World Cup / Group One / Finland 0 Czech Republic 3: The Czech Republic secured a place in the World Cup play-offs after beating Finland 3-0 in the their final Group One qualifier yesterday.
Striker Tomas Jun opened the scoring in the seventh minute, midfielder Tomas Rosicky added the second with a shot from 15 metres in the 51st and forward Marek Heinz claimed the third goal soon afterwards.
The Czechs finished as group runners-up to the Netherlands, who have qualified directly for the World Cup, with Romania third and Finland fourth.
"This was a difficult game in that we had to win," Czech coach Karel Brueckner said after the game. "The start was pretty nervous and having one goal never means anything. It was only after the second goal we started to calm down.
"I cannot think of any opponent we would like to avoid in the play-offs," he added.
Aston Villa striker Milan Baros missed the game with an Achilles problem. "I made the decision not to use Baros straight after the match against the Netherlands as I wanted to spare him for the playoffs," Brueckner said.
Finland were without striker Aleksei Eremenko, who scored eight goals in qualifying, Crystal Palace midfielder Aki Riihilahti, striker Mikael Forssell, and defenders Petri Pasanen and Hannu Tihinen.
Despite having already qualified, the Netherlands will be disappointed with the scoreless draw with FYR Macedonia at the Amsterdam Arena.
In the group's only other game last night Armenia lifted themselves off the bottom by beating Andorra 3-0 away from home. Romania completed their schedule of games last Saturday.
FINLAND: Jaeaeskelaeinen; Hyypia, Saarinen (Kopteff 12), Kuivasto, Heikkinen; Kolkka, Lagerblom (Nyman 59), Tainio, Kallio; Johansson, Sjoelund (Forssell 63).
CZECH REPUBLIC: Cech; Grygera, Mares, Rozehnal, Ujfalusi; Rosicky (Stajner 85), Smicer (Polak 61), Poborsky, Galasek; Heinz, Jun (Kovac 73). Goals: Jun 6, Rosicky 51, Heinz 58.
Referee: M Gonzalez (Spain).
