Euro 2004 Qualifying Group Three/ Czech Republic 3; Netherlands 1: The Czech Republic qualified for next year's European Championship finals in Portugal after beating The Netherlands 3-1 in a Group Three qualifying match in Prague yesterday.
The two sides started the game joint top of the standings on 16 points, with the winners guaranteed top spot in the group with one match left.
The Dutch made a poor start when midfielder Edgar Davids was sent off after bringing down the former Manchester United player Karel Poborsky from behind in the penalty area just 14 minutes into the match. Portuguese referee Lucilio Cardoso Cortez Batista never hesitated in pointing to the spot and striker Jan Koller easily converted the penalty past a helpless Van Der Saar in the Dutch goal.
Despite being down a man, The Netherlands pushed forward and controlled the ball for long periods but Poborsky made them pay on the counter-attack in the 38th minute when he scored following a pass from Pavel Nedved.
Ajax Amsterdam youngster Rafael van der Vaart finally gave the Dutch fans something to cheer about with his second goal for the senior team in the 61st minute but Czech forward Milan Baros sent the crowd wild with a goal three minutes into injury time.
The Czechs finished the group with 19 points from their seven games with The Netherlands sure of making the play-offs with 16 points as Austria are in third place with just nine points and only one match remaining.
CZECH REPUBLIC: Cech, Bolf, Grygera (Hubschman 25), Jiranek, Ujfalusi, Galasek, Nedved, Poborsky, Rosicky (Baros 61), Smicer (Vachousek 81), Koller. Subs Not Used: Blazek, Johana, Lokvenc, Stajner. Booked: Poborsky, Ujfalusi, Bolf, Baros. Goals: Koller 15 pen, Poborsky 37, Baros 90.
NETHERLANDS: Van der Sar, Reiziger, De Boer (Ooijer 46), Stam, Van Bommel, Overmars (Bosvelt 20), Cocu, Davids, van Nistelrooy (Van Hooijdonk 69), Kluivert, Van der Vaart. Subs Not Used: Waterreus, Van Bronckhorst, Robben, Van der Meyde. Sent Off: Davids (14). Booked: Davids, van Nistelrooy, Van Bommel. Goals: Van der Vaart 61.
Referee: LC Cortez Batista (Portugal).
