STARTING XI
REMAINING SQUAD MEMBERS
3 best players not in squad:
Prior to the Czech Republic national team, if a player was born in Czech Republic and played only for the Czechoslovakia national team, then I considered them here. The Czechoslovakia national team had some excellent players in the 1930's - where they made the 1934 World Cup final. 7 players make it from this era. They also won the Euros in 1976, but had a a lot of Slovakian players in the first team. As the Czech Republic, their biggest achievement was reaching the semi-finals of Euro 2004. There were many great goalkeepers to choose from, so Viliam Schrojf couldn't make the squad. At centre-back, I chose Pluskal, as the midfield was already strong and he was probably the best centre-back option. Ujfalusi can cover as a right-back and 4th centre-back. The midfield feels very balanced, Kostalek and Rosicky can be the back-up options here. Antonin Puc was probably slightly better as a left-winger or striker, but it wasn't worth altering the formation for. Nehoda and Poborsky are the back-up wide options, Svoboda and Kopecky can cover the striker position. Josef Bican claimed that Kopecky the best technician he had ever met. Bican himself didn't qualify for this team, as he was born in Austria and played for them originally. The final spot in the squad went to the best player not yet included in Vaclav Pilat. Because of Rosicky and Nejdely's abilities to play further back, I wasn't overloaded in the striker or attacking-midfield areas. Poborsky wasn't a vital player to have in the squad due to Puc's ability on both flanks, but I already had enough strikers, so he was my choice ahead of Jan Koller. Players by Decade: 1930's (7), 2000's (3), 1970's (3), 1960's (3), 1990's (2), 1920's (2), 2010's (1), 1980's (1), 1910's (1) Top 10 Czech Players of All-Time (World Class Players in Bold - 8)
(& their all-time positional rank)
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