Czechs feel the heat

The champagne bottles which greeted the Czech Republic at their hotel lay unopened this morning as the players recovered from their exhausting 2-1 Group D victory against Latvia.

Sterling comeback
The Czechs had to call on all their reserves of energy to overcome Latvia in sweltering conditions in Aveiro, Marek Heinz capping a sterling second-half comeback with the winning goal in the 86th minute at the Estádio Municipal de Aveiro. The Czechs, though, were in no mood to enjoy their hosts' hospitality upon returning to their base at the Penha Longa hotel.

'Intense heat'
"My head was spinning at the end," said playmaker Tomáš Rosický. "The heat was terrible." Captain Pavel Nedved added: "I was expecting it to be tough as my Italian team-mates from Juventus [FC] said the heat was intense. It was even worse than I envisaged."

Half-time tension
Nedved was keen to accentuate the positives, though. "There was a lot of tension in the dressing room at half-time, lots of shouting as we knew that a defeat would signal the end of the tournament for us," he said. "I'm proud of my team as we managed something which makes us great."

'Minimal risk'
Karel Brückner took plenty of credit for the victory, replacing defenders Zdenek Grygera and Tomáš Galásek with Heinz and Vladimír Šmicer. "Latvia were pinned back at that stage defending so there was minimal risk involved," said the coach, adding with a smile: "I tried three defenders in the friendly against Japan and everyone criticised me."

'Important goal'
With Germany and the Netherlands drawing 1-1 later in the evening, the Czech Republic topped Group D after the first round of matches. "It was the most important goal of my life," said Heinz, who had previously only scored once for his country. "I wanted to strike the ball with my right foot but managed to get it on to my stronger left to make sure."

Bolf blow
René Bolf is Brückner's only injury concern, albeit a minor one. The central defender wore strapping on his knee during a light training session today, but expects to be fit for Saturday's second UEFA EURO 2004™ outing against the Dutch back in Aveiro.