A mate for all Czechs

The wily veteran coach Karel Bruckner is finding himself more and more in the spotlight after rebuilding the Czech Republic side into one of the major forces in Europe.

Appointed in December 2001 after the nation failed at the play-off hurdle to reach the World Cup in Asia, Bruckner has called upon his 30 years of experience to instill quick passing and constant pressing into the side's psyche, a tactic that has reaped fearsome results.

Bruckner's outfit not only went 18 matches undefeated in their Euro 2004 group and accompanying friendlies, but beat their key opponents Holland 3-1 in Prague in September, 2003 with qualification on the line.

"I am trying not to get carried away with the euphoria because I deal better with frustration," the white-haired coach said in typical fashion after the Dutch game.

Bruckner, who turned 64 in 2003, had a modest playing career as a striker in former Czechoslovakia playing for Banik Ostrava and then MZ Olomouc (the city where he was born) hanging up his boots in 1973 without ever having won an international cap.

Man on a mission

He then went straight into coaching and took the reins of Olomouc, where he spent the first six seasons of what turned out to be long spell in club coaching.

His talents caught the attention of the Czech national federation and in 1997, who put him in charge of the under-21 national team that he subsequently guided to the final of the 2000 European championships.

Handed the national job following the disappointment of failing to reach the World Cup, Bruckner is somewhat surprised by the attention he is receiving after making the Czech side one of the favourites to lift the trophy in Portugal.

"It seems that people are talking too much about me," he said modestly. "Success only lasts for a short time, whereas failure remains a lot longer in the memory," he added.

At the moment, Czech supporters can dream of repeating the surprise success of Euro 96 when they reached the final only to be beaten by Germany courtesy of a golden goal.

These days, with the likes of Juve star Pavel Nedved, the mighty striker Jan Koller and a host of others including Karel Poborsky, Tomas Rosicky and Milan Baros, the Czech team are a real force to be reckoned with.

Bruckner carries the nickname of "Klekhi Petra" in reference to the character of a white missionary in German westerns that were popular in Czechoslovakia during the 1960's.

He may be riding into the sunset with the Euro 2004 trophy strapped to his saddle if everything falls into place in Portugal.