of the Czech Republic develop.

Former and well-known players

(Selection)

Trainer

Ivan Kopecký (1993–1998)
Karel Brückner (1998-2001)
Miroslav Beránek (2001-2002)
Verner Lička (2002-2003)
Ladislav Škorpil (2004-2007)
Vítězslav Lavička (2007-2008)
Jiří Kotrba (2008)
Jakub Dovalil (2008-2015)
Vítězslav Lavička (since 2015)

Web links