Czechs in crisis as coach sacked and players banned

April 8, 2009

The Czech Republic national side is in crisis after it was announced that their coach Petr Rada was sacked, the captain Tomas Ujfalusi quit and 6 players were banned indefinitely after a breach of discipline.

The Czech Republic are currently sitting 5 points behind Northern Ireland in group 3 of the World Cup Qualifiers with a game in hand. A string of bad results prompted Rada’s sacking, while a breach of discipline after last week’s defeat by Slovakia led to the player bans.

Six players have also been banned, with West Ham’s Radoslav Kovac and Reading’s Marek Matejovsky among them. Former Liverpool striker Milan Baros, Martin Fenin, Vaclav Sverkos and Tomas Ujfalusi were the other four players banned indefinitely, with captain Ujfalusi immediately announcing his retirement from international football.

The six players were criticised for visiting a restaurant following the defeat.

Another key Czech defender, Marek Jankulovski of AC Milan, said he is also considering retiring.

Rada last year replaced Karel Brueckner, who led them to the Euro 2004 semi-finals.

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