Quarter-finals The Czechs's riseTechnical quality, detailed preparation and team spirit are the keys to the Czech Republic's successful Euro 2004, says defender David Rozehnal.

The 22-year-old centre back, who gained Champions League experience with Bruges last season, started his first match of the tournament on Wednesday when the Czechs' "reserve" team beat Germany 2-1.

"It was a great game, a great result for us and a very good experience for all of the squad for our togetherness and spirit," Rozehnal said yesterday. "This is one of the reasons why we have managed to do so well.

"There is such a good feeling among all of us. We feel very good together. It was not an easy game for me because I had to come in and then play against the German forwards, but it was really important that we had this game together.

"Now everyone is part of the group and everyone has played. It is just a good part of the way of working."

Rozehnal's selection came because the Czechs won their first two games, after trailing, against Latvia and the Netherlands. The six points gained secured top spot in Group D and gave them with the luxury of resting their senior players.

"I would have been silly not to have done that," said coach Karel Brueckner. "Some of them are tired and they needed a rest. It will help us later on."

Brueckner, the Czech Coach of the Year in 1985, 2001, 2002 and 2003, took over the under-21 squad in 1997 and has since masterminded a resurgence in the Czech Republic's fortunes.

In 2002 his young squad, under Miroslav Beranek, Brueckner's assistant in Portugal, won the European under-21 championship in Switzerland and several of that successful young group have now graduated to the senior international level.

"Eight of the players who finished the game against the Netherlands were from the under-21s," Brueckner said yesterday. "That means I know them well and they know me well. I think that is an advantage."

One of those players was Rozehnal who only made his senior debut in February this year in a 2-2 draw at Palermo but has since gone on to become part of the bridge from the golden generation of the mid-1990s to the present day.

"We were all very proud of the team that reached the final of the 1996 tournament," he explained. "It was inspiring. In the Czech Republic, we love sport and football especially. It is seen as a very important way of making progress in life."

Rozehnal said he grew up idolising the Czech Republic's great players and watching their key matches in his local village before being signed by Sokol Kozusany.

He then joined Sigma Olomouc, the club synonymous with Brueckner because it was his birthplace, his first club as a player and where he was head coach four times in four spells.

"It is not like England, or Spain or Germany, with so many players and so much happening," said Rozehnal.

"We're more concentrated, I think. I believe we're more close-knit and we all believe in the same thing together from a very young age."

When he started on Wednesday against the Germans, Rozehnal was one of the few players to have already appeared - albeit for just 16 minutes - previously in the tournament.

Six players were making their first Euro 2004 appearance but Brueckner had no fear any of them would freeze on the night.

"I know them all," he said. "This squad is like that, very close. We all work very hard together. We have our goals and we have our style. I'm more concerned with style than anything else.

"At half time in all of our games we've usually noted that we let in the first goal. But I always say it's more important to coach and to organise our systems than it is to be emotional or to motivate."

Rozehnal added: "We have a certain way of playing and it's our own way. We love to play, to attack and to make use of the ball. You can see that. But most of all we love football and that is one of our strengths too."