Czech Republic suffer reverses

The Czech Republic's disappointing form since qualifying for the UEFA European Futsal Championship in Porto this November continued with two friendly defeats in Slovenia.

Run ends
Having lost 4-1 and 6-0 to Portugal in April, the Czechs were hoping to continue their four-match winning run against Slovenia. But the Czech Republic, who have been drawn with Portugal, Italy and Romania in the European finals, found life tough against a nation only pipped to a place in Porto with a last-day 3-1 reverse against Belgium in qualifying that meant they missed out by a single goal.

Double defeat
In the first game in Benedikt, Slovenia led 2-1 at the break and eventually prevailed 5-3 despite Czech goals from Pavel Formánek, Radim Špaček and Radovan Kroulík. The next day in Maribor, three second-half goals have Slovenia a 3-0 victory. The Czech squad will assemble again next month for a training camp and plan a warm-up tournament in September before beginning their EURO campaign against Romania on 16 November.